The Milkyway™ Database provides the unifying design storage for Synopsys?Galaxy™ Design Platform. The production-proven, widely used Milkyway database provides persistent data storage that links Galaxy platform tools together thereby eliminating the need for large, intermediate exchange files and preventing design intent loss through mismatched syntax of exchange formats. Milkyway is proven on well over 10,000 tape-outs including the latest 90 and 65 nanometer technology designs. Designed to be extensible, Milkyway is continuously augmented with new capabilities such as those required for signal integrity, power reduction, and yield enhancement. The Milkyway database C-API was opened for customer interfacing in 1998 and is available to 3rd parties at no charge through Synopsys MAP-in program.

 

Key Features and Benefits

• Production-proven database for all Galaxy Design Platform tools
• Capacity that supports the largest designs
• Eliminates the need for large design exchange files
• Includes physical library preparation
• Supports designs in the latest technologies including 90, 65, and 45nm
• Precludes design intent mismatches from faulty semantics of exchange files
• Open to 3rd-parties (C-API, Tcl, Scheme) through the free MAP-in program
• Also provides 3rd-party data input to the Galaxy Platform through LEF and DEF

Design Challenges
For today s large designs, tremendous volumes of data are generated as a design moves through the implementation phase. Without a common database, tools must communicate through ASCII design interchange files. This presents the following problems for design users:

• Exchange file size and transfer times are prohibitive for the largest designs and are detrimental to design turn-around time for all designs.

   

• Use of exchange files between tools during the design flow often introduces errors and inconsistencies because of semantic mismatches between the tools data.

   

• Technology and design advances often require rapid introduction of new database semantics and features; definition and implementation of exchange languages often lag in implementation of new features, thereby impeding advanced designs.

   

• Companies may want to include specific capability from a 3rd-party vendor. Such enhancements are hindered unless free access to design data, usually through a C-API, is available.

 

Solution
Milkyway solves these issues for the Galaxy Platform because all implementation tools have direct, binary interfaces to the Milkyway database.

• Direct database access eliminates the need for ASCII design interchange files to transfer design data between implementation tools, thereby eliminating this time-consuming step between tools.

   

• By storing and accessing data directly to the Milkyway database, the semantic gap between different tool functions is removed. Each tool is able to see the data in the same way, preventing costly errors and reducing design iterations.

   

• Because Milkyway was designed to be extensible, new database semantics and features are quickly added in support of tool functions. For example, recently the Milkyway database has been augmented with both low power and yield enhancements for design success.

   

• Finally, Milkyway design data is open to both customers and 3rd-parties through robust Scheme, Tcl, and C-API programming interfaces. The MAP-in program provides free design data access to 3rd-parties, many of whom provide production quality tools that interface to the Galaxy Platform through the Milkyway database.