( DAC 99 Item 33 ) ----------------------------------------------- [6/25/99]

    "Product: Avant! Jupiter                Rating: 2 gators (out of 4)

     This is Avant!'s new front-end tool for "physical synthesis" which
     is used to do preliminary floorplanning and placement of macros.  RTL
     can be read into the tool where a "dummy" synthesis is done to
     generate size and timing estimates.  Blocks not yet available can be
     assigned a "black-box" based upon the estimated size of the block.
     Rat's Nest type global routes can be done and graphically displayed
     to help place blocks.  Busses can be defined and manually placed
     between blocks.  Once a user is satisfied, custom wire-load models
     per block can be generated.  Timing constraints can be applied and
     then written out into a TDF file which is given to the Apollo P&R
     tool to chew on for the final layout.  I saw some interesting
     capability here which might help us achieve timing closure for bigger
     designs.  However, it appears that we would probably need some
     trained experts to help guide us through the tool."

         - an anon engineer