Synopsys Design Compiler Tutorial 2021 Updated Jun 2026

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a solid foundation to start your journey with any of these powerful synthesis tools.

# Define the clock: 500 MHz frequency (Period = 2.0 nanoseconds) create_clock -name sys_clk -period 2.0 [get_ports clk] # Model the clock behavior set_clock_uncertainty 0.15 [get_clocks sys_clk] set_clock_transition 0.05 [get_clocks sys_clk] # Define Input and Output Delays relative to the clock set_input_delay 0.4 -clock sys_clk [remove_from_collection [all_inputs] [get_ports clk]] set_output_delay 0.4 -clock sys_clk [all_outputs] # Set area constraint (0 forces the tool to make it as small as possible) set_max_area 0 Use code with caution. Step 4: Compiling and Optimizing the Design

The basic compilation executes architectural and logic optimization sweeps: compile Use code with caution. Advanced High-Effort Compilation

This article provides a comprehensive tutorial on Synopsys Design Compiler (DC), focusing on the foundational techniques and key features relevant to the [1]. Synopsys Design Compiler is an industry-standard logic synthesis tool used to transform high-level hardware description languages (like Verilog or VHDL) into optimized gate-level netlists. synopsys design compiler tutorial 2021

The standard synthesis flow followed by industry teams typically involves the following steps:

report_power > ./reports/power.rpt

Constraints tell Design Compiler how fast the circuit needs to run and how much physical space it can occupy. These constraints are typically written using Synopsys Design Constraints (SDC) syntax. By the end of this tutorial, you'll have

The path is too slow. You must optimize your RTL code, increase the clock period, or use compile_ultra to fix this issue. Area Report Analysis

# Standard compilation optimization compile # Advanced optimization (uses high-effort algorithms for tight timing constraints) # compile_ultra Use code with caution. Step 5: Generating Reports and Exporting Data

write_sdc $db_dir/$DESIGN_NAME.sdc

# Remove unneeded tool-generated naming artifacts change_names -rules verilog -hierarchy # Save the final structural gate-level netlist write -format verilog -hierarchy -output ../output/netlist/my_design.v # Save the post-synthesis SDC file for Place and Route tools write_sdc ../output/netlist/my_design.sdc # Save the internal binary design database write -format ddc -hierarchy -output ../output/netlist/my_design.ddc exit Use code with caution. 5. Production-Ready Automation Script

Before typing a single synthesis command, you must understand the three "Libraries" required by Design Compiler:

cd work dc_shell -f ../scripts/synthesis.tcl | tee synthesis.log Use code with caution. Graphical User Interface (GUI) Mode increase the clock period