====================================================================== IBIS INTERCONNECT MODELING AD HOC TASK GROUP MEETING MINUTES AND AGENDA http://www.eda.org/ibis/adhoc/interconnect/ Mailing list: ibis-interconn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ====================================================================== Next Meeting Wednesday, November 5, 2008 8 AM US Pacific Time Telephone Bridge Passcode 916-356-2663 3 396-4650 Meeting ID: 5997cfce0f944f2098477417abe8fd78 Location: meet:sip:michael.mirmak@xxxxxxxxx;gruu;opaque=app:conf:focus:id:5997cfce0f944f2098477417abe8fd78 Agenda: - Call for patents - Opens - Review and Closure of new draft for Open Forum submission * Discuss data identification keywords * Complete discussion of information and interconnect port groups keywords ====================================================================== Minutes from October 29: Attendees: ---------- (* denotes present) Agilent - Radek Biernacki*, John Moore, Ken Wong Ansoft - Denis Soldo Cadence Design Systems - Terry Jernberg, Brad Griffin Green Streak Programs - Lynne Green Hewlett-Packard - Rob Elliott* Intel - Michael Mirmak* Mentor Graphics Corp. - John Angulo*, Vladimir Dmitriev-Zdorov Micron Technology - Randy Wolff Sigrity - Sam Chitwood, Raymond Y. Chen, Tao Su, Brad Brim SiSoft - Walter Katz* Teraspeed Consulting Group - Bob Ross* ======================================================================== No patents were announced. Michael called for comments on the current draft Touchstone 2.0 specification. Bob made a few opening remarks to "set the context" for the discussion: - significant amounts of original Touchstone syntax and features were retained to smooth the industry transition to Touchstone 2.0 - applications are expected to become available soon to export and process the new files - for a period, a mix of file formats will exist in industry - the group had originally decided to minimize changes for most applications - each new change, feature or keyword has been a "struggle" - Of 8 new features... * 3 are required in 2.0 (Version, Number of Ports, Number of Frequencies) * 1 is required in specific cases (Two-Port Data Order) * 4 are optional (Reference, Matrix Format, Mixed-Mode Order, Number of Noise Frequencies) Bob also summarized the evolution of these keywords and the choices made regarding rejected features. The team reviewed the list of proposed changes from Walter: 1) Should file extension be .snp or .ts2 2) Do not allow equivalence of " " and "_" in [keywords] 3) Do not allow " " in [keywords] 4) Remove as of yet defined keywords in examples 5) Change order of keywords in document 6) Require many keywords to appear after [Number of Ports] instead of after [Version] 7) Insert [Network Data] before network data 8) Insert [Noise Data] before noise data 9) Add [Begin Information]/[End Information] keywords 10) Remove [Interconnect Port Groups] section On item (1), Rob noted that .snp as a literal string could serve as a distinct identifier (as opposed to .s2p, .s5p, etc.) that operating systems could universally recognize. Further, .ts2 could be used to differentiate this revision from future revisions (.ts3, etc.). Radek noted that no specific extension is required and that this is left to the user. He Also stated that Agilent's customers wanted no change in current filename practices. Bob added that .snp (where n is an integer) is a strong suggestion in many tools. The current document's text uses the phrase "by convention" when describing .snp, which is variously interpreted as a requirement or merely a tradition. The original intent was to document common usage that was not mandatory or enforced as a rule. A vote was taken regarding whether and how to change the filename extensions: Agilent - clarify that a particular extension is not required HP - include .ts recommendation Intel - include .ts recommendation Mentor Graphics - include .ts recommendation SiSoft - no change to current text; clarify as open-ended Teraspeed - no change to current text; clarify as open-ended Michael agreed to provide draft text that accommodates the above requirements. On item (2), Walter noted that HP and StatEye users requested this alteration for ease of parsing. He added that SiSoft supported removing this equivalence. Item (3) was treated as part of the same issue. The team agreed to implement this change, with Bob providing draft text. The team agreed that items (4) and (5) will be addressed as part of editorial cleanup After the major features have been agreed upon. On item (6), the document only notes placement rules for [Version] and in relation to [Version], except regarding [Two-Port Data Order]. The document will be revised, per team agreement, to Require most keywords to appear after [Number of Ports], to allow single-pass parsing. Radek noted that the original Touchstone options line is required, even if all its arguments are removed (left as defaults). The rules for the options line will be updated to require that it be placed after [Number of Ports]. Items 7-10 will be addressed at the next meeting. AR: Michael to provide new language for clarifying filename extensions - DONE AR: Bob to provide new language for clarifying spaces and underscore characters in keywords - DONE ======================================================================== Team Objectives: 1) complete ICM-IBIS linking BIRD and any associated changes to the ICM specification 2) update the ICM specification, if needed, to clarify the mapping of ICM nodes to S-parameter ports 3) complete a specification for "Touchstone Plus" or similar industry-standard definition for Touchstone-like files, to include complex impedance references, removal of limits on the maximum number of ports and per-port impedance references ------------------------------------------------------------------