Design creation tool
Apart from reading and writing XDL files, RapidSmith’s APIs provide the user with a mechanism to create a circuitry in XDL file format. It also has API routines to create primitive instances, customise these instances and even create logical connections between primitive instance pins.
Physical design tools
This software offers an excellent framework for the creation of physical design tools, for example, placement and routing tools. Fig. 3 shows the screenshot of an interactive hard macro placement tool built on RapidSmith.
In short, RapidSmith is a software that lets you manipulate XDL file formats, and provides a great platform on which one can develop a complete FPGA design tool suite. It allows for a variety of circuit manipulations. It opens the door to new opportunities for research in FPGA CAD tools.
Download latest version of the software: click here
The author is a technical correspondent at EFY, Bengaluru
