Support generating SAIF file for power estimation

[ayanbanrj]

Switching Activity Interchange Format (SAIF) files are used by physical implementation tools to perform power estimation and optimization, based on signal switching activity extracted from simulations. It would be great if Verilator could natively generate simulation traces in SAIF format because many tools (for example, Vivado) don't support VCD files as input for power estimation.

The SAIF format is described in IEEE Std 1801-2018, Annex I. Most commercial simulators support SAIF file generation.

May we assist you in trying to fix this in Verilator yourself?

Yes, I can attempt.

[wsnyder]

Most power vendors flows have a converter, for example Synopsys' vcd2saif. Do you have that?

While Verilator could do this, is it a better ore general solution to e.g. extend gtkwave to convert formats? Then all simulators have a open source converter.

[wsnyder]

Didn't hear back - presuming gtkwave improvement is an option.