Merge 33d5138673 into 98b4affc4a

backends/aiger2/aiger.cc

@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@
 USING_YOSYS_NAMESPACE
 PRIVATE_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
-#define BITWISE_OPS ID($buf), ID($not), ID($mux), ID($and), ID($or), ID($xor), ID($xnor), ID($fa), \
+#define BITWISE_OPS ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($not), ID($mux), ID($and), ID($or), ID($xor), ID($xnor), \
-					ID($bwmux)
+					ID($fa), ID($bwmux)
 
 #define REDUCE_OPS ID($reduce_and), ID($reduce_or), ID($reduce_xor), ID($reduce_xnor), ID($reduce_bool)
 
@@ -331,7 +331,7 @@ struct Index {
 					a = CFALSE;
 			}
 
-			if (cell->type.in(ID($buf), ID($pos), ID($_BUF_))) {
+			if (cell->type.in(ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($pos), ID($_BUF_))) {
 				return a;
 			} else if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($_NOT_))) {
 				return NOT(a);

backends/btor/btor.cc

@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ struct BtorWorker
 			goto okay;
 		}
 
-		if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($neg), ID($_NOT_), ID($pos)))
+		if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($neg), ID($_NOT_), ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($_BUF_), ID($barrier)))
 		{
 			string btor_op;
 			if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($_NOT_))) btor_op = "not";
@@ -520,9 +520,9 @@ struct BtorWorker
 			int nid_a = get_sig_nid(cell->getPort(ID::A), width, a_signed);
 			SigSpec sig = sigmap(cell->getPort(ID::Y));
 
-			// the $pos cell just passes through, all other cells need an actual operation applied
+			// buffer cells just pass through, all other cells need an actual operation applied
 			int nid = nid_a;
-			if (cell->type != ID($pos))
+			if (!cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($_BUF_), ID($barrier)))
 			{
 				log_assert(!btor_op.empty());
 				int sid = get_bv_sid(width);

backends/firrtl/firrtl.cc

@@ -966,7 +966,7 @@ struct FirrtlWorker
 				register_reverse_wire_map(y_id, cell->getPort(ID::Y));
 				continue;
 			}
-			if (cell->type == ID($pos)) {
+			if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier))) {
 				// assign y = a;
 //				printCell(cell);
 				string a_expr = make_expr(cell->getPort(ID::A));

backends/smt2/smt2.cc

@@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ struct Smt2Worker
 			if (cell->type == ID($eqx)) return export_bvop(cell, "(= A B)", 'b');
 
 			if (cell->type == ID($not)) return export_bvop(cell, "(bvnot A)");
-			if (cell->type == ID($pos)) return export_bvop(cell, "A");
+			if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier))) return export_bvop(cell, "A");
 			if (cell->type == ID($neg)) return export_bvop(cell, "(bvneg A)");
 
 			if (cell->type == ID($add)) return export_bvop(cell, "(bvadd A B)");

backends/verilog/verilog_backend.cc

@@ -1071,7 +1071,7 @@ bool dump_cell_expr(std::ostream &f, std::string indent, RTLIL::Cell *cell)
 		return true;
 	}
 
-	if (cell->type == ID($_BUF_)) {
+	if (cell->type.in(ID($buf), ID($_BUF_), ID($barrier))) {
 		f << stringf("%s" "assign ", indent.c_str());
 		dump_sigspec(f, cell->getPort(ID::Y));
 		f << stringf(" = ");

kernel/cellaigs.cc

@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ Aig::Aig(Cell *cell)
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($_NOT_), ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($_BUF_)))
+	if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($_NOT_), ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($_BUF_)))
 	{
 		for (int i = 0; i < GetSize(cell->getPort(ID::Y)); i++) {
 			int A = mk.inport(ID::A, i);

kernel/celledges.cc

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ PRIVATE_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
 void bitwise_unary_op(AbstractCellEdgesDatabase *db, RTLIL::Cell *cell)
 {
-	bool is_signed = (cell->type != ID($buf)) && cell->getParam(ID::A_SIGNED).as_bool();
+	bool is_signed = !cell->type.in(ID($buf), ID($barrier)) && cell->getParam(ID::A_SIGNED).as_bool();
 	int a_width = GetSize(cell->getPort(ID::A));
 	int y_width = GetSize(cell->getPort(ID::Y));
 
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ PRIVATE_NAMESPACE_END
 
 bool YOSYS_NAMESPACE_PREFIX AbstractCellEdgesDatabase::add_edges_from_cell(RTLIL::Cell *cell)
 {
-	if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($pos), ID($buf))) {
+	if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier))) {
 		bitwise_unary_op(this, cell);
 		return true;
 	}

kernel/celltypes.h

@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ struct CellTypes
 	{
 		setup_internals_eval();
 
+		setup_type(ID($barrier), {ID::A}, {ID::Y});
+
 		setup_type(ID($tribuf), {ID::A, ID::EN}, {ID::Y}, true);
 
 		setup_type(ID($assert), {ID::A, ID::EN}, pool<RTLIL::IdString>(), true);

kernel/qcsat.cc

@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ void QuickConeSat::prepare()
 
 int QuickConeSat::cell_complexity(RTLIL::Cell *cell)
 {
-	if (cell->type.in(ID($concat), ID($slice), ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($_BUF_)))
+	if (cell->type.in(ID($concat), ID($slice), ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($_BUF_)))
 		return 0;
 	if (cell->type.in(ID($not), ID($and), ID($or), ID($xor), ID($xnor),
 			ID($reduce_and), ID($reduce_or), ID($reduce_xor),

kernel/rtlil.cc

@@ -1340,7 +1340,7 @@ namespace {
 					cell->type.begins_with("$verific$") || cell->type.begins_with("$array:") || cell->type.begins_with("$extern:"))
 				return;
 
-			if (cell->type == ID($buf)) {
+			if (cell->type.in(ID($buf), ID($barrier))) {
 				port(ID::A, param(ID::WIDTH));
 				port(ID::Y, param(ID::WIDTH));
 				check_expected();
@@ -2747,6 +2747,7 @@ DEF_METHOD(LogicNot,   1, ID($logic_not))
 		return sig_y;                                       \
 	}
 DEF_METHOD(Buf,     sig_a.size(), ID($buf))
+DEF_METHOD(Barrier, sig_a.size(), ID($barrier))
 #undef DEF_METHOD
 
 #define DEF_METHOD(_func, _y_size, _type) \
@@ -4048,9 +4049,9 @@ void RTLIL::Cell::fixup_parameters(bool set_a_signed, bool set_b_signed)
 			type.begins_with("$verific$") || type.begins_with("$array:") || type.begins_with("$extern:"))
 		return;
 
-	if (type == ID($buf) || type == ID($mux) || type == ID($pmux) || type == ID($bmux)) {
+	if (type.in(ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($mux), ID($pmux), ID($bmux))) {
 		parameters[ID::WIDTH] = GetSize(connections_[ID::Y]);
-		if (type != ID($buf) && type != ID($mux))
+		if (!type.in(ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($mux)))
 			parameters[ID::S_WIDTH] = GetSize(connections_[ID::S]);
 		check();
 		return;

kernel/rtlil.h

@@ -1374,6 +1374,7 @@ public:
 	RTLIL::Cell* addNot     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_y, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 	RTLIL::Cell* addPos     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_y, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 	RTLIL::Cell* addBuf     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_y, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
+	RTLIL::Cell* addBarrier (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_y, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 	RTLIL::Cell* addNeg     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_y, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 
 	RTLIL::Cell* addAnd  (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_b, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_y, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
@@ -1509,6 +1510,7 @@ public:
 	RTLIL::SigSpec Not     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 	RTLIL::SigSpec Pos     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 	RTLIL::SigSpec Buf     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
+	RTLIL::SigSpec Barrier (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 	RTLIL::SigSpec Neg     (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");
 
 	RTLIL::SigSpec And  (RTLIL::IdString name, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_a, const RTLIL::SigSpec &sig_b, bool is_signed = false, const std::string &src = "");

kernel/satgen.cc

@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ bool SatGen::importCell(RTLIL::Cell *cell, int timestep)
 		return true;
 	}
 
-	if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($neg)))
+	if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier), ID($neg)))
 	{
 		std::vector<int> a = importDefSigSpec(cell->getPort(ID::A), timestep);
 		std::vector<int> y = importDefSigSpec(cell->getPort(ID::Y), timestep);
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ bool SatGen::importCell(RTLIL::Cell *cell, int timestep)
 
 		std::vector<int> yy = model_undef ? ez->vec_var(y.size()) : y;
 
-		if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf))) {
+		if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier))) {
 			ez->assume(ez->vec_eq(a, yy));
 		} else {
 			std::vector<int> zero(a.size(), ez->CONST_FALSE);
@@ -451,7 +451,7 @@ bool SatGen::importCell(RTLIL::Cell *cell, int timestep)
 			std::vector<int> undef_y = importUndefSigSpec(cell->getPort(ID::Y), timestep);
 			extendSignalWidthUnary(undef_a, undef_y, cell);
 
-			if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf))) {
+			if (cell->type.in(ID($pos), ID($buf), ID($barrier))) {
 				ez->assume(ez->vec_eq(undef_a, undef_y));
 			} else {
 				int undef_any_a = ez->expression(ezSAT::OpOr, undef_a);

passes/cmds/Makefile.inc

@@ -51,3 +51,4 @@ OBJS += passes/cmds/future.o
 OBJS += passes/cmds/box_derive.o
 OBJS += passes/cmds/example_dt.o
 OBJS += passes/cmds/portarcs.o
+OBJS += passes/cmds/optbarriers.o

passes/cmds/optbarriers.cc

@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+/*
+ *  yosys -- Yosys Open SYnthesis Suite
+ *
+ *  Copyright (C) 2024  George Rennie <georgrennie@gmail.com>
+ *
+ *  Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
+ *  purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
+ *  copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies.
+ *
+ *  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
+ *  WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR
+ *  ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES
+ *  WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN
+ *  ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF
+ *  OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
+ *
+ */
+
+#include "kernel/yosys.h"
+#include "kernel/sigtools.h"
+
+USING_YOSYS_NAMESPACE
+PRIVATE_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
+
+// Standard visitor helper
+template<class... Ts>
+struct overloaded : Ts... { using Ts::operator()...; };
+template<class... Ts>
+overloaded(Ts...) -> overloaded<Ts...>;
+
+struct OptBarriersPass : public Pass {
+	OptBarriersPass() : Pass("optbarriers", "insert optimization barriers") {}
+
+	void help() override {
+		log("\n");
+		log("    optbarriers [options] [selection]\n");
+		log("\n");
+		log("Insert optimization barriers to drivers of selected public wires.\n");
+		log("\n");
+		log("\n");
+		log("    -nocells\n");
+		log("        don't add optimization barriers to the outputs of cells\n");
+		log("\n");
+		log("    -noprocs\n");
+		log("        don't add optimization barriers to the outputs of processes\n");
+		log("\n");
+		log("    -private\n");
+		log("        also add optimization barriers to private wires\n");
+		log("\n");
+		log("    -remove\n");
+		log("        replace selected optimization barriers with connections\n");
+		log("\n");
+	}
+
+	void execute(std::vector<std::string> args, RTLIL::Design *design) override {
+		log_header(design, "Executing OPTBARRIERS pass (insert optimization barriers).\n");
+
+		bool nocells_mode = false;
+		bool noprocs_mode = false;
+		bool private_mode = false;
+		bool remove_mode = false;
+
+		size_t argidx;
+		for (argidx = 1; argidx < args.size(); argidx++) {
+			std::string arg = args[argidx];
+			if (arg == "-nocells") {
+				nocells_mode = true;
+				continue;
+			}
+			if (arg == "-noprocs") {
+				noprocs_mode = true;
+				continue;
+			}
+			if (arg == "-private") {
+				private_mode = true;
+				continue;
+			}
+			if (arg == "-remove") {
+				remove_mode = true;
+				continue;
+			}
+			break;
+		}
+		extra_args(args, argidx, design);
+
+		if (remove_mode) {
+			log("Replacing optimization barriers with connections.\n");
+			remove_barriers(design);
+			return;
+		}
+
+		for (auto* module : design->selected_modules()) {
+			// We can't just sigmap and iterate through wires for rewriting as
+			// we want to maintain the structure in connections, and sigmap
+			// will just return a canonical wire which does not have to be one
+			// that is directly driving the wire. Therefore for each type of
+			// object that could be driving the wires (cells, processes,
+			// connections) we rewrite the sigspecs.
+
+			// Keep track of which wires we have allocated new wires for
+			dict<RTLIL::Wire*, RTLIL::Wire*> new_wires;
+			// Keep track of bit pairs we need to construct barriers for from
+			// Y to A
+			dict<RTLIL::SigBit, RTLIL::SigBit> new_barriers;
+
+			// Skip constants, unselected wires and private wires when not in
+			// private mode. This works for SigChunk or SigBit input.
+			const auto skip = [&](const auto& chunk) {
+				if (!chunk.is_wire())
+					return true;
+
+				if (!design->selected(module, chunk.wire))
+					return true;
+
+				if (!private_mode && !chunk.wire->name.isPublic())
+					return true;
+
+				return false;
+			};
+
+			const auto rewrite_sigspec = [&](const SigSpec& sig) {
+				RTLIL::SigSpec new_output;
+				for (const auto& chunk : sig.chunks()) {
+					if (skip(chunk)) {
+						new_output.append(chunk);
+						continue;
+					}
+
+					// Add a wire to drive if one does not already exist
+					auto* new_wire = new_wires.at(chunk.wire, nullptr);
+					if (!new_wire) {
+						new_wire = module->addWire(NEW_ID, GetSize(chunk.wire));
+						new_wires.emplace(chunk.wire, new_wire);
+					}
+
+					RTLIL::SigChunk new_chunk = chunk;
+					new_chunk.wire = new_wire;
+
+					// Rewrite output to drive new wire, and schedule adding
+					// barrier bits from new wire to original
+					new_output.append(new_chunk);
+					for (int i = 0; i < GetSize(chunk); i++)
+						new_barriers.emplace(chunk[i], new_chunk[i]);
+				}
+
+				return new_output;
+			};
+
+			// Rewrite cell outputs
+			if (!nocells_mode)
+			for (auto* cell : module->cells())
+				if (cell->type != ID($barrier))
+				for (const auto& [name, sig] : cell->connections())
+					if (cell->output(name))
+						cell->setPort(name, rewrite_sigspec(sig));
+
+			// Rewrite connections in processes
+			if (!noprocs_mode) {
+				const auto proc_rewriter = overloaded{
+					// Don't do anything for input sigspecs
+					[&](const SigSpec&) {},
+					// Rewrite connections to drive barrier if needed
+					[&](SigSpec& lhs, const SigSpec&) {
+						lhs = rewrite_sigspec(lhs);
+					}
+				};
+
+				for (auto& proc : module->processes)
+					proc.second->rewrite_sigspecs2(proc_rewriter);
+			}
+
+			// Add all the scheduled barriers. To minimize the number of cells,
+			// first construct a sigspec of all bits, then sort and unify before
+			// creating barriers
+			SigSpec barrier_y;
+			for (const auto&[y_bit, _] : new_barriers)
+				barrier_y.append(y_bit);
+			barrier_y.sort_and_unify();
+
+			for (const auto& sig_y : barrier_y.chunks()) {
+				log_assert(sig_y.is_wire());
+				SigSpec sig_a;
+				for (int i = 0; i < GetSize(sig_y); i++)
+					sig_a.append(new_barriers[sig_y[i]]);
+				module->addBarrier(NEW_ID, sig_a, sig_y);
+			}
+
+			// Rewrite connections
+			std::vector<RTLIL::SigSig> new_connections;
+			for (const auto& conn : module->connections()) {
+				RTLIL::SigSig skip_conn, barrier_conn;
+
+				for (int i = 0; i < GetSize(conn.first); i++) {
+					auto& sigsig = skip(conn.first[i]) ? skip_conn : barrier_conn;
+					sigsig.first.append(conn.first[i]);
+					sigsig.second.append(conn.second[i]);
+				}
+
+				if (!skip_conn.first.empty())
+					new_connections.emplace_back(std::move(skip_conn));
+
+				if (!barrier_conn.first.empty())
+					module->addBarrier(NEW_ID, barrier_conn.second, barrier_conn.first);
+			}
+			module->new_connections(new_connections);
+		}
+	}
+
+	void remove_barriers(RTLIL::Design* design) {
+		for (auto* module : design->selected_modules()) {
+			std::vector<RTLIL::Cell*> barriers;
+
+			for (auto* cell : module->selected_cells())
+				if (cell->type == ID($barrier))
+					barriers.emplace_back(cell);
+
+			for (auto* cell : barriers) {
+				const auto lhs = cell->getPort(ID::Y), rhs = cell->getPort(ID::A);
+				module->connect(lhs, rhs);
+				module->remove(cell);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+} OptBarriersPass;
+
+PRIVATE_NAMESPACE_END

passes/opt/opt_merge.cc

@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ struct OptMergeWorker
 		ct.cell_types.erase(ID($anyconst));
 		ct.cell_types.erase(ID($allseq));
 		ct.cell_types.erase(ID($allconst));
+		ct.cell_types.erase(ID($barrier));
 
 		log("Finding identical cells in module `%s'.\n", module->name.c_str());
 		assign_map.set(module);

passes/techmap/flatten.cc

@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ struct FlattenWorker
 	bool ignore_wb = false;
 	bool create_scopeinfo = true;
 	bool create_scopename = false;
+	bool barriers = false;
 
 	template<class T>
 	void map_attributes(RTLIL::Cell *cell, T *object, IdString orig_object_name)
@@ -246,7 +247,27 @@ struct FlattenWorker
 				log_error("Cell port %s.%s.%s is driving constant bits: %s <= %s\n",
 					log_id(module), log_id(cell), log_id(port_it.first), log_signal(new_conn.first), log_signal(new_conn.second));
 
+			if (barriers) {
+				// Drive public output wires with barriers and the rest with
+				// connections
+				RTLIL::SigSig skip_conn, barrier_conn;
+
+				for (int i = 0; i < GetSize(new_conn.first); i++) {
+					const auto lhs = new_conn.first[i], rhs = new_conn.second[i];
+					auto& sigsig = !lhs.is_wire() || !lhs.wire->name.isPublic() ? skip_conn : barrier_conn;
+					sigsig.first.append(lhs);
+					sigsig.second.append(rhs);
+				}
+
+				if (!skip_conn.first.empty())
+					module->connect(skip_conn);
+
+				if (!barrier_conn.first.empty())
+					module->addBarrier(NEW_ID, barrier_conn.second, barrier_conn.first);
+			} else {
 				module->connect(new_conn);
+			}
+
 			sigmap.add(new_conn.first, new_conn.second);
 		}
 
@@ -345,6 +366,10 @@ struct FlattenPass : public Pass {
 		log("        with a public name the enclosing scope can be found via their\n");
 		log("        'hdlname' attribute.\n");
 		log("\n");
+		log("    -barriers\n");
+		log("        Use $barrier cells to connect flattened modules to their surrounding\n");
+		log("        scope instead of connections for public wires.\n");
+		log("\n");
 	}
 	void execute(std::vector<std::string> args, RTLIL::Design *design) override
 	{
@@ -367,6 +392,10 @@ struct FlattenPass : public Pass {
 				worker.create_scopename = true;
 				continue;
 			}
+			if (args[argidx] == "-barriers") {
+				worker.barriers = true;
+				continue;
+			}
 			break;
 		}
 		extra_args(args, argidx, design);

techlibs/common/prep.cc

@@ -67,6 +67,11 @@ struct PrepPass : public ScriptPass
 		log("    -nokeepdc\n");
 		log("        do not call opt_* with -keepdc\n");
 		log("\n");
+		log("    -barriers\n");
+		log("        add optimization barriers to all public wires to preserve their structure.\n");
+		log("        this limits the optimizations that can be applied to the design to only\n");
+		log("        those involving private wires.\n");
+		log("\n");
 		log("    -run <from_label>[:<to_label>]\n");
 		log("        only run the commands between the labels (see below). an empty\n");
 		log("        from label is synonymous to 'begin', and empty to label is\n");
@@ -79,7 +84,7 @@ struct PrepPass : public ScriptPass
 	}
 
 	string top_module, fsm_opts;
-	bool autotop, flatten, ifxmode, memxmode, nomemmode, nokeepdc, rdff;
+	bool autotop, flatten, ifxmode, memxmode, nomemmode, nokeepdc, rdff, barriers;
 
 	void clear_flags() override
 	{
@@ -92,6 +97,7 @@ struct PrepPass : public ScriptPass
 		nomemmode = false;
 		nokeepdc = false;
 		rdff = false;
+		barriers = false;
 	}
 
 	void execute(std::vector<std::string> args, RTLIL::Design *design) override
@@ -148,6 +154,10 @@ struct PrepPass : public ScriptPass
 				nokeepdc = true;
 				continue;
 			}
+			if (args[argidx] == "-barriers") {
+				barriers = true;
+				continue;
+			}
 			break;
 		}
 		extra_args(args, argidx, design);
@@ -183,12 +193,16 @@ struct PrepPass : public ScriptPass
 
 		if (check_label("coarse"))
 		{
+			if (help_mode || barriers)
+				run("optbarriers", "(if -barriers)");
 			if (help_mode)
 				run("proc [-ifx]");
 			else
 				run(ifxmode ? "proc -ifx" : "proc");
-			if (help_mode || flatten)
+			if (help_mode)
-				run("flatten", "(if -flatten)");
+				run("flatten [-barriers]", "(if -flatten)");
+			else if (flatten)
+				run(barriers ? "flatten -barriers" : "flatten");
 			run("future");
 			run(nokeepdc ? "opt_expr" : "opt_expr -keepdc");
 			run("opt_clean");

techlibs/common/simlib.v

@@ -108,6 +108,29 @@ endmodule
 
 // --------------------------------------------------------
 
+//  |---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|
+//-
+//-     $barrier (A, Y)
+//* group unary
+//-
+//- A coarse-grain buffer cell type that acts as a barrier for optimizations.
+//- Optimization passes are forbidden from rewriting patterns that include
+//- this cell (by merging, constant propagation etc) with the exception of
+//- opt_clean that can remove it if the output is unused.
+//-
+module \$barrier (A, Y);
+
+parameter WIDTH = 0;
+
+input [WIDTH-1:0] A;
+output [WIDTH-1:0] Y;
+
+assign Y = A;
+
+endmodule
+
+// --------------------------------------------------------
+
 //  |---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|---v---|
 //-
 //-     $neg (A, Y)