Value change dump (VCD)

Switching Activity Interchange Format (SAIF)

FSDB (Fast Signal DB)

PHY (Palladium database format generated in the Palladium environment)

VCD format :: http://www.vlsiip.com/power/

Saif format :: http://www.vlsiip.com/power/T0001.saif

saif file - contains toggle counts and time information like how much time a signal was in 1 state(T1), 0
state(T0) , x state (TX). Also in backward saif file you can have timing information, arc information just
like .lib (read saif manual).

vcd file - contains value changes of a signal. i.e. at what times signals changes their values. saif does not
contains this information. it contains cumulative information of vcd.
you can convert a vcd file into saif file using Synopsys vcd2saif binary and see the effect.

Effectively vcd file is a superset of saif file. Any application which needs time stamps of individual value
changes must have to use vcd e.g. time based power estimation or if you have a vcd file which is
simulated between 0 to 10ns then you can do power analysis for any time range between 0 to 10ns e.g.
power for 2-5, 3-7...
but for saif you can not do you have to regenerate saif for these time intervals.