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Getting Started with Cadence 4.4.3 and HCMOS7

last updated 6/7/99

This page contains group support for the SGS-Thompson 0.25um HCMOS7 Process for Cadence 4.4.3. Only members of st-tech UNIX group have access to this technology. If you would like to be added to this group, please contact Brian Richards about signing an NDA.

Please do not distribute information about this technology! We'd like to maintain our good relationship with SGS-Thompson.

Remember that this is a work in progress. If you discover errors, please let me know! Send mail to wrdavis. 

Topics:

Logging in with Exceed

Before you log in, be sure Exceed 6.1 is running.  If Exceed 6.1 is not installed locally, you can install it with the following steps:

  • In the Windows NT explorer, choose Tools -> Map Network Drive.  Map \\HITZ\Tools to drive T:.  Make sure that "Reconnect at Logon" is checked.
  • Assuming that you have \\CUTLER\Dist mapped to drive S:, run S:\exceed6.1 (NT) \Setup.exe and choose the "Workstation Installation".  Specify T:\Exceed61.nt as the location of the executable files, and specify some directory in your home directory tree for the user files.  About 1 MB of files will be copied into this directory.  The installer prompts you for all sorts of other passords and features, but you can Skip these features and complete this install.

Once you have Exceed 6.1 running, right click on the icon in the toolbar and choose Tools-> Configuration.  the following settings work well with Cadence:

  • Screen Definition -> Server Visual = Pseudo Color
  • Performance -> System Resource Usage =10 (Dynamic Adjust checked)
  • Performance -> Draft Mode (checked)
  • Performance -> Batch Requests (checked)
  • Performance -> Save Unders (unchecked)
  • Performance -> Maximum Backing Store = When Mapped
  • Performance -> Default Backing Store = When Mapped
  • Performance -> Minimum Backing Store = None

Next log into one of the compute servers.  Right now, there is only one server (sunu2-1).   Stay tuned for a more complete list as more machines arrive.

Setting up your Environment

Our group uses a utility which copies certain initialization files to your home directory which are tailored for a specific technology.  This allows the group to have a uniform design environment but makes customization difficult.  Follow these simple steps to set up your environment for the supported design flow:

  1. You will need to create a symbolic link in your home directory to the system-wide initialization file directory:

    ln -s /tools/cds99/local/setup/cdsdot/   ~/.cdsdot
  2. Source the setup script (this can be added to your .cshrc file or sourced explicitly every time you login):

    source /tools/cds99/local/setup/cds99st025_setup.csh.swap

    The script will notify you that it is over-writing the initialization files (dotfiles) every time your source it.
    You should now be able to use the basic functionality of Cadence.
  3. openbook & - starts the Cadence Documentation Browser
    icfb & - starts Cadence

Creating a Library

  1. File -> New -> Library...
  2. Enter library name and path. Select Attach to an existing techfile and click OK.
  3. In the next window, specify your technology library to be st_dk7rev3. Click OK.
  4. The library should be created in a few seconds. Choose Tools -> Library Manager .... You should see your new library listed. New cells can be created with File -> New -> Cellview ....

Basic Functionality Supported for this Design Flow

  1. Schematic and Layout Entry - See the Macrocell Design Guide for details.
  2. Diva DRC
    • From a layout view, choose Verify -> DRC...
    • Set "Checking Method" to "flat", and leave all options as defaults.
    • Error markers should appear if there are errors. You can cycle through these errors by using Verify -> Markers -> Find...
    • If there were no errors, you should see the message, "Total errors found: 0"
  3. Diva Extract
    • From a layout view, choose Verify -> Extract...
    • Set "Extract Method" to "flat", and leave all options as defaults.
    • Set the switches "extPAR_CapSingleNode" or "extPAR_CapPairNode" if you want interconnect capacitance's to be extracted.
    • Click Ok.
  4. Diva LVS
    • Extract the cell with no switches
    • From the layout or extracted view, choose Verify -> LVS...
    • Fill out the form, leaving defaults for all parameters you don't understand. Make sure that "Rules File" is set to "divaLVS.rul" and that "Rules Library" is set to st_dk7rev3. Click "Run"
    • LVS runs in the background. When the job is finished, you should get the message "LVS has succeeded"
    • Click "Output" to view the LVS output.
    • The LVS output can be confusing at first, but you can assume that it was successful if you see the message "The net-lists match".
  5. Hspice Netlisting
    • From a schematic or extracted view, choose Tools -> Simulation -> Other.
    • Use Simulation -> Initialize to set up the run directory
    • In Simulation -> Options, select "Use Hierarchical Netlister" and deselect "Incremental Netlisting"
    • Choose Simulation -> Netlist/Simulate. Set "Simulator Name" to "hspice", select "Run actions - netlist" and deselect "simulate". Click Ok.
    • The netlist will be sitting in the run directory you specified, in the file "netlist"
    • See /tools/unicad/local/hspice_models/ for directions on how to run Hspice.
  6. Spectre Netlisting and simulation with Ocean
    • From a schematic or extracted view, choose Tools  ->Analog Artist
    • Choose Setup -> Model Libraries add   "/vol/hitz/vol2/tools/commercial/st/unicad/local/spectre_models/hcmos7.scs" to the file and "typ" to the section or whatever Click ADD and OK.
    • You can also change things like the directory your things go in. It defaults to ~/simulation/*YourDesign*/spectre/extracted/netlist/
    • Make sure the simulator is set to Spectre in the setup menu (is should be already)
    • Next go to Simulation -> Netlist -> Create this will give you a bunch of files in the netlist dir. most important a "netlist" file.
    • To run Ocean you need add two files to this dir: "oceanfilename.ocn" and "stimulus.scs"   If you need help -> Ocean Help (very useful)
    • When you have these type "Ocean < oceanfilename.ocn" in that dir. To see waveforms  type "awd &" and select "psf/tran-tran/" within results browers (right click on the node name to diplay, left click to expand in calculator, middle click for all options)

Converting Libraries from the Old Version of Cadence

  1. In the CIW (the main Cadence window), choose Tools -> Conversion Tool Box...
  2. In the popup window, click on "Convert DFII-DM Libraries..."
  3. You will be prompted to enter a path to the libraries you wish to convert. Once you have entered a path, you can select which libraries you want to convert.
  4. Under "Technology Library Options", select "attach to" and "st_dk7rev3".
  5. Click Ok.
  6. You may get an error saying that Cadence cannot lock the library you wish to convert. If this happens, you can use the cdsdAdmin command to find out who has the lock and ask them to release it (see the Cadence FAQ), or you can copy the library to a new location and convert the copy.

Finding more Information

The best sources of information and tutorials are openbook and the web pages you find here.  Information on the HCMOS7 Design Kit and CORELIB standard cell library must still be obtained through the UNICAD documentation. Eventually we'll gather the necessary information in some central location, but for now, see the ST 0.25 um Cadence 4.3.4 (UNICAD) support pages.

maintained by Rhett Davis
wrdavis@eecs.berkeley.edu