Beginners Working

with Cadence using GUI

Dipankar Pal
Dept. of EEE & EI
BITS-Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa
Campus
29 June to 01 July 2015

To start Cadence:

Open the terminal

On the prompt type: csh (enter)
On the next prompt type: source
cshrc (enter)
On the next prompt type: virtuoso
& (enter)

After the Virtuoso Editor

(virtuoso 6.1.5.
log:/home/2014_2/CDS.log)
window opens up, the beginner
should first create a new library
and attach it to an existing
technology library

To open a new Library:

From the toolbar (top) click on

Library Manager. Next, from
the window that pops up, select
the option to open a new
Library. Give it a name, say
xyz.

Option to attach with an

existing library will appear.
The system installed in Goa
campus offers a number of
technology
libraries
to
attach new library (xyz) to.
For beginners gpdk045 is an

The next logical step

would be to open a new
cell view under the newly
created Library (in this
case xyz).

For this click on the newly created

Library (in this case xyz) from
the Library Manager window
Select new cell-view
Name the cell-view.

option.

It is recommended to give meaningful names

such as Logic Gates, D-Flip Flop,
Common Source Stage and the like so that at
a later time (when many cell-views/ libraries
would have been created), one can identify which

Cell-View can be of schematic

or layout (or extracted).
The

beginner

would

do

the

simulation as a first post-design

task and hence should select
schematic.

At this stage new cell-view

(e.g. CMOS Inverter) will
open up.
The

user

her/his

can
design

now
on

enter
the

To enter an instance (e.g., a MOS

or BJT, a Capacitor or a source
etc.) use either bindkeys or click
on the icons available.
The bindkey i is for inserting an
instance.

To select a device scroll over the

libraries
and
select
the
appropriate one. Some common
libraries are:
gpdk045:
for selecting MOS,
BJT etc. (of different types)
analog lib: for selecting passive
components
(resistor,
capacitor), sources (such as
VDC, IDC, ISIN, VPULSE etc.

After instances are entered,

next logical step is to
connect them by a wire.
The bindkey (w) or the icon
for it can be used.
The connection is usually made by
dragging the wire with the left click of
mouse and releasing it upon reaching
destination (node) to be connected).

Using the edit-option (from the

drop-down menu) the user can
move, copy ... the instances/
part(s) or whole of the circuit.
To fit the circuit in the centre the
bindkey f can be used.

After the design is completed and

entered, it should be saved
under the cell-view with the
click of the icon to save.
If there are errors or warnings,
the same will be indicated on the
cell view by flickering light on
the
section
where
error/
warning exists.
The
next
logical
step
is

To simulate:
From the toolbar, the Launch
icon has to be clicked. From the
drop

down

Analog

menu,

Design

select

the

Environment

(ADEL) option. A new window

called

Analog

Design

Technology
file
of
active
devices used in design is
automatically
linked
(as
concerned technology library is
already attached to users library.
A crosscheck is done by clicking
on to model libraries in drop
down menu under set-up in

Under

the same

drop

down

menu, clicking on to simulator/

director/host.

user

should

also find the option spectre

active.

Some common types of analysis

a beginner has to do include:
Transient Analysis: this does
the time domain analysis and
gives
the
output
behavior
(voltage/ current etc.) versus
time.

DC Analysis:

this gives the

biasing information (dc sweep

etc.)
AC

Analysis: this

does

frequency domain analysis and

gives information such as gain as

To do transient analysis user

has to first click on the Analysis
icon (from the toolbar of ADEL
window), then select transient
analysis
Analysis.

option

from

Choose

For transient analysis, start and

stop time are to be entered. The
period of input pulse/ frequency
of input sine wave decides it.
User may also like to specify step
size, step number and type of
sweep of (voltage, current, )
like
linear,
logarithmic,
automatic .
This is done in the same window

Next from the output icon of

ADEL window the output to be
plotted are to be selected.
Usually node current and net
voltages

are

selected

by

clicking on concerned node or

Finally, the green (play icon) is

to

be

clicked

simulation.

to

start

Alternatively

one

can click on Simulation icon of

ADEL window and select run.
If there are no errors, simulation
will

be

successful

and

Example of DC Analysis is study

of variation of ID with respect to
VDS (or VDD) in a MOS.
To do dc analysis user has to
first click on the Analysis icon
(from the toolbar of

ADEL

window), then select dc analysis

Next the variable to be swept is

selected, e.g., VDS (or VDD) in
aforesaid case. To select variable
from cell-view, user is to click on
the variable icon from toolbar of
ADEL window.
A new window will pop up. The
user
has
to
select
the

The range of sweep (e.g., the

minimum and maximum value of
VDC (or VDD) is also to be entered.
The user may also like to specify
the step size, number and type
(linear, logarithmic, automatic
) in the window by entering
appropriate value or by selecting

Now output to be plotted is to

be selected. Just like the case of
transient
node

analysis,

current

and/

here

too

or

net

voltage are selected from cellview.

This is done by clicking output

As before, the green (play icon)

can

be

clicked

to

start

simulation. Alternatively one can

click on Simulation icon of ADEL
window and select run.
If there are no errors, simulation
will be successful and waveforms

Parametric Analysis

To get information on stable bias

points, quiescent points etc., it
becomes necessary to plot on the
same window a chain of curves.
E.g., it is common to plot ID versus
VDS for varying VGS. In Cadence
this is done by parametric

To do parametric analysis, the

parameter to be varied over a
range is given a variable name
and an arbitrary value. E.g., user
may give a variable name, say,
VGS to supply voltage (VDC) that
is connected between gate and
source.
Variable name is given to the
instance (V
in this case) by

To assign an arbitrary value, user

has to go to variable icon from
toolbar of ADEL window and
from the list that appears in drop
down

menu,

set

value

to

Next step is to go to tools icon

from

toolbar

menu

of

ADEL

window. A drop down menu will

appear from where user has to
click on parametric analysis. A
new window will appear.

In this

window user has to select variable

In

options

table

that

appears,

enter minimum and maximum

value or range over which the
parameter is varied. User may
also like to specify step type
(linear, logarithmic, automatic
), size, or number of steps.

After making appropriate selection

as

per

requirement,

user

may

click on green icon (play sign)

from

parametric

analysis

window.
Example
frequency

of

AC

domain

Analysis

is:

behavior

of

circuits. To do AC Analysis user

Next the frequency

range is

selected - usually from 1 to 100M

(hz).
Under output option user can go
to

calculator

and

select

parameter to be viewed (e.g., for

gain,

ratio

of

output

node

Before running the simulation,

user has to assign appropriate
value to input (in frequency
domain).
This is done by selecting instance
and going to properties, then
assigning appropriate value to
parameter (e.g., ac magnitude).

Now,
icon)

as
is

earlier,

green

clicked

to

(play
start

simulation. Alternatively one can

click on Simulation icon of ADEL
window and select run.
If there are no errors, simulation
will

be

successful

and

the

e
v
a

n
fu

h
t
i
w

d
a
C

e
c
n
e