Jason Cook, with COEN IT, manages the ece-sim server for the department. You can reach him at coenits@cs.boisestate.edu
I get several errors when starting Cadence. These seem to change from year to year but they are usually harmless.
This generally happens when you start a new virtual desktop session through NoMachine without closing your files from before.
Any time you open a file, Cadence will "lock" for revision control. You can see if a file is locked from the library manager.
In the terminal, go to your Cadence directory and run this command:
find . -name *cdslck* -exec rm -rf {} +
This will search for any lock files (cdslck) and remove them.
Note: you can also copy the design files in Cadence as a workaround.
99% of the time you launched Cadence from the wrong directory and it's very hard to convince me or IT otherwise. The other 1% of the time you deleted your files. Luckily, the ece-sim server backs data up regularly so you may be able to retrieve lost (inadvertently deleted) files by contacting COEN IT.
You didn't attach the right technology library when you created your library.
For coursework, I recommend making a new library with the tech library attached and then copy any design files to the new library.
If you view the library properties, you should see that the 'techLibName' is set to gpdk045 if you attached the technology library properly. (See image).
From the ADE L window, go to Session -> Save State. I highly recommend saving it with the cell view so you can load it easily. If you need to copy the testbench, you will now have the option to copy the simulation state as well.
As of August 2023, this functionality is fairly straight forward in Maestro.
Note that these outputs will be re-loaded with your state, so be sure to save your ADE state. Also, Cadence does not normally save terminal currents.
The instructions will be posted in Lab 3 for the inverter layout.
Inverter layout 2021:
Inverter layout 2020:
Tiling Standard Cells:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W6FVFOxQj4&feature=youtu.be
Here are links to a few example videos:
Derivative Function: https://youtu.be/mSVr5eUnlxI
Parametric Sweep & Delay Function: https://youtu.be/tDJtV6LOi_8
In your Cadence directory, type
gedit .cdsenv &
In the new text file, copy and paste this text:
;default to next licence so Cadence stops bugging you
;this seemed to stop working in 2022
license VLSL_UseNextLicense string "always"
license ADEL_UseNextLicense string "always"
license VLSAdvOpt_UseNextLicense string "always"
license VLSXL_UseNextLicense string "always"
license VSEL_UseNextLicense string "always"
;setenv CDS_AUTO_64BIT ALL
;-> Use 64 binary for simulation
spectre.envOpts cmd64bit boolean t
;make the plots more legible by default
;width
viva.graphFrame width string "900"
;height
viva.graphFrame height string "700"
;background color
viva.graphFrame background string "white"
;foreground color
viva.graphFrame foreground string "black"
;axis font
viva.axis font string "Fixed [Misc],14,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0"
;marker font
viva.pointMarker font string "Fixed [Misc],14,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0"
viva.horizMarker font string "Fixed [Misc],14,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0"
viva.vertMarker font string "Fixed [Misc],14,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0"
viva.multiDeltaMarker font string "Fixed [Misc],14,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0"
viva.refPointMarker font string "Fixed [Misc],14,-1,5,50,0,0,0,0,0"
;line thickness
viva.trace lineThickness string "thick"
Disclaimer: many of these settings no longer do anything. However, the trace thickness setting still functions.
The standard cells do not have power supply connections drawn. To connect to them, there are two options:
(1) Use VDD! and VSS! (Top figure & Video Link: https://youtu.be/q6J72aPFQyg )
(2) Use netset. (Bottom figure)