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Extrowords #105: Generalissimo 75

Sample clues

5 across: Robbie Robertson song about Richard Manuel (6,5)

2 down: F5 on a keyboard (7)

10 across: Lionel Richie hit (5)

3 down: ALTAIR, for example (5)

16 down: The problem with Florida 2000 (5)

Extrowords © 2007 IndiaUncut.com. All rights reserved.
India Uncut * The IU Blog * Rave Out * Extrowords * Workoutable * Linkastic




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Extrowords #106: Generalissimo 76

Sample clues

9 across: Van Morrison classic from Moondance (7)

6 down: Order beginning with ‘A’ (12)

6 across: Fatal weakness (8,4)

19 across: Rolling Stones classic (12)

4 down: Massacre tool (8)

Extrowords © 2007 IndiaUncut.com. All rights reserved.
India Uncut * The IU Blog * Rave Out * Extrowords * Workoutable * Linkastic




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Cadence Genus Synthesis Solution – the Next Generation of RTL Synthesis

Physical synthesis has been around in various forms for many years. The basic idea is to bring some awareness of physical layout into synthesis. This week (June 3, 2015) Cadence is rolling out the Genus™ Synthesis Solution, a next-generation RTL synthesis tool that takes physical awareness in some new directions.

Here are four important things to know about Genus technology:

  • A massively parallel architecture improves turnaround time by up to 5X while maintaining quality of results
  • The Genus solution synthesizes up to 10M+ instances flat without impacting power, performance and area (PPA)
  • The Genus solution provides tight correlation with the Innovus Implementation System, using the same placement and routing algorithms
  • Globally focused PPA optimization saves up to 20% datapath area and power

Compared to previous-generation products such as the Cadence Encounter RTL Compiler Advanced Physical Option, the Genus solution approaches physical synthesis in a different way. The Encounter solution applied physical optimization “at the tail end of synthesis,” said David Stratman, senior principal product manager at Cadence. “We were doing a final incremental push, but we could only do so much, since we had locked in a lot of the earlier steps from a logical-only synthesis perspective.”

Genus Synthesis Solution supports the physical synthesis features in the previous Encounter solution, but it also brings the full physical scope upstream to RTL logic designers. “It’s going to enable the unit-level RTL designer to gain the benefits of physical synthesis without having to understand it,” Stratman said. As an example, users can apply generic (unmapped) placement at the earliest stages of synthesis, using a lightweight version of the Innovus placement engine. The bottom line: “Genus is a full solution where every step of synthesis can be done physically.”

Getting Massively Parallel

If you bring physical data into synthesis, you need a way to improve capacity and runtimes, especially with today’s gigantic advance-node SoCs. That’s why a massively parallel architecture is the cornerstone of the Genus solution. In this way, the Genus solution is following in the footsteps of the Innovus Implementation System, which also provides a massively parallel architecture.

Both the Innovus and Genus solutions can handle blocks of 10M instances flat. Given that SoCs today may have up to 100M instances, and often up to 50-100 top-level blocks, this is an important capability. Many tools today will only handle blocks of 1M instances. As a result, design teams often have to constrain block sizes.

Genus technology offers timing-driven, multi-level design partitioning across multiple threads and machines. It enables a near-linear runtime scaling without impacting PPA. According to Stratman, the Genus solution will scale well beyond 64 CPUs for a large design, with a “sweet spot” around 8-20 CPUs for today’s typical block sizes. Runs that used to take days, he noted, can now be done in hours.

As shown below, Genus technology leverages parallelism at three levels. The Genus solution can distribute design partitions to multiple threads or CPUs, and also supports local algorithm-level multithreading on each machine with shared memory. An adaptive scheduler ensures the best use of the available CPUs.


Fig. 1 – Genus Synthesis Solution provides three levels of parallelism

With its massive parallelism, Stratman said, Genus technology can obtain production-level quality of results (QoR) in runtimes typically seen in “prototype-level” synthesis runs. The “secret sauce,” he said, is in the partitioning. Cadence has found a way to generate partitions in a way that “slices the design more intelligently, and takes advantage of the Genus database to merge partitions without losing timing, power, or area,” Stratman said.

Playing in the Sandbox

In the Genus Synthesis Solution, a process called “sandboxing” allows any subset or partition of a design to be extracted along with full timing and a physical context. Optimization algorithms will treat a sandbox as a complete design.

The “Clipper” flow clips out or extracts the context of the larger SoC blocks. “It’s kind of a skeleton floorplan but it has all the timing information,” Stratman said. These extracted contexts include all the critical physical information to make the right RTL synthesis choices at the unit level. This information is used to streamline the handoffs between unit-level RTL designers, integration engineers, and implementation engineers. It’s a way for logic designers to gain some physical knowledge without having to be a physical synthesis expert, or without having to run a full top-level synthesis.

Fig. 2 – Clipper flow provides context for unit-level blocks

Correlation with Innovus Implementation System

Although Genus technology can work with third-party IC implementation systems, it shares algorithms and engines with Innovus Implementation System, as well as a common user interface. As shown below, both the Genus and Innovus solutions use a table-based Quantus QRC parasitic extraction, effective current source model (ECSM) and composite current source (CCS) delay calculations, and a unified global routing engine. Timing and wire length claim a 5% correlation.

Fig. 3 – Genus Synthesis Solution offers tight correlation with Innovus Implementation System

Genus technology doesn’t model everything to the same level of accuracy as the Innovus solution, however. “We chose to be lighter weight and more nimble to get expected runtimes,” Stratman said. A tight correlation is possible because the Genus and Innovus solutions use a similar code base. This correlation will be tighter than that between Encounter RTL Compiler Advanced Physical Option and the Encounter Digital Implementation System today.

Genus Synthesis Solution uses a new Hybrid Global Router that provides the ability to resolve congestion and construct layer-aware, timing-driven wire topologies. This accelerates analysis and debug, and reduces iterations. Users can avoid blockages and see a full Manhattan route as opposed to “flight lines.” Layer awareness is particularly important, given the large RC variations within the metal stack at advanced process nodes.

A version of the Innovus GigaPlace engine is available within the Genus solution. Here, users can do an RTL-level generic gate placement early in the synthesis flow (“generic gate” means there is no mapping into standard cell libraries, but there’s still an area estimate). This helps designers understand PPA tradeoffs earlier.

While users can go all the way to a design-rule “legal” placement with Genus Synthesis Solution, this isn’t generally recommended. “You can do a placement and use the same algorithms as GigaPlace and get a nice correlation without all the runtimes and additional steps of doing a fully legal placement,” Stratman said.

So where does Genus technology end and Innovus technology begin? That’s up to the user. You could use the Genus solution for logical synthesis and run all physical implementation in the Innovus system. If you run physical synthesis within the Genus solution, there’s more work earlier in the flow, but you get better insights into downstream problems and reduce iterations.

“Physical synthesis should be no more than 2X [runtime] of logic synthesis,” Stratman said. “All of the runtime that moves up should be shaved off of the place-and-route stages, because now you can do lightweight incremental optimization and incremental placement. The overall flow should be runtime neutral or better.”

Be Globally Aware

Finally, Genus Synthesis Solution offers a globally focused early PPA optimization across the whole datapath, delivering up to a 20% area reduction in the datapath. Stratman noted that this capability is a follow-on to an RCP feature called “globally focused mapping” that can determine the best cells to use in a library. What’s new with the Genus solution is that this concept has been applied at the arithmetic level.

For example, there are many ways to configure a multiplier – you may want to prioritize speed, power, or size. In the past, Stratman noted, synthesis tools have not been very good at globally optimizing the architecture selection for PPA optimization. “We can [now] find the most efficient global datapath implementation for a given region,” he said.

For further information about the Cadence Genus Synthesis Solution, including a datasheet and technical product brief, see this landing page.

Richard Goering

Related Blog Posts

Designer View – RTL Synthesis Success Strategies at 28nm and Below

Front-End Design Summit: The Future of RTL Synthesis and Design for Test

Physically-Aware Synthesis Helps Design a New Computer Architecture

 




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DAC 2015: Google Smart Contact Lens Project Stretches Limits of IC Design

There has been so much hype about the “Internet of Things” (IoT) that it is refreshing to hear about a cutting-edge development project that can bring concrete benefits to millions of people. That project is the ongoing development of the Google Smart Contact Lens, and it was detailed in a keynote speech June 8 at the Design Automation Conference (DAC 2015).

The keynote speech was given by Brian Otis (right), a director at Google and a research associate professor at the University of Washington. The “smart lens” that the project envisions is essentially a disposable contact lens that fits on an eye and continuously monitors blood glucose levels. This is valuable information for anyone who has, or may someday have, diabetes.

Since he was speaking to an engineering audience, Otis focused on the challenges behind building such a device, and described some of the strategies taken by Google and its partner, Novartis. The project required new approaches to miniaturization, low-power design, and connectivity, as well as a comfortable and reliable silicon-to-human interface. Otis discussed the “why” as well and showed how the device could potentially save or improve millions of lives.

Millions of Users

First, a bit of background. Google announced the smart lens project in a blog post in January 2014. Since then it has been featured in news outlets including Forbes, Time, and the Wall Street Journal. In March 2015, Time reported that Google has been granted a patent for a smart contact lens.

The smart lens monitors the level of blood glucose by looking at its concentration in tears. The lens includes a wireless system on chip (SoC) and a miniaturized glucose sensor. A tiny pinhole in the lens allows tear fluid to seep into the sensor, and a wireless antenna handles communications to the wireless devices.

“We figure that if we can solve a huge problem, it is probably worth doing,” Otis said. “Diabetes is one example.” He noted 382 million people worldwide have diabetes today, and that 35% of the U.S. population may be pre-diabetic. Today, diabetics must *** their fingers to test blood glucose levels, a procedure that is invasive, painful, and subject to infrequent monitoring.

According to Otis, the smart contact lens represents a “new category of wearable devices that are comfortable, inexpensive, and empowering.” The lens does sensor data logging and uses a portable instrument to measure glucose levels. It is thin, cheap, and disposable, he said.

Moreover, the lens is not just for people already diagnosed with diabetes—it’s for anyone who is pre-diabetic, or may be at risk due to genetic predisposition. “If we are pro-active rather than re-active,” Otis said, “Instead of waiting until a person has full-fledged diabetes, we could make a huge difference in peoples’ lives and lower the costs of treating them.”

Technical Challenges

No one has built anything quite like the smart lens, so researchers at Google and Novartis are treading new ground. Otis identified three key challenges:

  • Miniaturization: Everything must be really small—the SoC, the passive components, the power supply. Components must be flexible and cheap, and support thin-film integration.
  • Platform: Google has developed a reusable platform that includes tiny, always-on wireless sensors, ultra low-power components, and standards-based interfaces.
  • Data: Researchers are looking for the best ways to get the resulting data into a mobile device and onto the cloud.

Comfort is another concern. “This is not intended to be for the most severe cases,” Otis said. “This is intended to be for all of us as a pro-active way of improving our lifestyles.”

The platform provides a bidirectional encrypted wireless link, integrated power management, on-chip memory, standards-based RFID link, flexible sensor interface, high-resolution potentiostat sensor, and decoupling capacitors. Most of these capabilities are provided by the standard CMOS SoC, which is a couple hundred microns on a side and only “tens of microns” thick.

Otis noted that unpackaged ICs are typically 250 microns thick when they come back from the foundry. Thus, post-processing is needed so the IC will fit into a contact lens.

Furthermore, the design requires precision analog circuitry and additional environmental sensors. “Some of this stuff sounds mundane but it is really hard, especially when you find out you can’t throw large decoupling capacitors and bypass capacitors onto a board, and all that has to be re-integrated into the chip,” Otis said.

Sensor Challenges

Getting information from the human body is challenging. The smart lens sensor does a direct chemical measurement on the surface of the eye. The sensor is designed to work with very low glucose concentrations. This is because the concentration of glucose in tears is an order of magnitude lower than it is in blood.

In brief, the sensor has two parallel plates that are coated with an enzyme that converts glucose into hydrogen peroxide, which flows around the electrodes of the sensor. This is actually a fairly standard way of doing glucose monitoring. However, the smart lens sensor has two electrodes compared to the typical three.

In manufacturing, it is essential to keep costs low. Otis outlined a three-step manufacturing process:

  • Start with the bottom layer, and mold a contact lens in the way you typically would.
  • Add the electronics package on top of that layer.
  • Build a second layer that encapsulates the electronics and provides the curvature needed for comfort and vision correction.

Beyond the technical challenges are the “clinical” challenges of working with human beings. The human body “is messy and very variable,” Otis said. This variability affects sensor performance and calibration, RF/electro-magnetic performance, system reliability, and comfort.

The final step is making use of the data. “We need to get the data from the device into a phone, and then display it so users can visualize the data,” Otis said. This provides “actionable feedback” to the person who needs it. Eventually, the data will need to be stored in the cloud.

As he concluded his talk, Otis noted that the platform his group developed may have many applications beyond glucose monitoring. “There is a lot you can do with a bunch of logic and sensing capability,” he said, “and there are hundreds of biomarkers beyond glucose.” Clearly this will be an interesting technology to watch.

Richard Goering

Related Blog Post

Gary Smith at DAC 2015: How EDA Can Expand Into New Directions




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DAC 2015: Jim Hogan Warns of “Looming Crisis” in Automotive Electronics

EDA investor and former executive Jim Hogan is optimistic about automotive electronics, but he has some concerns as well. At the recent Design Automation Conference (DAC 2015), he delivered a speech titled “The Looming Quality, Reliability, and Safety Crisis in Automotive Electronics...Why is it and what can we do to avoid it?"

Hogan gave the keynote speech for IP Talks!, a series of over 30 half-hour presentations located at the ChipEstimate.com booth. Presenters included ARM, Cadence, eSilicon, Kilopass, Sidense, SilabTech, Sonics, Synopsys, True Circuits, and TSMC. Held in an informal setting, the talks addressed the challenges faced by SoC design teams and showed how the latest developments in semiconductor IP can contribute to design success.

Jim Hogan delivers keynote speech at DAC 2015 IP Talks!

Hogan talked about several phases of automotive electronics. These include assisted driving to avoid collisions, controlled automation of isolated tasks such as parallel parking, and, finally, fully autonomous vehicles, which Hogan expects to see in 15 to 20 years. The top immediate priorities for automotive electronics designers, he said, will be government regulation, fuel economy, advanced safety, and infotainment.

More Code than a Boeing 777

According to Hogan, today’s automobiles use 50-100 microcontrollers per car, resulting in a worldwide automotive semiconductor market of around $40 billion. The global market for advanced automotive electronics is expected to reach $240 billion by 2020. Software is growing faster in the automotive market than it is in smartphones. Hogan quoted a Ford vice president who observed that there are more lines of code in a Ford Fusion car than a Boeing 777 airplane.

One unique challenge for automotive electronics designers is long-term reliability. This is because a typical U.S. car stays on the road for 15 years, Hogan said. Americans are holding onto new vehicles for a record 71.4 months.

Another challenge is regulatory compliance. Aeronautics is highly regulated from manufacturing to air traffic control, and the same will probably be true of automated cars. Hogan speculated that the Department of Transportation will be the regulatory authority for autonomous cars. Today, automotive electronics providers must comply with the ISO26262 automotive functional safety specification.

So where do we go from here? “We’ve got to change our mindset,” Hogan said. “We’ve got to focus on safety and reliability and demand a different kind of engineering discipline.” You can watch Hogan’s entire presentation by clicking on the video icon below, or clicking here. You can also watch other IP Talks! videos from DAC 2015 here.

https://youtu.be/qL4kAEu-PNw

 

Richard Goering

Related Blog Posts

DAC 2015: See the Latest in Semiconductor IP at “IP Talks!”

Automotive Functional Safety Drives New Chapter in IC Verification




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About using Liberate to create .lib for a cell with two separate outputs.

Hello, my name is Hsukang. I want to use Liberate to create a .lib file for the following circuit. This is a scan FF with two separate outputs.   The question is that no matter how I described its function, the synthesis tool said its a manformed scan FF.  Has anyone ever encountered anything like this?How should I describe the function correctly?I found that almost standard flip-flop cells are with only one output Q or have Qn at the same time. Does Liberate support scan flip-flop cells with two separate outputs ?

Thanks.





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Voltus power analysis

Hi,

I was wondering if it is possible to save the coordinates of each stripe and row of the power grid 

and if it is possible to find out the effective resistance between two given points using Voltus

My goal is to built a resistance model of the power grid

Thanks




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Can Voltus do an IR drop analysis on a negative supply?

I have been using Voltus to do IR drop analysis but I got caught on one signal. It is negative. When I use:

set_pg_nets -net negsupply -voltage -5 -threshold -4.5 -package_net_name NEGSUP -force

Voltus dies with a backtrace. Looking at the beginning of the trace you see it suggests that the problem is it set maximum to -5 and minimum to 0. Is there another way to express a negative voltage supply for IR drop analysis?




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About modus design constraints

Hi! 

In my design, there is an one hold violation on scan path, test data is corrupted during scan cycles (when i run verilog simulation of test vectors). I created constraint 'falsepath' to 'TI' input of violated flop and load it into Modus, but this does not have effect.

Can enyone explain to me, does 'falsepath' constraint affects scan path (from Q to TI/SI input, i.e. during SCAN procedure) or this constraint is only for functional mode (ie affects TEST cycle only - to 'D' input)?

I hope resolve this problem this by using some modus design constraints or any other method.




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How to place pins inside of the edge in Innovus

Hi,

I am doing layout for a mixed-signal circuit in Innovus. I want to create a digital donut style of layout (i.e. put analog circuit in the middle, and circle analog part with digital circuits).

To do that, I need to place some pins inside the edge to connect to analog circuit (as shown in my attachment), but the problems is that I cannot place pins inside the edge by using "pin editor" within Innovus. Any suggestions to place pins inside?

Thank you so much for your time and effort.




si

stretching LOW pulse signal for extra 100ns

Hello, i have a logic output from a D-flipflop which generates a reset signal with variable pulse width. I want to stretch this LOW pulse width with an extra 100ns added to the original pulse width digitally, is there any way to do that?




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Post-synthesis Simulation Failing when lp_insert_clock_gating true

When I enable clock gating in my synthesis flow (using Genus 18.15), my simulation (using Xcelium) on the post-synthesis netlist fails. The simulation succeeds pre-synthesis and also if I remove clock-gating in the design. I use set_db  lp_insert_clock_gating true to enable clock gating during synthesis. I printed out some of the signals from the netlist and can see where it fails (it incorrectly writes a register). However, I am not sure how to solve this issue or what I should be looking for. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.




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How to customize default_hdl_checks/rules in CCD conformal constraint designer

Dear all,

I am using Conformal Constraint Designer (Version 17.1) to analyse a SystemVerilog based design.

While performing default HDL checks it finds  some violations (issues) in RTL and complains (warnings, etc) about RTL checks and others.

My questions:

Is there any directive which I can add to RTL (system Verilog) so that particular line of code or signal is ignored or not checked for HDL or RTL checks.

I can set ignore rules in rule manager (gui) but it does not seems effective if code line number changes or new signals are introduced.

What is the best way to customize default_hdl_rules ?

I will be grateful for your guidance.

Thanks for your time.




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SystemVerilog package used inside VHDL-2008 design?

Hi,

Is it possible to use a SystemVerilog package which is compiled into a library and then use it in a VHDL-2008 design file? Is such mixed-language flow supported?

I'm considering the latest versions of Incisive / Xcelium available today (Oct 2019).

Thank you,

Michal




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How to dump waveform, fsdb in SimVision?

As title,

How to dump waveform, fsdb in SimVision? 
(Simulation Analysis Environment  SimVision(64) 18.09-s001)
Please help.

Thanks.




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Simvision

Unable to open Source Browser. It goes into an infinite loop of loading, with the hour glass displayed and message "loading snapshot".

The deisgn was compilied with "15.20.s028" and that is the same version of simvision I am using to open the code.

The waveform viewer is uo and so is the Design Browser. I can take signals from Design Broweser and view the waveform viewer,

but the source brower hangs.

What should I be looking at to resolve this situation. Many of us at the company are sufferring from it. Colossal waste of time.




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About SDF file after synthesis in Genus Tool

hello sir this is Ganesh  from NIT Hamirpur pursuing MTech in VLSI. I have doubt regarding SDF i'm using genus tool for synthesis & after synthesis when i'm generating SDF it is giving delays by default for maximum values but i want all the delays like minimum:Typical:Maximum how can i do this. Is there any provision to set PVT values manually for SDF generation so that i can get all the delay values.




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Have You Tried the New Transmission Line Library (rfTlineLib)?

Happy New Year! Have you tried the new Transmission Line Library (rfTlineLib) yet? In case you missed it, rfTlineLib was introduced in IC 6.1.6 ISR1 plus MMSIM 12.1.1 -or- MMSIM13.1. You may wonder....Why should I use the new rfTlineLib ? Well...(read more)




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New Memory Estimator Helps Determine Amount of Memory Required for Large Harmonic Balance Simulations

Hi Folks, A question that I've often received from designers, "Is there a method to determine the amount of memory required before I submit a job? I use distributed processing and need to provide an estimate before submitting jobs." The answer...(read more)




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Broadband SPICE -- New Tool for S-Parameter Simulation in Spectre RF

Hi All, Here's another great new feature that I've found very helpful... Broadband SPICE is a new tool for S-parameter simulation in Spectre RF. In the MMSIM13.1.1 ( MMSIM13.1 USR1) release (now available on http://downloads.cadence.com), a...(read more)




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See Cadence RF Technologies at IEEE International Microwave Symposium 2014

RF Enthusiasts, Come connect with Cadence RF experts and discover the latest advances in Cadence RF technologies, including Spectre RF at the IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS) 2014. This year, IMS will be held in Tampa, Florida. Cadence...(read more)




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Noise Simulation in Spectre RF Using Improved Pnoise/Hbnoise and Direct Plot Form Options

Did you check out the new Pnoise and Hbnoise Choosing Analyses forms in the MMSIM 15.1 and IC6.1.7 /ICADV12.2 releases? These forms have been significantly improved and simplified. The Direct Plot Form has also been enhanced and is much easy to use....(read more)




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7 Habits of Highly Successful S-Parameters: How to Simulate Those Pesky S-Parameters in a Time Domain Simulator

Hello Spectre Users, Simulating S-parameters in a time domain (transient, periodic steady state) simulator has been and continues to be a challenge for many analog and RF designers. I'm often asked: What is required in order to achieve accurate...(read more)




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Link to: 7 Habits of Highly Successful S-Parameters: How to Simulate Those Pesky S-Parameters in a Time Domain Simulator

Hi All, If you were unable to attend IMS 2017 in June 2017, the IMS MicroApp “7 Habits of Highly Successful S-Parameters” is on our Cadence website. On Cadence Online Support , the in-depth AppNote is here: 20466646 . Best regards, Tawna...(read more)




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Triple Beat Analysis: What, Why & How?

The Triple Beat analysis is similar to Rapid IP2/IP3 analysis except that it uses three tones instead of two. It is used in cases where two closely-spaced small-signal inputs from a transmitter leak in to the receiver along with an intended small-signal RF input signal. (read more)




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How to Set Up and Plot Large-Signal S Parameters?

Large-signal S-parameters (LSSPs) are an extension of small-signal S-parameters and are defined as the ratio of reflected (or transmitted) waves to incident waves. (read more)




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Multiple commands using ipcBeginProcess

Hi,

I am trying to use "sed -e 's " from SKILL code to edit unix file "FileA", to replace 3 words in the 2nd line.

How to run below multiple commands using  ipcBeginProcess, Should I use ipcWait or ipcCloseProcess ?

Using && to combine , will that work as I have to work serially on each command. ?

With below code only the first command gets executed. Please advise.

FileA="/user/tmp/text1.txt"

sprintf(Command1 "sed -e '2s/%s/%s/g' %s > %s" comment1 get(form concat("dComment" RDWn))->value FileA FileA)
cid = ipcBeginProcess(Command1)


sprintf(Command2 "sed -e '2s/%s/%s/g' %s > %s"  Time getCurrentTime() FileA FileA)
cid1 = ipcBeginProcess(Command2)


sprintf(Command3 "sed -e '2s/%s/%s/g' %s > %s"  comment2 get(form concat("Duser" RDWn))->value FileA FileA)
cid2 = ipcBeginProcess(Command3)

Thanks,

Ajay




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How to get test name from test session object?

Hi,

I have a test session object that I am getting like this:

maeTstSession=maeGetTestSession(test ?session session)

Is it possible to get the test name from this object? I am asking because this object passed to several levels of functions and I don't want to pass an additional argument with the test name




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Parasitic node coordinates

Howdy,

            In the netlist generated after parasitic extraction, nodes have been added at fracture points to add parasitic devices. For example, in the image below, I'm referring to the nodes IN#1 and IN#2. Is there a way to determine their co-ordinates relative to the layout co-ordinate system? I could not find them in the Skill command reference and when I query the parasitic elements in the extracted view, it gives the graphical pin locations of the elements rather than the physical.

Thanks

Audi




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skill ocean: how to get instances of type hisim_hv from simulation results?

Hi there,

I'm running a transient simulation, and I want to get all instances with model implementation hisim_hv because after that I want to process the data and to adjust some parameters for this kind of devices before dumping the values.

What is the easiest/fastest way to get those instances in skill/ocean?

What I did until now: 

- save the final OP of the simulation and then in skill

openResults()
selectResults('tranOp)
report(?type "hisim_hv" ?param "vgs")

Output seems to be promising, and looks like I can redirect it to a file and after that I have to parse the file.

Is there other simple way? I mean to not save data to file and to parse it.

Eventually having an instance name, is it possible to get the model implementation (hsim_hv, bsim4, etc..)? 

Best Regards,

Marcel




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DAC 2019 Preview – Multi-MHz Prototyping for Billion Gate Designs, AI, ML, 5G, Safety, Security and More

Vegas, here we come. All of us fun EDA engineers at once. Be prepared, next week’s Design Automation Conference will be busy! The trends I had outlined after last DAC in 2018—system design, cloud, and machine learning—have...(read more)




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Visibility to "component value" property in Edit/Properties dialog?

Hi, I want to add values to components in my SiP design such as 1nF or 15nH. There is already in existence a COMP_VALUE property reserved for this as shown during BOM generation. This property is not visible under the Edit/Properties dialog for component or symbol find filters. We have already created user properties called COMP_MFG and COMP_MFG_PN that it editable at a component level. When we try to add COMP_VALUE it is reported as a reserved name in Cadence but this name is not listed in the properties dialog. Is there a way to turn on the visibility and editablility of this or other hidden reserved Cadence property names? How can I assign a string value to the COMP_VALUE property?

Thanks




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Chiplet Interface for Heterogeneous SiP

https://community.cadence.com/cadence_blogs_8/b/breakfast-bytes/posts/cowos-info

I came across cadence old article that discussing about TSMC advance packaging technology such as InFO & CoWoS. However, I couldn’t find information such as what I/O interface standard is required to realize this multi-chip SiP. For example, Intel using their proprietary AIB interface for EMIB solution.

Besides, any idea if inFO also able to supports multi-chip integration for older node process to new node process such as 40-nm to 16-nm?




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About Degassing Hole

I use "Degassing" function in APD. It provides the options "Even Layers" and "Odd Layers". 

My first question is that is there any additional setting to choose the specific layer? 

The second question is that  is there any way to select a range to place degassing hoe? I don't want to place holes at the whole layer.

Thanks!  




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SIP to Allegro pcb designer 17.2 ver

Iam new to Package design SIP tool.

I had created the DIE package using SIP. Kindly give the direction how to map the created DIE package in Allegro pcb editor 17.2 ver.

In Allegro design capture CIS tool we had created the schematics file. The DIE which we are using is having 100pins, We had created the DIE in SIP tool. Out of 100 Die pins, only 90 pins is getting connected others are NC pins. We had mapped the Bond fingers only for 90 Die pins in the SIP package. But in the Schematics we had created the DIE logic symbol for 100 pins. Please advice whether we can able to import the DIE package in the allegro tool. In this scenario while importing the 100 pin DIE package in allegro pcb editor will the net connectivity will be shown from the DIE pad to Bond fingers and from Bond fingers to respective components? Please suggest whether we are going in the right path or please advice what we have to proceed with.

Thanks in Advance,

Rajesh




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BoardSurfers: Allegro In-Design Impedance Analysis: Screen your Routed Design Quickly

Have you ever manufactured a printed circuit board (PCB) without analyzing all the routed signal traces? Most designers will say “yes, all the time.” Trace widths and spacing are set by constraints,...

[[ Click on the title to access the full blog on the Cadence Community site. ]]




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My Journey - From a Layout Designer to an Application Engineer

Today, we are living in the era where whatever we think of as an idea is not far from being implemented…thanks to machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) entering into the...

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Whiteboard Wednesdays - Low Power SoC Design with High-Level Synthesis

In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesdays video, Dave Apte discusses how to create the lowest power design possible by using architectural exploration and Cadence’s Stratus HLS solution....

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2019 HF1 Release for Clarity, Celsius, and Sigrity Tools Now Available

The 2019 HF1 production release for Clarity, Celsius, and Sigrity Tools is now available for download at Cadence Downloads . SIGRITY2019 HF1 For information about supported platforms, compatibility...

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Signoff in the Cloud

Here's a nightmare. You sign off your design with the usual margins. It is a 7nm chip that is meant to run at 3GHz. But it only runs at 2.7GHz. You get Cadence to help you work out what is going...

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Wally Rhines: Predicting Semiconductor Business Trends After Moore's Law

I recently attended a webinar presented by Wally Rhines about his new book, Predicting Semiconductor Business Trends After Moore's Law . Wally was the CEO of Mentor, as you probably know. Now he...

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IC Packagers: Advanced In-Design Symbol Editing

We have talked about aspects of the in-design symbol edit application mode in the past. This is the environment specific to the Allegro® Package Designer Plus layout tools allowing you to work...

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BoardSurfers: Training Insights: Placing Parts Manually Using Design for Assembly (DFA) Rules

If I talk about my life, it was much simpler when I used to live with my parents. They took good care of whatever I wanted - in fact, they still do. But now, I am living alone, and sometimes I buy...

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Tales from DAC: Semiconductor Design in MY Cloud? It's More Likely Than You Think

Everyone keeps talking about “the cloud” this and “the cloud” that these days—but you’re a semiconductor designer. Everyone keeps saying “the cloud” is revolutionizing all aspects of electronics design—but what does it mean for you? Cadence's own Tom Hackett discussed this in a presentation at the Cadence Theater during DAC 2019.

What people refer to as “the cloud” is commonly divided into three categories: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and software as a Service (SaaS). With IaaS, you bring your own software—i.e. loading your owned or appropriately licensed tools onto cloud hardware that you rent by the minute. This service is available from providers like Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Service, and Microsoft Azure. In PaaS (also available from the major cloud providers), you create your own offering using capabilities and a software design environment provided by the cloud vendor that makes subsequent scaling and distribution really easy because the service was “born in the cloud”.  Lastly, there’s SaaS, where the cloud is used to access and manage functionality and data without requiring users to set up or manage any of the underlying infrastructure used to provide it.  SaaS companies like Workday and Salesforce deliver their value in this manner.  The Cadence Cloud portfolio makes use of both IaaS and SaaS, depending on the customers’ interest.  Cadence doesn’t have PaaS offerings because our customers don’t create their own EDA software from building blocks that Cadence provides.

All of these designations are great, but you’re a semiconductor designer. Presumably you use Workday or some similar software, or have in the past when you were an intern, but what about all of your tools? Those aren’t on the cloud.

Wait—actually, they are.

Using EDA tools in the cloud allows you to address complexity and data explosion issues you would have to simply struggle through before. Since you don’t have to worry about having the compute-power on-site, you can use way more power than you could before. You may be wary about this new generation of cloud-based tools, but don’t worry: the old rules of cloud computing no longer apply. Cloud capacity is far larger than it used to be, and it’s more secure. Updates to scheduling software means that resource competition isn’t as big of a deal anymore. Clouds today have nearly unlimited capacity—they’re so large that you don’t ever need to worry about running out of space.

The vast increase in raw compute available to designers through the cloud makes something like automotive functional safety verification, previously an extremely long verification task, doable in a reasonable time frame. With the cloud, it’s easy to scale the amount of compute you’re using to fit your task—whether it’s an automotive functional safety-related design or a small one.

Nowadays, the Cadence Cloud Portfolio brings you the best and brightest in cloud technology. No matter what your use case is, the Cadence Cloud Portfolio has a solution that works for you. You can even access the Palladium Cloud, allowing you to try out the benefits of an accelerator without having to buy one.

Cloud computing is the future of EDA. See the future here.




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BoardSurfers: Training Insights: Creating Custom Reports using ‘Extract’

You must deal with many reports in your daily life – for your health, financial accounts, credit, your child’s academic records, and the count goes on. Ever noticed that these reports contain many details, most of which you don’t wa...(read more)



  • Allegro PCB Editor

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BoardSurfers: Creating Footprints Using Templates in Library Creator

With ECAD-MCAD Library Creator, you can easily create footprints for your parts using thousands of ready-to-use templates that are provided with the tool.(read more)




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BoardSurfers: Footprints for Silicon - Two Steps to Creating PCB Footprints

Longfellow's metaphorical footprints on the sands of time is more profound and eternal no doubt but a footprint for silicon (a form of sand isn't it?) is as important for PCB designers. So, here we will list the steps to create a fo...(read more)



  • Allegro PCB Editor

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BoardSurfers: Allegro In-Design IR Drop Analysis: Essential for Optimal Power Delivery Design

All PCB designers know the importance of proper power delivery for successful board design. Integrated circuits need the power to turn on, and ICs with marginal power delivery will not operate reliably. Since power planes can...(read more)




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BoardSurfers: Training Insights: Loading SKILL Programs Automatically

Imagine you are on a vacation with your family, and suddenly, your phone starts buzzing. You pick it up and what are you looking at is a bunch of pending, unanswered e-mails. You start recollecting the checklist you had made before taking off only to realize that you haven’t put on the automatic replies! (read more)




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BoardSurfers: Five Easy Steps to Create Footprints Using Packages in Library Creator

In my previous blog, I talked about creating a footprint using an existing template in Allegro ECAD-MCAD Library Creator and explained how easily you can access an existing template and create a package from it by just clicking a button. In this blog...(read more)