Hearing is one of the most essential senses for engaging with the world. It enables us to converse, appreciate music, and remain alert to our surroundings. Hearing loss is a prevalent issue affecting millions of individuals globally and disconnecting them from a world where sound is vital to others and the environment. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 5% of the global population requires hearing rehabilitation, a striking statistic highlighting this issue's pervasive nature. Technology has transformed audiology, evolving from simple ear trumpets to sophisticated modern hearing aids. This advancement began with the invention of the transistor, paving the way for devices that are fully wearable inside or behind the ear. Although hearing aids have been available for many years, historically, access to these critical devices has been insufficient, resulting in numerous individuals lacking the necessary support. However, recent advances in hearing aid technology promise improved acoustic experiences, employing modern techniques like binaural processing and neural networks. These innovations demand sophisticated architecture to balance high memory needs with low power consumption in a user-friendly design. Cadence is at the forefront of this technological evolution, offering tools and IP solutions that enhance the accessibility, efficiency, and impact of hearing aids, paving the way for a more inclusive future. This blog explores how Cadence's advanced DSPs are transforming hearing aid design and making them more accessible, efficient, and impactful. Hearing Aids: A Testament to Human Ingenuity The transition from analo g to digital technology in the late 20th century further transformed hearing aids, offering superior sound quality, customization, and the ability to connect to various electronic devices, thus enhancing the user experience markedly. Today's hearing aids are highly effective, versatile, and nearly invisible, a significant advancement from early attempts to address hearing loss. They also feature advanced noise cancellation and connectivity options, allowing users to integrate seamlessly into the digital world. This progression not only highlights the industry's commitment to improving user experience and accessibility but also offers a glimpse into a future where hearing loss is no longer a barrier. Challenges Despite advancements and sophistication, there are several challenges related to hearing aid design and adoption. Users demand smaller, more discreet devices that don't sacrifice performance. While the shift towards sleeker designs is aesthetically pleasing, it introduces substantial complexities in product design. Designers face the challenges of integrating essential components, such as batteries and peripherals, into increasingly compact spaces. Power consumption remains a critical concern, as these devices must remain operational throughout the day. Leveraging neural networks to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for better quality demands additional memory capacity. Consequently, there is a pressing need for flexible, low-power architectures that incorporate all necessary memory and peripherals without compromising the device’s compact size. Adopting AI for adjusting hearing aid volume to fit an individual's specific auditory requirements is a significant challenge and demands more memory and effort. Besides this, reliability and cost are significant challenges for manufacturers. Cadence's Role in Transforming Hearing Aids In hearing aid development, the capacity to evaluate the energy efficiency of SoCs across different frequencies in real time is crucial. These applications demand cohesive, energy-efficient solutions that can uphold high performance. The Cadence Tensilica HiFi and Fusion F1 DSP family emphasize minimal power usage while providing robust performance, ideally suited for a wide range of audio and voice applications. The Cadence Tensilica HiFi DSP family, a high-performance audio technology with AI acceleration and advanced DSP capability, offers feature-rich audio, speech, and imaging for wearables, automotive, home entertainment, digital assistants, and ASR. The Tensilica HiFi DSP family accelerates innovation with its comprehensive instruction set and supports fixed- and floating-point data types. Simplifying software development, it offers C/C++ programming, an auto-vectorizing compiler, and a rich DSP software library through the Cadence Tensilica Xplorer development environment. With the flexibility to customize and enhance performance through additional instructions and better I/O bandwidth, the Tensilica HiFi and Fusion DSP families offer a robust, low-energy audio solution compatible across an expansive software ecosystem for various applications and devices. Conclusion Technological advancements are driving hearing aid evolution; the future of hearing aids lies in further miniaturization and functionality enhancement. Cadence's ongoing innovations aim to improve signal processing and noise reduction, even in challenging environments. The integration of neural networks promises more apparent sound transmission and greater adaptability. Cadence is working on improving how these devices process signals and reduce noise and has initiated a collaborative venture with distinguished entities like GlobalFoundries (GF), Hoerzentrum Oldenburg gGmbH, and Leibniz University Hannover. This collaboration has borne fruit in the form of the industry's first binaural hearing aid system-on-chip (SoC) prototype, the Smart Hearing Aid Processor ( SmartHeAP ). Learn More Cadence, GlobalFoundries, Hoerzentrum Oldenburg and Leibniz University Hannover Collaborate to Advance Hearing Aid Technology Cadence Extends Battery Life and Improves User Experience for Next-Generation Hearables, Wearables and Always-On Devices Advancing the Future of Hearing Aids with Cadence Bluetooth LE Audio, Hearing Aids, and Mindtree

Celebrated for their unparalleled engineering expertise and pioneering mindset, McLaren stands at the forefront of innovation. Theirs is a story of engineering excellence, a symphony of speed driven by the relentless pursuit of aerodynamic perfection. In 2022, Cadence was named an Official Technology Partner of the McLaren Formula 1 Team. The multi-year partnership between McLaren and Cadence has helped redefine the boundaries of what’s possible in Formula 1 aerodynamics. Shaving off a fraction of a second per lap can make all the difference in a podium finish, and track conditions bring layers of complexity to the design process. That’s where Cadence steps in with Fidelity CFD Software. The Cadence Fidelity CFD software is a comprehensive suite of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions. Access to this solution allows the McLaren F1 team to accelerate their CFD workflow, enabling them to assess designs faster and more precisely. It also allows them to investigate airflows and tackle design projects that require advanced compute power and precision. With Fidelity Flow’s solver capabilities and Python-driven automation, Cadence’s CFD software aids the advancement of aerodynamic simulations that go into McLaren’s F1 cars. With a customized, high-quality, multi-block meshing strategy and optimized workflow, Fidelity CFD makes design exploration more automated, thereby helping establish a strong foundation for McLaren’s future success on the track. Lando Norris, F1 driver for McLaren, said, “As a driver, I saw the impact of every decision made in the design room in every simulation run. The work on aerodynamics directly translates to the confidence I have on track, the grip in every turn, and the speed on every straight. This partnership, this technology, is what will give us the edge. It's not just about battling opponents; it's about mastering the airflow around the car in every driving condition on every track.” If you’re interested in learning more about the importance of CFD in McLaren’s racing success, be sure to attend our upcoming webinar, “CFD and Experimental Aerodynamics in McLaren F1 Engineering.” Christian Schramm, McLaren’s director of advanced projects, and Cadence’s Benjamin Leroy will be the main speakers for the event. Register today to secure your spot! For more insights on the Formula 1 car design process, take a look at the case study, “ McLaren Formula 1 Car Aerodynamics Simulation with Cadence Fidelity CFD Software .” Learn more about how McLaren and Cadence are engineering success . “Designed with Cadence” is a series of videos that showcases creative products and technologies that are accelerating industry innovation using Cadence tools and solutions. For more Designed with Cadence videos, check out the Cadence website and YouTube channel .

An increasing number of embedded designs are multi-core systems. At the pre-silicon stage, customers use a simulation platform for architectural exploration and software development. Architects want to quantify the impact of the number of cores, local memory size, system memory latency, and interconnect bandwidth. Software teams wish to have a practical development platform that is not excruciatingly slow. This blog shares a recipe for simulating Cadence DSPs in a multi-core design as separate x86 processes. The purpose is to reduce simulation time for customers with simple multi-core models where cores interact only through shared memory. It uses a Vision Q8 multi-core design to share details of the XTSC (Xtensa SystemC) model, software application, commands, and debugging. Note the details shared are for a simulation run on an Ubuntu Linux machine, Xtensa tools version RI-2023.11, and core configuration XRC_Vision_Q8_AODP. Complex vs. Simple Model A complex model (Figure 1) is one in which one core accesses another core's local memory, or there are inter-core interrupts. Simulation runs as a single x86 process. Figure 1 A simple model (Figure 2) is one in which cores interact only through shared memory. Shared memory is a file on the Linux host. Figure 2 Multiple x86 Process – Simple Model As depicted in Figure 3, each core is simulated using a separate x86 process. Cores use barriers and locks placed in shared memory for synchronization and data sharing. Locks are placed in un-cached memory that support exclusive subordinate access. The XTSC memory component, xtsc_memory , supports exclusive subordinate access. Cadence software tools provide a way to define memory regions as cached or uncached. For more details, please refer to Cadence's Linker Support Packages (LSP) Reference Manual for Xtensa SDK . Figure 3 Demo Application A demo application performs a 128x128 matrix multiplication. Work is divided so that each of the 32 cores computes four rows of the 128x128 result matrix. Cores use barriers to synchronize. Cadence tools provide APIs for synchronization and locking. Please refer to Cadence's System Software Reference Manual for more details. Note without a higher-level lock, prints from all cores will get mixed up. Therefore, in the demo application, only core#0 prints. SystemC Simulation The following sample command runs the 32-core simulation in such a way that each core is a separate x86 process. It runs a matrix multiplication application in cycle-accurate mode with logging off. >>for (( N=0; N >xtsc-run -define=NumCores=32 -define=N=0 -define=LOGGING=0 -define=TURBO=0 --xxdebug=sync -i=coreNN.inc -sc_main=sc_main.cpp -no_sim Modify the sc_main.cpp generated for core#0 to create a generic sc_main.cpp to build a single simulation executable for all cores. The Xtensa SDK includes Makefile targets to build custom simulations. By default, the simulation runs in cycle-accurate mode. Fast functional (Turbo) mode provides additional improvement over cycle-accurate mode. Note that the fast functional mode has an initialization phase, so gains are visible only when running an application with longer run times. Simulation Wall Time The table captures simulation wall time improvements. Note that these are illustrative wall time numbers. Actual wall time numbers and improvements will depend on your host machine's performance and your application. Simulation Type Wall Time Comments Single process cycle accurate mode 17500 seconds Multiple x86 processes cycle accurate mode 1385 seconds 12X faster than single process Multiple x86 processes turbo mode 415 seconds 3X faster than cycle accurate mode Debugging Attaching a debugger to each of the individual x86 core simulation processes is possible. Synchronous stop/resume and core-specific breakpoints are also supported. Configure the Xplorer launch configuration and attach it to the running simulation processes as follows (Figure 5) Figure 5 Figure 6 shows 32 debug contexts. Figure 6 As shown, using Xtensa SDK, you can create a multi-core simulation that functions as a practical software development platform. Please visit the Cadence support site for information on building and simulating multi-core Xtensa systems.

This post was contributed by Liliko Uchida, application engineer at Cadence. Being a “Woman in STEM” is a phrase that has long been used to describe the holistic experience shared by thousands of women globally, yet it still makes us feel isolated. Partially due to the statistics of gender population in the STEM workforce and the remainder due to our own internal obstacles, being a woman in STEM continues to be a challenge. While many of us know the should-do’s and should-be’s of taking on this unique role objectively, we struggle to implement them. After all, our perseverance as engineers, mathematicians, businesswomen, programmers, and scientists is largely affected by subjectivity. The UMass Lowell Women’s Leadership Conference 2024 aimed to tackle this problem by uniting hundreds of women with shared experiences under one roof. Not only did the conference provide us with the knowledge necessary to persevere, but it also gave us the tools that will allow us to thrive and act upon the facts we already know. It is my hope that through this blog post, I can share some of my main takeaways from this special day. Be Confident This is one of the most palpable pieces of advice we always hear. Yet so many of us struggle to build this confidence because we don’t know how. Featured speaker Nicole Kalil defined confidence as “complete trust in oneself”.”One way to build this self-trust is by getting to know yourself on a deeper level. By creating a true inner connection, we begin to see ourselves as a whole instead of hyper-focusing on our shortcomings frequently illusioned by imposter syndrome. In one of the sessions, we were asked to introduce ourselves to our neighbors, not by what we do for work, but by who we are as a person. Even if this opportunity does not arise every day, this practice can be done simply by listing characteristics of yourself that define who you are. Who do you care for? How do you show them? What are your life goals oriented towards? How do you observe others’ behavior around you, and what does that say about how you make them feel? Getting to know you beneath the surface and allowing yourself to be seen for who you are is critical in building internal confidence. With practice, this self-reassurance will grow independent of external factors. Take Risks “Sometimes, you have to put your foot in the elevator” - Barb Vlacich, Keynote Speaker When opportunities arise, the only thing you can do to have a chance is to try. Without putting your foot in the elevator, the doors will close, becoming a missed opportunity. Similarly, several of the conference’s speakers also emphasized that the answer to every unasked question will always be a no. Even if you are not ready to full-send a negotiation, ask for a raise, or respectfully disagree with a co-worker’s opinion, start by getting comfortable asking uncomfortable questions. Just one discomfort a day will help in building an immunity to the anxiety that comes with taking risks, typically driven by our self-doubt. Another interesting point that stood out from the conference was the statistics of self-assessed qualifications between men and women. During the negotiation panel, it was revealed that men typically feel they only need 60% of the qualifications under a job description to apply, whereas women often feel they need close to 100%. These numbers alone demonstrate how the pure mental habits of men continue to funnel them into STEM and not women. The next time you seek a new opportunity, assess yourself based on the 60% and use it as a checklist threshold. If more women are able to pursue STEM careers using these numbers, the more likely we will begin to populate these roles. Build Your Genuine Network “ The essence of communication lies in the mutual exchange of ideas and emotions. And when the listener isn’t invested, it undermines the entire purpose of the conversation. Why are you having it anyway?” This is a quote from episode 186 of Julie Brown’s podcast This Sh!t Works called “The 5 Steps to Being an Active Listener”. Julie Brown is a Networking Coach, author, and podcast host who guided an energetic and candid conversation about networking and building a personal brand for women. Networking is often misunderstood as putting your name and qualifications out on the table for as many people to pick up your cards. While making these things known is important, they are not what nurtures effective connections. The key to cultivating your genuine network is to activate a sincere interest in the people you meet. Become the proactive receiver of the confidence exercise discussed above. When you meet someone new, what can you take away from them as a person, not an employee? By making people feel heard, even through the little conversations, you can begin to develop more meaningful connections that resonate. And, with practice, the sometimes inherent need to overcompensate by defining yourself with your resume will slowly fade. It was a wonderful opportunity to attend the UML Women’s Leadership Conference with four other inspiring Cadence women. Not only was the conference a motivating learning experience, but it was also a wonderful opportunity for us to bond together as women and feel supported by each other. The most eye-opening part of the day was seeing just how many women alike were sitting under the same roof. The conclusion of the event led me to feel proud to be an engineer, proud to be at Cadence, and most importantly, proud to be a woman. Learn more about life at Cadence .

On November 5, 2024, the Cadence Bangalore Toastmasters Club celebrated a significant milestone by hosting its 50th meeting. Established in December 2020, the club was created to provide a supportive environment for individuals looking to improve their communication and leadership skills. Over the years, the club has evolved into a vibrant community filled with success stories of personal development and newfound confidence. A testament to the club's dedication is its achievement of the "Select Distinguished Club" status during the 2023-2024 program year. By fulfilling 7 out of 10 distinguished goals, the club highlighted its commitment to excellence—a success driven by its vibrant members' relentless focus and perseverance. The strategic insight gained from regular Toastmasters committee meetings and the influential "Moments of Truth" sessions held in 2023 and 2024 are key to this success. Our club members have consistently demonstrated strong performance in various speech contests, with notable achievements across multiple levels. In 2023, members excelled in Evaluation and Table Topics contests, reaching the district level while advancing to the Division Level in the International Speech Contest. Continuing their success into 2024, members again qualified for area-level contests, securing third-place positions in the Evaluation and Table Topics categories, highlighting the club's dedication and competitive spirit. The 50th meeting was based on the theme of serendipity. It was not only a milestone celebration but also a vibrant festival of achievements and growth. The day buzzed with energy as activities like a spirited Treasure Hunt injected enthusiasm and camaraderie among attendees. Distinguished guests, including Kripa Venkitachalam and Madhavi Rao, enriched the occasion with inspiring speeches. Madhavi reignited the club's spirit, while Kripa's discourse on the Growth Mindset and the "Power of Yet" encouraged members to pursue continuous self-improvement. The Cadence Bangalore Toastmasters Club is enthusiastic about its promising future and is committed to creating an environment that promotes personal and professional growth. Many members are close to completing their Toastmasters levels and pathways, and this term, a new group of approximately 30 individuals has joined, bringing the total membership to 52. This vibrant community is just beginning its journey and is eager to reach new milestones together through mutual support and a shared commitment to excellence. The transformations experienced by many club members are truly compelling. They often share how the club has significantly improved their communication skills and boosted their confidence. One member recalls, "Before joining, I found public speaking intimidating. Now, I embrace every opportunity to share my ideas." Another member highlights how the club's supportive environment helped him overcome his fear of public speaking, propelling his career to new heights. This culture of constructive feedback and continuous improvement has inspired countless members to pursue their dreams with renewed determination and optimism. The Cadence Bangalore Toastmasters Club's journey is a living testament to the power of community and the potential within each of us to grow and achieve greatness. As the club continues to evolve and inspire, it serves as a beacon for those aspiring to transform their skills and seize their moment in the spotlight. Learn more about life at Cadence.

Each November, we are reminded of the bravery and dedication of those who have served our country. At Cadence, we thank our Veteran employees for their patriotism by reaffirming our commitment to honoring their sacrifices and recognizing their contributions to our business success. Our diverse and inclusive culture is strengthened by the unique perspective of our Veteran employees, and we are proud to support the Veterans Inclusion Group as a space for community members and their allies to connect. In celebration of Veterans Day, we were excited to catch up with Johnathan Edmonds, Veterans Inclusion Group Lead and Design Engineering Director, for a heartfelt chat on his journey through military service to leadership within Cadence. Throughout the conversation, he shared the importance of creating space for Veterans, the skills they offer, and his aspirations for what the Veterans Inclusion Group will achieve in the years ahead. Oh yeah, and he flies planes, too! Join us as we dive into what makes this holiday special for so many across the nation and how we can respectfully commemorate it together. Johnathan, you’re a retired Air Force Reservist, pilot, and now a Design Engineering Director. Can you tell us about your journey from the military to your current role at Cadence? I started my military and electronics journey in the Navy. I enlisted at 18 and served for six years as an aviation electronics technician. During this time, I was able to learn about and repair electronics on planes. This set me up for success, and when I was honorably discharged, I attended Virginia Tech to study computer engineering. Once I graduated, I continued my career as an engineer, but I still wanted to be a military pilot. From my past experience, I knew the reserves were an option where I could learn to fly and still have a civilian career. Not only was I lucky enough to get selected to go to pilot training, but after I returned from flight school, my luck grew, and I was hired at Cadence. Cadence has supported me throughout my military career, which has been a great benefit, as many companies don’t support reservists. The best thing about serving and being employed at Cadence is how I could blend my skill sets to further the Air Force’s mission and achieve great things in engineering. As the first lead of Cadence’s Veterans Inclusion Group, you played an integral part in growing our culture and building community at the company since launching the group four years ago. What inspired you to take on the role of Inclusion Group Lead? I was inspired by three things: camaraderie, service, and outreach. I wanted to see if we could achieve a similar sense of community through the Veterans Inclusion Group as we had during our service life. I also wanted to see how we could better serve our Veterans here at Cadence. I wanted to explore any benefits that could be expanded, roles that could be developed by Vets, and, lastly, I wanted to serve a broader community. COVID-19 put a damper on some of the community support, but we are getting back on track with Veteran employment programs and volunteer efforts like Carry the Load and Gold Star Families. Why is it important to have this space dedicated to Veteran employees? There are many reasons! Networking, for one, creates a stronger, more unified Cadence culture. Two, Vets face a variety of issues not generally understood by those who have not served, such as PTSD, where to get help for disabilities, how to get an old medical record, etc. As I mentioned, I’m also passionate about connecting Veterans with employment and job opportunities. It is so nice to work for a company that actively recruits Vets. We have our own “language,” if you will, so it’s nice to have a space to talk in the language that we are familiar with. What have been some of your favorite moments leading this group over the past few years? Are there any “wins” that you would like to recognize? We have a lot of wins. Events held during COVID-19 and getting past COVID-19, donating to worthwhile causes, and hosting guest speakers are all fantastic milestones and accomplishments. That said, the biggest win is the hiring of new Veteran employees. Mark Murphy, Corporate VP of Sales Operations, and I have both welcomed Vets to our team during this time, and it is such a joy to watch what someone can do when given the opportunity to succeed in the right environment. As you are set to transition out of the lead role next year, what do you hope to see the Veterans Inclusion Group accomplish next? My hope is that the Veterans Inclusion Group partners with other companies, expanding our reach externally and exploring new opportunities to engage Veterans outside of Cadence. Johnathan (left) speaks on an inclusion group panel, along with David Sallard (center), lead of Cadence's Black Inclusion Group and Sr. Principal Application Engineer; Christina Jamerson (on screen), lead of Cadence's Abilities Inclusion Group and Demand Generation Director; and Dianne Rambke (right), lead of Cadence's Latinx Inclusion Group and Marketing Communications Director. What are the important ways that people can signal inclusion and respectfully honor Veterans at work? What are the most meaningful or impactful actions employees everywhere can take to support Veteran coworkers? I think there is one answer to both questions. I recommend that people engage with their companies’ employee resource groups (ERGs) and have conversations with them. Opening up the lines of communication will lead to new paths in their journeys. What are you looking forward to in 2025, both personally and professionally? In 2025, professionally, I am looking forward to taking mixed-signal systems and verification to another level by including emulation, automatic model generation, and seeing which boundaries we can push in our SerDes and Chiplets products. Personally, I am looking forward to making my SXS street legal so I can drive places without getting a ticket, seeing my children participate in sports, church, and school, and taking my wife on vacation to Europe or somewhere else we can unplug. Learn more about Cadence’s Inclusion Groups, diverse culture, and commitment to belonging.

Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) is a high-speed interface standard widely used for connecting processors, memory, and peripherals. With the increasing reliance on PCIe to handle sensitive data and critical high-speed data transfer, ensuring data integrity and encryption during verification is the most essential goal. As we know, in the field of verification, randomization is a key technique that drives robust PCIe verification. It introduces unpredictability to simulate real-world conditions and uncover hidden bugs from the design. This blog examines the significance of randomization in PCIe IDE verification, focusing on how it ensures data integrity and encryption reliability, while also highlighting the unique challenges it presents. For more relevant details and understanding on PCIe IDE you can refer to Introducing PCIe's Integrity and Data Encryption Feature . The Importance of Data Integrity and Data Encryption in PCIe Devices Data Integrity : Ensures that the transmitted data arrives unchanged from source to destination. Even minor corruption in data packets can compromise system reliability, making integrity a critical aspect of PCIe verification. Data Encryption : Protects sensitive data from unauthorized access during transmission. Encryption in PCIe follows a standard to secure information while operating at high speeds. Maintaining both data integrity and data encryption at PCIe’s high-speed data transfer rate of 64GT/s in PCIe 6.0 and 128GT/s in PCIe 7.0 is essential for all end point devices. However, validating these mechanisms requires comprehensive testing and verification methodologies, which is where randomization plays a very crucial role. You can refer to Why IDE Security Technology for PCIe and CXL? for more details on this. Randomization in PCIe Verification Randomization refers to the generation of test scenarios with unpredictable inputs and conditions to expose corner cases. In PCIe verification, this technique helps us to ensure that all possible behaviors are tested, including rare or unexpected situations that could cause data corruption or encryption failures that may cause serious hindrances later. So, for PCIe IDE verification, we are considering the randomization that helps us verify behavior more efficiently. Randomization for Data Integrity Verification Here are some approaches of randomized verifications that mimic real-world traffic conditions, uncovering subtle integrity issues that might not surface in normal verification methods. 1. Randomized Packet Injection: This technique randomized data packets and injected into the communication stream between devices. Here we Inject random, malformed, or out-of-sequence packets into the PCIe link and mix valid and invalid IDE-encrypted packets to check the system’s ability to detect and reject unauthorized or invalid packets. Checking if encryption/decryption occurs correctly across packets. On verifying, we check if the system logs proper errors or alerts when encountering invalid packets. It ensures coverage of different data paths and robust protocol check. This technique helps assess the resilience of the IDE feature in PCIe in below terms: (i) Data corruption: Detecting if the system can maintain data integrity. (ii) Encryption failures: Testing the robustness of the encryption under random data injection. (iii) Packet ordering errors: Ensuring reordering does not affect data delivery. 2. Random Errors and Fault Injection: It involves simulating random bit flips, PCRC errors, or protocol violations to help validate the robustness of error detection and correction mechanisms of PCIe. These techniques help assess how well the PCIe IDE implementation: (i) Detects and responds to unexpected errors. (ii) Maintains secure communication under stress. (iii) Follows the PCIe error recovery and reporting mechanisms (AER – Advanced Error Reporting). (iv) Ensures encryption and decryption states stay synchronized across endpoints. 3. Traffic Pattern Randomization: Randomizing the sequence, size, and timing of data packets helps test how the device maintains data integrity under heavy, unpredictable traffic loads. Randomization for Data Encryption Verification Encryption adds complexity to verification, as encrypted data streams are not readable for traditional checks. Randomization becomes essential to test how encryption behaves under different scenarios. Randomization in data encryption verification ensures that vulnerabilities, such as key reuse or predictable patterns, are identified and mitigated. 1. Random Encryption Keys and Payloads: Randomly varying keys and payloads help validate the correctness of encryption without hardcoding assumptions. This ensures that encryption logic behaves correctly across all possible inputs. 2. Randomized Initialization Vectors (IVs): Many encryption protocols require a unique IV for each transaction. Randomized IVs ensure that encryption does not repeat patterns. To understand the IDE Key management flow, we can follow the below diagram that illustrates a detailed example key programming flow using the IDE_KM protocol. Figure 1: IDE_KM Example As Figure 1 shows, the functionality of the IDE_KM protocol involves Start of IDE_KM Session, Device Capability Discovery, Key Request from the Host, Key Programming to PCIe Device, and Key Acknowledgment. First, the Host starts the IDE_KM session by detecting the presence of the PCIe devices; if the device supports the IDE protocol, the system continues with the key programming process. Then a query occurs to discover the device’s encryption capabilities; it ensures whether the device supports dynamic key updates or static keys. Then the host sends a request to the Key Management Entity to obtain a key suitable for the devices. Once the key is obtained, the host programs the key into the IDE Controller on the PCIe endpoint. Both the host and the device now share the same key to encrypt and authenticate traffic. The device acknowledges that it has received and successfully installed the encryption key and the acknowledgment message is sent back to the host. Once both the host and the PCIe endpoint are configured with the key, a secure communication channel is established. From this point, all data transmitted over the PCIe link is encrypted to maintain confidentiality and integrity. IDE_KM plays a crucial role in distributing keys in a secure manner and maintaining encryption and integrity for PCIe transactions. This key programming flow ensures that a secure communication channel is established between the host and the PCIe device. Hence, the Randomized key approach ensures that the encryption does not repeat patterns. 3. Randomization PHE: Partial Header Encryption (PHE) is an additional mechanism added to Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) in PCIe 6.0. PHE validation using a variety of traffic; incorporating randomization in APIs provided for validating PHE feature can add more robust Encryption to the data. Partial Header Encryption in Integrity and Data Encryption for PCIe has more detailed information on this. Figure 2: High-Level Flow for Partial Header Encryption 4. Randomization on IDE Address Association Register values: IDE Address Association Register 1/2/3 are supposed to be configured considering the memory address range of IDE partner ports. The fields of IDE address registers are split multiple values such as Memory Base Lower, Memory Limit Lower, Memory Base Upper, and Memory Limit Upper. IDE implementation can have multiple register blocks considering addresses with 32 or 64, different registers sizes, 0-255 selective streams, 0-15 address blocks, etc. This Randomization verification can help verify all the corner cases. Please refer to Figure 2. Figure 3: IDE Address Association Register 5. Random Faults During Encryption: Injecting random faults (e.g., dropped packets or timing mismatches) ensures the system can handle disruptions and prevent data leakage. Challenges of IDE Randomization and its Solution Randomization introduces a vast number of scenarios, making it computationally intensive to simulate every possibility. Constrained randomization limits random inputs to valid ranges while still covering edge cases. Again, using coverage-driven verification to ensure critical scenarios are tested without excessive redundancy. Verifying encrypted data with random inputs increases complexity. Encryption masks data, making it hard to verify outputs without compromising security. Here we can implement various IDE checks on the IDE callback to analyze encrypted traffic without decrypting it. Randomization can trigger unexpected failures, which are often difficult to reproduce. By using seed-based randomization, a specific seed generates a repeatable random sequence. This helps in reproducing and analyzing the behavior more precisely. Conclusion Randomization is a powerful technique in PCIe verification, ensuring robust validation of both data integrity and data encryption. It helps us to uncover subtle bugs and edge cases that a non-randomized testing might miss. In Cadence PCIe VIP, we support full-fledged IDE Verification with rigorous randomized verification that ensures data integrity. Robust and reliable encryption mechanisms ensure secure and efficient data communication. However, randomization also brings various challenges, and to overcome them we adopt a combination of constrained randomization, seed-based testing, and coverage-driven verification. As PCIe continues to evolve with higher speeds and focuses on high security demands, our Cadence PCIe VIP ensures it is in line with industry demand and verify high-performance systems that safeguard data in real-world environments with excellence. For more information, you can refer to Verification of Integrity and Data Encryption(IDE) for PCIe Devices and Industry's First Adopted VIP for PCIe 7.0 . More Information: For more info on how Cadence PCIe Verification IP and TripleCheck VIP enables users to confidently verify IDE, see our VIP for PCI Express , VIP for Compute Express Link for and TripleCheck for PCI Express For more information on PCIe in general, and on the various PCI standards, see the PCI-SIG website .

Hey, is it suitable to post here? I wanted a small yet robust amp for practicing while I travel. I wanted something that would fit in my pocket yet still be loud enough to hear.

Presented here is a amplifier based upon the LM386 Audio Amplifier.

There is a standard circuit in the data sheet that is an excellent place to start.

Materials needed:
1 - HM359 project box
1 - 668-1237 speaker
1 - BS6I battery conn
1 - CP1-3515 stereo jack
1 - SC1316 stereo jack
2 - 450-1742 knob
1 - 679-1856 switch
1- 3mm LED
1 - 10 ohm 1/4W resistor
1 - 10uF ceramic cap
1 - .05 uF ceramic cap
1 - 420 uF electrolytic cap
1 - 8 ohm resistor
2 - 51AADB24 10K pot
1 - HM1252 circuit board
1 - LM386N-4 amplifier

Wire and Solder
Step 1: Prep the enclosure

Careful planning is required the first time you free build a circuit. The circuit board has solder pads but not traces. You will have to use thin wire to make the connections for the circuit to work.

Begin by laying out the components on the circuit board that will need to pass through the enclosure. This enclosure has a removable top panel which will be used for the volume, gain and 1/4 inch stereo jack.

Space is limited to check for fit before drilling.

All drilling of the plastic should be done with a step drill bit. This will make the cleanest holes without breaking the plastic.

Lay out the pots a few spaces back but still in line with the desired position. mark the center of each pot shaft then drill with a step drill tot he tightest fitting hole size. Make a center mark between the pot holes then drill for the stereo jack

On the inside of the top cover position and mark where the speaker will go.

Make a template on grid paper the same size as the speaker.

Tape the template to the inside of the cover as shown then use a step bit to drill holes on the center of every square in the grid. This will form the speaker grille. clean up the holes.

Step 2: place the major components

Solder the pots to the circuit board as shown. then place the stereo jack(note in order to get the final fit I had to trim and modify the stereo jack housing a little)

Next, position and solder the switch on the circuit board and mark a space on the top cover that will need to be cut for the switch opening. Use a small file to cut the opening.

Use a sharp knife to bevel the edges of the switch hole to allow for easier operation.

Drill a hole in the side of the upper case for the headphone jack and fasten it in place. ( I had to recess the hole a bit for the retaining nut to grab)

Step 3: Build the circuit

The speaker is held in place by using 2 small brackets that come with the serial cable connector hood. ( I had a bunch around that would never be used)

Refer the the circuit shown from the datasheet and the datasheet for the LM386. The basic circuit only has the volume control while the datasheet shows how to add a gain control across pins 1 and 8 of the amplifier.

The speaker is wired in series with the headphone jack. The headphone jack has internal switches that shut the speaker off when the phones are plugged in.

I chose to use a chip socket for the amplifier which make prototyping easier since you do not have to worry about solder heating as much.

Carefully lay the circuit out on the board and begin wiring components together. I added a second pot and cap in series between pins 1 and 8 of the amp to be able to manually set the gain in addition to volume.

Check you connections with a multimeter before adding the amplifier.

I chose to add a LED indicator for power. This was done by using one side of switch contacts from the battery. The LED is in series with a 220 ohm resistor.

Assemble the case and insert the battery.

Step 4: Final notes

If the speaker is noisy while the headphones work normally, try reversing the speaker connections. If it does not correct the issue, connect a 8 ohm resistor across the speaker contacts.

You may have to place an insulating layer between the speaker and the place where the stereo jack comes through to prevent contact. This will be noted by a loud buzz.

You may have to add some foam in the battery compartment to stop the battery from banging around.

For reference, I've also read an article about amplifiers: http://www.apogeeweb.net/article/60.html

Thanks for reading!
​

Hello Folks,

Problem statement first: How does one properly setup tensorflow for running on a DSVM using a remote Docker environment? Can this be done in aml_config/*.runconfig?

I receive the following message and I would like to be able to utilize the increased speeds of the extended FMA operations.

tensorflow/core/platform/cpu_feature_guard.cc:140] Your CPU supports instructions that this TensorFlow binary was not compiled to use: AVX2 FMA

Background: I utilize a local docker environment managed through Azure ML Workbench for initial testing and code validation so that I'm not running an expensive DSVM constantly. Once I assess that my code is to my liking, I then run it on a remote docker instance on an Azure DSVM.

I want a consistent conda environment across my compute environments, so this works out extremely well. However, I cannot figure out how to control the tensorflow build to optimize for the hardware at hand (i.e. my local docker on macOS vs. remote docker on Ubuntu DSVM)

Hi,

i am compiling firmware under Windows transfer the binaries and the sources to Linux to simulate/debug there. The problem is that the paths in the DWARF debug info of the .elf file are the absolute Windows paths as set by the compiler so they are useless under Linux. Is it possible to configure mappings of these paths to the Linux paths when simulating/debugging like with e.g. GDB (https://sourceware.org/gdb/current/onlinedocs/gdb/Source-Path.html#index-set-substitute_002dpath)?

thx,

Peter

I am looking for LM117 Pspice model. Can someone send me the file. Thank you

While doing the lvs it's showing an error in gnd connection, I am not being able to understand exactly what is the error and what do I need to do to remove this error?

We are having some issues with deploying i. We are looking for the silent command switch for deployment including the licence agreement acceptance.

Ideally we would like a regular MSI that we could install for all users and not in the user content.

use the DBO function DboLib_RepalceCache to do the job of "Replace cache" 

in order to easy the job ,  type the code below . the code is a wrapper of the function metioned above

set lStatus [DboState]
set lSession $::DboSession_s_pDboSession
DboSession -this $lSession
set lDesignsIter [$lSession NewDesignsIter $lStatus]
set lDesign [$lDesignsIter NextDesign $lStatus]
set lNullObj NULL

set oldLibName [DboTclHelper_sMakeCString "E:\PROJECT_WORKLIB.OLB"]
set newLibName [DboTclHelper_sMakeCString "E:\MCU_PARTS_LIB.OLB"]

#DboLib_ReplaceCache wrapper
proc ReplaceCacheByName {partName} {
    global oldLibName
    global newLibName
    global lDesign
    set lPartStr [DboTclHelper_sMakeCString $partName]
    #set lNewStr [DboTclHelper_sMakeCString $newName]
    $lDesign ReplaceCache $lPartStr $oldLibName $lPartStr $newLibName 0 1
}

then use the tcl command like below to do the real job :

ReplaceCacheByName "CL10B104KB8NNNC_C12"

Hi,

I need to design EPC8002 eGaN switch in cadence. Can someone provide me step by step guide on hoe to add EPC8002 into my cadence. I am working on BCD180.

Thank you 

Ihsan

This is the 19th installment of The Rationalist, my column for the Times of India.

A friend of mine was very impressed by the interview Narendra Modi granted last week to Akshay Kumar. ‘Such a charming man, such great work ethic,’ he gushed. ‘He is the kind of uncle I would want my kids to have.’ And then, in the same breath, he asked, ‘How can such a good man be such a bad prime minister?”

I don’t want to be uncharitable and suggest that Modi’s image is entirely manufactured, so let’s take the interview at face value. Let’s also grant Modi his claims about the purity of his neeyat (intentions), and reframe the question this way: when it comes to public policy, why do good intentions often lead to bad outcomes? To attempt an answer, I’ll refer to a story a friend of mine, who knows Modi well, once told me about him. 

Modi was chilling with his friends at home more than a decade ago, and told them an incident from his childhood. His mother was ill once, and the young Narendra was tending to her. The heat was enervating, so the boy went to the switchboard to switch on the fan. But there was no electricity. My friend said that as he told this story, Modi’s eyes filled with tears. Even after all these years, he was moved by the memory.

My friend used this story to make the point that Modi’s vision of the world is experiential. If he experiences something, he understands it. When he became chief minister of Gujarat, he made it his stated mission to get reliable electricity to every part of Gujarat. No doubt this was shaped by the time he flicked a switch as a young boy and the fan did not budge. Similarly, he has given importance to things like roads and cleanliness, since he would have experienced the impact of those as a young man.

My term for him, inspired by Rajat Kapoor’s 2014 film, is ‘the ankhon dekhi prime minister’. At one level, this is a good thing. He sees a problem and works for the rest of his life to solve it. But what of things he cannot experience?

The economy is a complex beast, as is society itself, and beyond a certain level, you need to grasp abstract concepts to understand how the world works. You cannot experience them. For example, spontaneous order, or the idea that society and markets, like language, cannot be centrally directed or planned. Or the positive-sum nature of things, which is the engine of our prosperity: the idea that every transaction is a win-win game, and that for one person to win, another does not have to lose. Or, indeed, respect for individual rights and free speech.

One understands abstract concepts by reading about them, understanding them, applying them to the real world. Modi is not known to be a reader, and this is not his fault. Given his background, it is a near-miracle that he has made it this far. He wasn’t born into a home with a reading culture, and did not have either the resources or the time when he was young to devote to reading. The only way he could learn about the world, thus, was by experiencing it.

There are two lessons here, one for Modi himself and others in his position, and another for everyone.

The lesson in this for Modi is a lesson for anyone who rises to such an important position, even if he is the smartest person in the world. That lesson is to have humility about the bounds of your knowledge, and to surround yourself with experts who can advise you well. Be driven by values and not confidence in your own knowledge. Gather intellectual giants around you, and stand on their shoulders.

Modi did not do this in the case of demonetisation, which he carried out against the advice of every expert he consulted. We all know the damage it caused to the economy.

The other learning from this is for all of us. How do we make sense of the world? By connecting dots. An ankhon-dekhi approach will get us very few dots, and our view of the world will be blurred and incomplete. The best way to gather more dots is reading. The more we read, the better we understand the world, and the better the decisions we take. When we can experience a thousand lives through books, why restrict ourselves to one?

A good man with noble intentions can make bad decisions with horrible consequences. The only way to hedge against this is by staying humble and reading more. So when you finish reading this piece, think of an unread book that you’d like to read today – and read it!

The India Uncut Blog © 2010 Amit Varma. All rights reserved.
Follow me on Twitter.

Designers have long recognized the need to analyze the reliability of ICs. Two commonly used approaches for performing reliability analysis include calculating the change in device degradation and relying on safe operating checks in circuit simulators. 

With the advent of the ever-increasing use of ICs in mission-critical applications, the need for reliable reliability analysis has become of paramount importance. Over the years, you have been using reliability analysis in Virtuoso ADE Assembler and Virtuoso ADE Explorer to measure and review aging effects, such as device characteristic degradations, model parameter changes, self-heating effects, and so on.

Reliability analysis can be performed using two modes: Spectre native and RelXpert. The reliability analysis analyzes the effect of time on circuit performance drift and predicts the reliability of designs in terms of performance. In ADE Assembler, you can run the reliability simulation for fresh test (when time is zero), stress test (to generate degradation data), and aged test (at specific intervals, such as one year, three years, or 10 years). In the stress test, extreme environmental conditions are used to stress devices before aging analysis.

The following figure shows the reliability simulation flow.

The Reliability Options form has the following four tabs: 

• Basic: Enables you to specify analysis type, aging options, start and stop time of reliability simulation, and options related to device masking, degradation ratio, and lifetime calculation. 

• Modeling: Enables you to choose the modeling type you want to use during reliability simulation. 

• Degradation: Enables you to specify the options to print device and subcircuit degradation information into a .bt0 file. 

• Output: Enables you to specify the degradation reports to be generated and methods to filter degradation results in the reports.

While the Basic and the Output tabs are used by design engineers, the Modeling and the Degradation tabs are primarily used by model developers.

Reviewing degradation reports in text or XML formats can be a tiresome exercise because degradation data can be large and can contain a large number of instances due to advanced technology nodes and post-layout simulations. For you to work effectively and interactively with these reports, the new reliability report is based on the SQLite database, which adds the benefit of improved performance and capabilities of sorting and filtering reliability data using SQLite operators.

As they say, watching this in action might help you more than reading about it, so please take a look at our Training Bytes video channel, which offers many helpful videos on how to run Reliability Analysis in Virtuoso Studio.

All the related videos are linked together in a channel so that you can easily access and watch as many as you like.

Reliability Analysis in Virtuoso Studio

Want to Learn More?

For lab instructions and a downloadable design, enroll for the online training courses of your interest on

Reliability Analysis in Virtuoso Studio vIC23.1 (Online)

 Training is also available as "Blended" or "live" class.

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You can become Cadence Certified once you complete the course (s) and share your knowledge and certifications on social media channels. Go straight to the course exam at the Learning and Support Portal.

Note: Some of the above links are accessible only to Cadence customers who have a valid login ID for the Cadence Learning and Support Portal.

Do You Have Access to the Cadence Support Portal?

If not, follow the steps below to create your account.

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To stay up-to-date with the latest news and information about Cadence training and webinars, subscribe to the Cadence Training emails.

If you have questions about courses, schedules, online, public, or live onsite training, reach out to us at Cadence Training.

Related Resources

About Knowledge Booster Training Bytes

Knowledge Booster Training Bytes is an online journal that relays information about Cadence Training videos, online courses, and upcoming webinars that are available in the Learning section of the Cadence Learning and Support portal. This blog category brings you direct links to these videos, courses, and other related material on a regular basis.

Niyati Singh

On behalf of the Cadence Training team

This blog describes an efficient way to name the histories saved by the simulation runs in Virtuoso ADE Assembler.(read more)

At a bustling Cadence event, we met Adrian, an intern at a startup who immerses himself in Cadence tools for his research and work.

Adrian was enthusiastic about the innovative technologies at his disposal but faced a significant challenge: internet access was limited to a single machine for new joiners, forcing interns to wait in line for their turn to use online resources.

Adrian's excitement soared when he discovered a game-changing solution: Doc Assistant. The cloud-based help viewer, Doc Assistant, ships with all Cadence tools, enabling Adrian to access help resources offline from any machine equipped with the software. This meant Adrian could continue his research and work seamlessly, irrespective of internet availability!

Meeting Cadence users and customers at such events has given us the opportunity to showcase how they can benefit from the diverse features that Doc Assistant offers.

With that note, welcome back to our Doc Assistant A-Z blog series! In Part 1, we explored key features and benefits that our innovative viewer brings to the table. Today, in Part 2, we'll dive deeper into the advanced functionalities and customization options that make Doc Assistant indispensable for its users.

Whether you're looking to streamline your workflow or enhance your user experience, this blog will provide the insights you need to fully leverage the capabilities of our documentation viewer. Let’s get started!

What Makes Doc Assistant Stand Out?

Here are a few (more) cool features of Doc Assistant!

That's not all. We have more coming your way. Until next time, take care and stay tuned for our next edition!

Want to Know More?

For any questions or general feedback, write to docassistant.support@cadence.com.

Subscribe to receive email notifications about our latest Custom IC Design blog posts.

Happy reading!

-Priya Sriram, on behalf of the Doc Assistant Team

This blog explores how Virtuoso Studio Net Tracer can help you perform a design review.

We’ll use the net connectivity option, which allows the user to get a clean highlighted net. You can use the Net Tracer tool to highlight the nets. You can find the Net Tracer command under the connectivity pulldown menu in the layout window.

Trace manager and the ability to display different islands on the same net with other colors, you can identify and connect the unconnected islands as you wish.

The Net Tracer utility traces the nets in the physical view (layout). The trace is a highlighted net, which is a non-selectable object. The Net Tracer utility is available from Virtuoso Layout Suite XL onwards. You can use this utility based on your specific needs and preferences.

For a better understanding of the Net Tracer feature, let’s see one scenario between the circuit designer and layout engineer for a layout design review.

Circuit designer: Can we go through the routed input nets “inm” and “inp”?

Layout engineer: From the below layout view where they are highlighted using the XL connectivity, today I will use Net Tracer utility for the design review.

Circuit designer: I have never heard of this feature. Let's see how it works.

Layout engineer: Sure, now we turn on the Net Tracer toolbar using the below option.

You see the Net Tracer options form here:

As you can see on my screen, I have opened the layout view and engaged the Net Tracer utility.

Net Tracer allows shapes to be traced on a net in two tracing modes, namely, physical and logical, where shapes on the same net are physically or logically connected.

Physical tracing gathers all the shapes physically connected on the same net.

Logical tracing gathers all the shapes assigned to the same net. It highlights the net as in the source design (schematic). It will highlight shapes on the same net, even if they are isolated shapes that are not physically connected.

For this scenario, let us use physical tracing for input nets “inm” and “inp."

Highlighted nets are shown below:

Net “inm”                    Net “inp”                   Nets “inm” and “inp” 

Net Tracer has features like physical and logical tracing, preview, step-by-step mode, ease of tracing a net on a shape out of multiple underlying shapes, and so on.

Let us explore logical tracing for output nets “outm” and “outp”:

Here, you can see how to enable true color and halo before enabling logical tracing to identify the metal route. After enabling the true color halo, enable the logical trace.

Here, I am opening the trace manager to search “outm” and “outp” and click trace. That will trace the particular nets as shown.

Net Tracer has a preview feature, which is helpful in terms of the number of previewed objects. This preview capability hints at how the trace would appear when you create it. This useful feature in Virtuoso Studio highlights both completed and incomplete nets, helping the user better understand the status of the highlighted nets.

Circuit designer: Thanks for the design review. You have done good work. Net Tracer clearly shows both types of tracing, and it was even easy for the circuit designer to understand.

Layout engineer: Let me share the link to the Net Tracer RAK, where other layout engineers can explore many more amazing features of the Net Tracer.

Do You Have Access to the Cadence Support Portal?

If not, follow the steps below to create your account.

• On the Cadence Support portal, select Register Now and provide the requested information on the Registration page.
• You will need an email address and host ID to sign up.
• If you need help with registration, contact support@cadence.com.

To stay up to date with the latest news and information about Cadence training and webinars, subscribe to the Cadence Training emails.

If you have questions about courses, schedules, online, public, or live onsite training, reach out to us at Cadence Training.

For any questions, general feedback, or future blog topic suggestions, please leave a comment.

Become Cadence Certified

Cadence Training Services now offers digital badges for this training course. These badges indicate proficiency in a certain technology or skill and give you a way to validate your expertise to managers and potential employers. You can highlight your expertise by adding these digital badges to your email signature or any social media platform, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. To become Cadence Certified, you can find additional information here.

Related Resources

About Knowledge Booster Training Bytes

Knowledge Booster Training Bytes is an online journal that relays information about Cadence Training videos, online courses, and upcoming webinars that are available in the Learning section of the Cadence Learning and Support portal. This blog category brings you direct links to these videos, courses, and other related material on a regular basis.

Sandhya.

On behalf of the Cadence Training team

Welcome back to the Doc Assistant A-Z blog series!

Since the launch of Doc Assistant, we've been gathering feedback and input from our customers regarding their experiences with our latest documentation viewer. My interaction with Ralf was particularly useful and interesting.

Ralf is a design engineer who works on complex schematics and intricate layouts. For each release, he is challenged with the task of verifying the tool and feature changes across multiple releases. He shared with me that he has been using Doc Assistant’s capabilities to help him achieve this.

Ralf explained that he utilizes Doc Assistant to open and compare documents from different releases side-by-side, seamlessly tracking updates across multiple releases and verifying those updates in his Cadence tools. Additionally, in Doc Assistant’s online mode, he compares documents across previous tool versions, ensuring a thorough review of any changes. Finally, he was happy to share with me that Doc Assistant features have helped him significantly reduce the time he spends on identifying such changes.

You, of course, can also achieve such productivity gains using several Doc Assistant features designed to help simplify such tasks!

In previous editions of this blog series, we looked at some key features and benefits of Doc Assistant. If you've missed these editions, I would highly recommend that you read them:

• Doc Assistant A-Z: Making the Most of the Cadence Cloud-Based Help Viewer: Part 1
• Doc Assistant A-Z: Making the Most of the Cadence Cloud-Based Help Viewer: Part 2
  

In this third installment, we're diving into some more of Doc Assistant's key capabilities.

To learn more about how to use the above features, check out the Doc Assistant User Guide.

These are just a few of the productivity gain features in Doc Assistant. We’ll cover more in the next blog in the series.

Want to Know More?

If you have any feedback on Doc Assistant or would like to request more information or a demo, please contact docassistant.support@cadence.com.

Subscribe to receive email notifications about our latest Custom IC Design blog posts.

Happy reading!

- Priya Sriram, on behalf of the Doc Assistant Team

1， Some components in the installation package cannot choose to install; even if they do not choose them, they will still be installed; just less shortcut icons, the documents are still released to the installation directory.

2， "Catia Application Frame" repeat the problem?
       “x:CadenceSPB_17.4 oolsin“
       ”x:CadenceSPB_17.4 oolsspatial“
       "Catia Application Frame" shouldn't you use the latest version?

3，Follow-up update patch cleaning the useless files and extra empty folder action !!!

The SPB17.4 installation package is currently the worst installation package I have seen for large-scale software packaging.

As the title suggests I am unable to perform design sync between OrCAD Capture and Allegro. When I add a layout and try to sync to it I am given ERROR(ORCAP-2426): Cannot run Design Sync because of errors. See session log for error details.

Session Log

[ORPCBFLOW] : Invoking ECO dialog.
INFO(ORNET-1176): Netlisting the design
INFO(ORNET-1178): Design Name:
C:USERSDDOYLEDOCUMENTSCADENCEBOARDSREMOTE POWER DEVICECAPTUREREMOTE_POWER_DEVICE.DSN
Netlist Directory:
c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegro
Configuration File:
C:CadenceSPB_17.4 ools/capture/allegro.cfg
pstswp.exe - pst - d "C:USERSDDOYLEDOCUMENTSCADENCEBOARDSREMOTE POWER DEVICECAPTUREREMOTE_POWER_DEVICE.DSN"- n "c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegro" - c "C:CadenceSPB_17.4 ools/capture/allegro.cfg" - v 3 - l 31 - s "" - j "PCB Footprint" - hpath "HPathForCollision"
Spawning... pstswp.exe - pst - d "C:USERSDDOYLEDOCUMENTSCADENCEBOARDSREMOTE POWER DEVICECAPTUREREMOTE_POWER_DEVICE.DSN"- n "c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegro" - c "C:CadenceSPB_17.4 ools/capture/allegro.cfg" - v 3 - l 31 - s "" - j "PCB Footprint" - hpath "HPathForCollision"
{ Using PSTWRITER 17.4.0 d001Dec-14-2021 at 09:00:49 }

INFO(ORCAP-36080): Scanning netlist files ...

Loading... c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegropstchip.dat

Loading... c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegropstchip.dat

Loading... c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegropstxprt.dat

Loading... c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegropstxnet.dat
packaging the design view...
Exiting... pstswp.exe - pst - d "C:USERSDDOYLEDOCUMENTSCADENCEBOARDSREMOTE POWER DEVICECAPTUREREMOTE_POWER_DEVICE.DSN"- n "c:usersddoyledocumentscadenceoards emote power devicelayoutallegro" - c "C:CadenceSPB_17.4 ools/capture/allegro.cfg" - v 3 - l 31 - s "" - j "PCB Footprint" - hpath "HPathForCollision"
INFO(ORNET-1179): *** Done ***

This issue started to occur after I changed parts that exist on previously created PCBs. I changed the following leading up to this:

1. Added height in Allegro to many of my components using the Setup->Area->Package Height tool.

2. Changed the reference designator category in OrCAD Capture to TP for several components on board.

Any advice here would be most welcome. Thanks!

The default position of the pin number is incorrect.

Hi All

I followed tutorial video below for using Design link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9JmFF8lqA0

and I followed the video with embedded board design file which should be same one on video

I did every set. but  at 2:55 of video, Steve have the tabs of both design names on top of Constraint Manager in video

but my one didn't exist them

which one would be different?

there was some comment on command windows but I think they would not be problem here

regard

hello,

We have a number of workstations with version 17.2 that work on a floating license server

We want to know if it can be upgraded to version 17.4

If so, should the floating license server be upgraded as well?

In addition, how can you know where the license was purchased from?

Thanks!

Hello,

A mybe silly question came to my mind: When routing sense lines, is it better to hav them as close as possible to DUT or afer the decoupling capacitors ?

Force in red, sense in purple.

Best way is 1 or 2 ?

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas to everybody !

For reasons too complicated to go into here, I need to generate the code for a veriloga view from a outside the normal Verilog-A editor. I would start with an "empty" veriloga view generated from the symbol in the normal way so I get the port order correct, then use external code to provide "guts" of the veriloga view by overwriting the generated code.

My understanding is that and code changes made external to the normal flow do not get picked up by Cadence - the Verilog-A code gets read at design time, not at netlist time. Would simply forcing a check and save of the veriloga view after the code is modified fix that problem? Or is there an easier way to incorporate externally generated Verilog-A code?

Dear community

We would like to have more minimalistic and customized sheet borders for our schematics. I used this guide to create a starting point. Essentially, I made a copy of the US_8ths library and modified the Title symbol to look something like that:

Problem 1

The variable ilInst~>libName points to the library of the sheet border symbols, not to the library of the schematic. How do I need to modify this field in order to see the library name of the schematic where the border is instantiated?

Problem 2

The function CCSgetCreator() was taken from here. This solution does not seem to work with our management toll (we use VersIC); the function always returns nil as value. What is the simplest way to display the name of the user that created the schematic? A custom field that could be filled manually would also do the job for us; it doesn't need to be something that automatically fetches data from a database system.

Thanks for any input.

Hello,


I would like to use the simulation software xrun/simvision that comes with XCELIUM. We are currently using classroom licenses and want to disable all ip addresses on the student pcs except the license server ip. We want to make sure that students cannot copy confidential data from the Cadence tools.


Problem:

When I launch the xrun simulation while all ip addresses are blocked, it starts but the performance is very slow. The GUI starts after 5 minutes and the simulation is ready after 10 minutes. The interesting thing is that when I enable all blocked ip addresses, everything works at a reasonable speed.

Terminal Output (execution without internet connection):

xrun -gui design.vhd

waiting for SimVision/Verisium Debug to connect...


Is there a way to run the simulation tools without an Internet connection? Or can you give me the ip addresses that are used by the simulation tools so that I can enable only those specific ips?


Regards,

Max

Hello,
I'm trying to characterize a full adder that use transmission gate.
Unfortunately, the power calculation are wrong for the cell are always negative.
Is there any method or commands that can can help in power calculation or add the power consumption by the input pins to the power calculation ?
Another question, Is liberate support the characterization or transmission gate cells as standard cells or I should use liberate AMS for these type of cells ?
Thanks in advance,
Tareq 

Hi

I have a rather strange question - is there a way to tell layout XL to NOT place the error/warning markers on a design when I open a cell?  I do a lot of my layout by using arrays from placed instances and create mosaics that completely ignore the metadata that Layout XL uses with its bindings with schematic (and instances get deleted etc. but I do like using it to generate all my pins etc.) and it's just really annoying when I open a design that I know is LVS clean and since the connectivity metadata is all screwed up (because I did not use it to actually complete the layout) I have a design that's just blinking at me at every gate, source and drain.  I typically delete them at the high level heirarchically but the second I go in and modify something and come back up it places all of them again.  I know that if I flatten all the p cells it goes away but sometimes it's nice to have that piece of metadata but that's about it.  Is there a way to "break" the features of XL like this?  I realize what a weird question this is but it's becoming more of an issue since we moved to IC 23 from IC 6 where there is no longer a layout L that I can use free from these annoyances that can't use any of the connectivity metadata.

Thanks

Chris

Hello,

I am aware of command script .svcf file that saves signals and loads them in while opening Simvision.

I am wondering, if there is a way for saving signals while we are in an interactive session and loading them next time when we open Simvision interactively.

Any ideas on how to do this?

Thank you in advance.

Swetha. C

When analyzing multiple sessions simultaneously Verisium Manager crashed and reported below error messages:

# A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment:
#
#  SIGSEGV (0xb) at pc=0x00007efc52861b74, pid=14182, tid=18380
#
# JRE version: OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-17.0.3+7 (17.0.3+7) (build 17.0.3+7)
# Java VM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-17.0.3+7 (17.0.3+7, mixed mode, sharing, tiered, compressed oops, compressed class ptrs, g1 gc, linux-amd64)
# Problematic frame:
# C  [libucis.so+0x238b74]

......

For more details please refer to the attached log file "hs_err_pid21143.log".

Two approaches were tried to solve this problem but neither has worked.
Method.1:

Setting larger heap size of Java process by "-memlimit" options.For example "vmanager -memlimit 8G".

Method.2:

Enlarging stack memory size limit of the Coverage engine by setting "IMC_NATIVE_STACKSIZE" environment variable to a larger value. For example "setenv IMC_NATIVE_STACKSIZE 1024000"

According to "hs_err_pid*.log" it is almost certain that the memory overflow triggered Java's CrashOnOutOfMemoryError and caused Verisium Manager to crash. There are some arguments about memory management of Java like "Xms, Xmx, ThreadStackSize, Xss5048k etc" and maybe this problem can be fixed by setting these arguments during analysis. However, how exactly does Verisium Manager specify these arguments during analysis? I tried to set them by the form of setting environment variables before analysis but it didn't work in analysis and their values didn't change.

Is there something wrong with my operation or is there a better solution?

Thank you very much.

I'm working on the code coverage. Doing a metrics analysis by default we see overall average grade and overall covered. But when i do a block analysis on an instance i see overall covered grade, code covered grade, block covered grade, statement covered grade, expression covered grade, toggle covered grade.

As I dont know the difference I started to read the IMC user guide and came to know there are 3 things we come across while doing a code coverage local, covered, average

From my understanding

local - child instances metrics doesnt reach the parent level. For example, we have an instance Q and its sub instances like Q.a, Q.b. Block Local grade of Q can be 100% even when its instances Q.a and Q.b a block local grades isnt at 100%.

In the attached image there is formula 

The key difference between average and covered is the weights.

Average : Mathematically taking the above scenario where Q.a, and Q.b has 10 blocks each. Q.a has covered 8 blocks and q.b has covered 2 blocks. Now if we take the normal average it should be total covered/ totatl number = 8+2/10+10 yielding 50%. But when we add weights saying Q.a is 70% and Q.b is 30% the new number would be (8*0.7+2*0.3) / (10*0.7+10*0.3) resulting 62%. Because of the weights we see 12% bump.

Covered: there is no role of weights.

Among these 3 metrics i've changed my default view to this in the image to get more realistic picture when i do analyze metrics. Do you guys agree with the approach?

Hello,

I have a question about toggle coverage.

In my case, there are many unused registers or wires that are affecting the toggle coverage score negatively.

Is it possible to automatically exclude registers or wires that are not used from toggle coverage?

My RTL code is as follows, Is it possible to automatically disable tb.top1.b and tb.top1.c without using an exclude file?

module top1;

  reg a;

  reg b;

  reg [31:0] c;

  initial

  begin

  #1 a=1'b0;

  #1 a=1'b1;

  #1 a=1'b0;

  end

endmodule

module tb;

  top1 top1();

endmodule

We are trying to run compilation, elab and sim with command xrun -r -u alu, where alu is one of the units to execute. we are getting the following errors.

1) xmsim: *E,DLMKDF: Unable to add default DEFINE std       /home/xxxx/Cad/xcelium/tools/inca/files/STD.
    xmsim: *E,DLMKDF: Unable to add default DEFINE synopsys  /home/xxxx/Cad/xcelium/tools/inca/files/SYNOPSYS

2) xmsim: *W,DLNOHV: Unable to find an 'hdl.var' file to load in.

What is the purpose of hdl.var

3) xmsim: *F,NOSNAP: Snapshot 'alu' does not exist in the libraries.

I cannot see in log files, which libraries is it referring to??

Any one request you to help on how to debug these.

I have been using the rank feature to identify tests that are redundant in our environment, but then I realized I'd also like to be able to see exactly what coverage goes into increasing the delta_cov value for a given test. If I had a test in my rank report that contributed 0.5% of the delta_cov, how could I got about seeing exactly where that 0.5% was coming from? It seems like that might be part of the correlate function, but I couldn't mange to find a way to see what specific coverage was being contributed for a given test.

When posting code to the forums, copy from a text editor such as notepad, not from word or Outlook. Be sure to click the HTML tab BEFORE you paste your text.

Click on the "html" mode tab on your "reply" dialog box. Then wrap your text with like this:

pasted text

NOTE: Do not put a space in the I have done that here so it will show up as text. Also, be sure to click the HTML tab BEFORE you paste your text. This is how it will look when coded correctly pasted text

The two macros below introduce new syntax for adding definitions to more than one 'when' determinant value at the same time. The first macro overloads 'extend' keyword and the second is the equivalent for 'when' keyword.

A use example:

extend [HUGE, BIG] packet {
    // definitions that pertain to these subtypes
};

The above code would be expanded in the following (naive) way:

extend HUGE packet {
    // definitions that pertain to these subtypes
};
extend BIG packet {
    // definitions that pertain to these subtypes
};


The macros code:

define 'statement>
       "extend ['name>,...] 'name> ({;...})" as computed {
    for each in 'names> do {
        result = appendf("%sextend %s %s %s;",result,it,'name>,);
    };
    result = appendf("{%s}",result); // required only for versions 6.1.1 or earlier
};

define 'struct_member>
       "when ['name>,...] 'name> ({;...})" as computed {
    for each in 'names> do {
        result = appendf("%swhen %s %s %s;",result,it,'name>,);
    };
    result = appendf("{%s}",result); // required only for versions 6.1.1 or earlier
};

Please include a brief summary of how to use it.

Hi All.

I put together a small Perl script to generate vr_ad register definitions from SPIRIT (IP-XACT) XML.
If you've got not idea what IP-XACT is, have a look here www.spiritconsortium.org/, then start pestering your design manager to use it :-)

The script can filter out registers and override R/W access types if needed.

An example XML file is included with the package so that you can play with it, and there's a detailed README.txt as well.

Here's an example of the generated e code:

// Automatically generated from xdmac.xml
// DO NOT EDIT, or your changes may be lost
<'

import vr_ad/e/vr_ad_top;

// Component = XDMAC
// memoryMap = xdmac
extend vr_ad_map_kind : [XDMAC];

// addressBlock = dma_eth
extend vr_ad_reg_file_kind : [DMA_ETH];

extend DMA_ETH vr_ad_reg_file {
  keep size == 20;
  keep addressing_width_in_bytes == 4;
};

// Register = command
// Reset    = 0x00
reg_def COMMAND DMA_ETH 0x0 {
  // Field resv3 = command[31:29]
  reg_fld resv3 : uint(bits:3) : R : 0 : cov ;
  // Field transfer_size = command[28:19]
  reg_fld transfer_size : uint(bits:10) : RW : 0 : cov ;
  // Field dma_transfer_target = command[18:14]
  reg_fld dma_transfer_target : uint(bits:5) : RW : 0 : cov ;
  // Field resv2 = command[13:10]
  reg_fld resv2 : uint(bits:4) : R : 0 : cov ;
  // Field transmit_receive = command[9:9]
  reg_fld transmit_receive : uint(bits:1) : RW : 0 : cov ;
  // Field resv1 = command[8:5]
  reg_fld resv1 : uint(bits:4) : R : 0 : cov ;
  // Field dest_address_enable = command[4:4]
  reg_fld dest_address_enable : uint(bits:1) : RW : 0 : cov ;
  // Field source_address_enable = command[3:3]
  reg_fld source_address_enable : uint(bits:1) : RW : 0 : cov ;
  // Field word_size = command[2:0]
  reg_fld word_size : uint(bits:3) : R : 0 : cov ;
};

// Register = queue_exec
// Reset    = 0x00
reg_def QUEUE_EXEC DMA_ETH 0x10 {
  // Field resv = queue_exec[31:1]
  reg_fld resv : uint(bits:31) : R : 0 : cov ;
  // Field exec = queue_exec[0:0]
  reg_fld exec : uint(bits:1) : RW : 0 : cov ;
};

extend XDMAC vr_ad_map {
  dma_eth : DMA_ETH vr_ad_reg_file;

  post_generate() is also {
    add_with_offset(0x00, dma_eth);
    dma_eth.reset();
  };
}
'>

Any comments, please feed them back to me so I can enhance the script.
Note that this forum forces me to post a .zip file rather than .tgz, please be careful to unpack the file under Linux, not Windows, else the DOS linefeeds will corrupt the Perl and XML files.

Steve

Hi everybody,

The attached package is a tiny code example with a demo for an upcoming Team Specman blog post about writing macros.

Hilmar

In a nutshell, tags allows you to navigate through program code distributed over multiple files effectively. e.g if you see a function call or a struct in e-code and want to "jump" to the definition (which may be in a different file) then you just hit CTRL+] in Vim! Pressing CTRL+t will take you back where you came from. Check out http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Browsing_programs_with_tags#Using_tags if you want to learn more about how to use tags with Vim.

This utility can generate tags file for your e files. It can either walk through e import order, a directory recursively or all directories on SPECMAN_PATH recursively! The tags file will have tags for struct, unit, types, events, defines, fields, variables, etc.

For help and some examples, just run ctags4e -help.

Attached is the latest emacs mode for e/Specman - version 1.23

Please follow the install instructions in the top section of the actual file
(after unzipping it) to install/load this package with your emacs.

Hello,

I have a question I want to create a cover that consists a sparse values, pre-computed (a list or define) for example l = {1; 4; 7; 9; 2048; 700} I'd like to cover that data a (uint(bits:16)) had those values, Any suggestion on how to achieve this, I'd prefer to stay away from macros, and avoid to write a lot of code

struct inst {

  data :uint(bits:16);
  opcode :uint(bits:16);
  !valid_data : list of uint(bits:16) = {0; 12; 10; 700; 890; 293;};
  event data_e;
  event opcode_e;

  cover data_e is {
     item data using radix = HEX, ranges = {
     //I dont want to write all of this
     range([0], "My range1");
     range([10], "My range2");
     //... many values in between
    range([700], "My rangen");
    };

    item opcode;

   cross data, opcode;
};

post_generate() is also {
    emit data_e;
};
};

Modified version of shr_ram from erm_lib to support mvl_values
regards: snaptube

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