Alarm....
VLSI Lab members:
please check this page frequently, any fix and update that I know about the tools will be reflected here.

• Cadence configuration
• AMS design kit
• NCSU CDK for MOSIS
• Eldo
• Notes ...

# .cdsplotinit sets up your printer configuration to adapt to your local printers, for your convenience, the configuration has already been done for printers in er4 and the Analog VLSI Lab.
please download the following file to your home or working directory:
.cdsplotinit

Better to read carefully the file .cdsinit in your home directory (e.g: the following information is given there)

; ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
; Schematic, Layout and Graphic environment variable defaults are now found in
; /etc/tools/
; layout/.cdsenv
; schematic/.cdsenv
; graphic/.cdsenv
;
; These can be customized in the user's ./cdsenv and ~/.cdsenv files.
; A .cdsenv file can be created by using CIW->options->save defaults.

# Cadence - AMS

setenv AMS_DIR /apps/cadence/AMS_3.12_CDS
setenv CDSDIR $CDS_INST_DIR
set path = (${AMS_DIR}/artist/bin $path)

2) Go to your project directory e.g.

cd proj/AMS and start Cadence with:

ams_cds -tech csx -tool artist -mode fb

Now it is better to visit James Wilsons' homepage for assistance in using NCSU

The techfiles, models and documents are contained in $CDS_INIT_DIR/local/

As far as I know, nobody in the lab has tested the NCSU CDK installation. Originally, it did give us some problems to operate Cadence tools correctly, these problems have already got cleared. The negative effect is that we have disabled some NCSU files (they are .cdsinit menus/ciw.menus menus/simui.menus)as mentioned in the cadence configuration above. Besides the menus overriding, you may also need to check the file .cdsinit_NCSU_bak and move some of its skill functions to your user .cdsinit such that all the features in NCSU CDK are available.

If you want to use the NCSU CDK, probablly you are the first person to find the problems. In such cases, please read through the documents in the NCSU directory.

In the worst case, you should be able to use the NCSU models and techfiles within cadence.

James Wilson has figured out all the problems. See following correspondence:
When I changed to the NCSU CDK, I renamed the menu files so that I would have the default NCSU menus. The first thing I did was to use the
Library->New menu function, and it worked just like NCSU set it up. I
chose 'Attach tech file' and then it gave me the six MOSIS tech files to
choose from. I made a schematic of an inverter, and then tested it with
Analog Artist. Everything worked great. I could go back and change the
channel width's, and retest. So far, I havn't found any problems.

James


On Wed, 12 Jan 2000, Shenggao Li wrote:

> Great! Please try using library-> new ... in the CIW window. It created
> problem before. Also the technology--> attach to ...
>
> In fact, the menu problem should have already been solved by copying the
> menus to your home directory as I mentioned in my webpage.
>
> I am glad that it works for you. If you feel a certain feature is not
> provided in the menu, please try removing the menus/... in your home
> directory, so that the NCSU default will be loaded (except that the above
> mentioned problem will come out.)
>

> --Shenggao
>
> On Wed, 12 Jan 2000, James E Wilson wrote:
>
> > After I talked with you this afternoon, I made some more changes to my
> > setup for Cadence. I copied the file .cdsinit_NCSU.bak out of the local
> > directory and renamed it .cdsinit in ~/. Then I edited out the last
> > portion that said to load itself again, and made sure that I did not have
> > .cdsenv in ~/. And now NCSU CDK works perfectly. I have access to all of
> > the supplied techs and there is not a single problem with any menus. I
> > was able to follow the tutorial at http://vlsi.wpi.edu/cds/ all of the
> > way through, and it went perfectly smooth. If you need to know anything
> > else about how I have this setup, let me know.
> >
> > James Wilson
> >
> >

Setting VHDL Data Types for Pins The vhdlConfig.il file contains settings that customize the Composer schematic and symbol editors for VHDL designs. This file redefines the pin "indirection" maps (used by the Add ­ Pin command) to use the pins from the VHDLPins cell category in the basic library. You can use these special pins for the system to prompt you for VHDL data type, initial value, and resolution function when you place or edit pins. The vhdlConfig.il file also sets the symbol editor Add ­ Pin command to place pins as instances.

To set the VHDL data type option for adding or modifying pins, do the following: Type the following line in the CIW:

load(prependInstallPath("samples/local/vhdlConfig.il"))
The CIW returns t if the file loaded successfully.

You can also add this line to your .cdsinit file, so that the system automatically redefines your pin masters every time you start the system.