Vlsi cadence tutorial_ahmet_ilker_şin

OKAN UNIVERSITY
ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

EEE 459 Very Large Scale
Integrated Circuits
Cadence Tutorials

AHMET İLKER ŞİN

Outlines

 Open PuTTy and VNC Viewer connection
 Running cadence
 Introduction to design flow
 Schematic entry of a CMOS inverter
Create a new library
Schematic of a CMOS inverter
Generating symbol from schematics
 Transient simulation of Schematics
 Layout drawing
 Layout versus schematic check (LVS)
 Simulation of layout
 Simple design flow
2

Open Putty and VNC
connection
Open putty by click its icon in the quick launch menu

3

Double click on vlsi-1 to log on

4

Enter user name and password

And finally ready to using vnc
viewer

5

Open VNC by click its icon in the quick
launch menu

Click OK

Enter your password

6

So , you are connected to the server and
ready to run cadence

7

RUNNING CADENCE

 Cadence is one of the most widely used IC
design software all overr the world. It
contains many subprograms each of which is
responsible from one step in IC design flow.
In the content of this tutorial you will learn
lowlevel(transistor level)design tools of the
cadence

8

Right click on the desktop and click to
‘’Konsole’’

9

This will make a directory named tutorial
Enter newly created tutorial directory

Choose c35b3 as the technology file and This command generates a link to the script file required
Write ams_cds –tech c35b3 –mode msfb to run cadence

10

Now , cadence is opening…
11

So you have running cadence now
12

Then , select process option as ‘’c35b3c0’’
, click apply and OK

13

Introduction to design flow
Layout
Design Specification

DRC – Design Rule
Schematic Capture Check

Extraction
Create Symbol

LVS – Layout versus
Simulation Schematic check

Post Layout
Simulation

Sign Off 14

SCHEMATIC ENTRY OF A CMOS INVERTER
Create a new library

 In this tutorial , we will start using cadence and
design our first CMOS inverter. Do not forget that ,
you have to learn every step in this tutorial.

 Initially starting to design, we have to create a
library, that will contain all the circuits that you will
implement during this laboratory.

15

Open library manager window by tools --
>library manager on msfb-log window

16

Choose ,File  New  Library

17

On the newly appeared window , click ‘’
Write ‘’EEE 459’’ to the name of the Attach to an existing techfile’’ button and
library as seen on the window then press click OK
OK
18

Again new window will appear to choose
the technology library.Choose
‘’TECH_C35B3’’ from the menu . This is
the technology library for 0.35 u fabrication
process then click OK
19

We got new library , now we will continue
making a new cell.Click on library ‘’
eee459’’ which you have added previously.
There is not cellview in the ‘’eee459’’
library yet.Click on FileNewCell view

20

Write ‘’inverter’’ to the cell name.Be sure
that view name is ‘’schematic’’.Altough the
others are default,click OK

21

Now , Virtuoso schematic editing
windows is opened.As you see, you will
work with a black background.

There is a toolbox on left.Most of the
commands in the menus have short-keys
and some of required short keys
mentioned in the tutorial

22

Then ‘’Add instance’’
window is opened,then
click Browse
Now , we will add a transistor.Click on Add
İnstance from the menu. The shortcut
key for this command is ‘’i’’.

23

Click on the browse and find ‘’PRIMLIB’’ in
Library then select ‘’Mosfets’’ in Category
and ‘’nmos4’’ to cell.View will be ‘’ Symbol’’
by default,check it.

24

Then insert NMOS transistor to schematic
Width,length and other properties of the editor, in the same way for ‘’pmos4’’ cell and
transistor can be changed in this window or insert one PMOS transistor. Due to we are
you can change them later making an inverter that PMOS transistor
should be to top.

25

Now,we will draw the connections.Click to
Addwire(narrow) or press ‘’w’’.Click at
the start and end points of the wires.Don’t
forget to connect bulk connections both of
two transistor as seen in the figure

26

When place to VDD and GND , direction
have to be selected ‘’inputoutput’’ ,check it

Then , we will add pins of the circuit. Click
on Pin or press ‘’p’’ in order to add pins
of the circuit,Firstly we will add VDD and
GND
27

When you insert the ‘’in’’, direction have to
be selected ‘’input’’ and insert the ‘’output’’
,direction have to be selected ‘’output’’

28

HİNT : you can zoom İN or OUT by using
the buttons on the toolbar or using window
 , ‘’f’’ auto-zooms the current
design.Either you can click-and drag using
3rd button(right button) of the mouse,that
zooms the drawn box.when you have
zoomed to a wrong place,press ‘’f’’ in order
to fit the circuit

İf you get some warning messages , check the
yellow markers,if there is no problem, you will
get any warning or error

29

Click ‘’Check and Save’’

As you see , when connected to pins,
yellow markers and net names are
disappear

30

Generating symbol from schematic
Click on DesignCreate Cell ViewFrom Cell
View .

Every cell should have a symbol view in order
to be used in other circuits.
31

Be sure that ‘’To view Name’’ is ‘’symbol’’ and
‘’Tool/Data Type’’ is ‘’Composer-Symbol’’ as the
following figure

You will get ‘’ Symbol Generation Options’’
.Write ‘’gnd’’ to the ’’Bottom Pins’’and click
OK with default settings
32

A new window is appear showing your new box-
shaped symbol view

You have finished to design of schematics and
copied the symbol of the inverter.You are ready
to start simulations of this schematics.
Before this , I will give a few notes here
33

NOTES

 You can see the properties of transistor or any other components by
pressing ’’q’’ or clicking on EditPropertiesObjects,after choosing
the object (by clicking on it). When an object is selected, its borders
become visible. For the transistor, it is possible change the aspect
ratios by changing "Width" and "Length’’ which are "10u" and "0.35u"
by default. u is used micro and "m" is used for "mili"here.

 You can move objects by ‘’m’’ or ‘’EditMove’’. Copy and deleting
objects are similar also.See the menus and shortcuts.

34

TRANSİENT SIMULATION OF
SCHEMATİCS

In order to simulate a circuit , you need to define the input-
output and vdd-gnd , for this purpose we will generate
another cell

Make a new cell ‘’inverter’’ in ‘’EEE459’’ library with
‘’schematic’’ view , using FileNewCellview on the
library manager window

35

Write ‘’ inverter_tb’’ to the ‘’Cell Name’’ and click
OK

36

‘’ Virtuoso schematic editing’’ window is
opened then click ‘’Add Instance’’(or press ‘i’)
and click ‘’Browse’’

37

Library Cell name

EEE459 inverter Now ,lets add the following components as
seen on the table and draw the ciruit
analogLib vpulse

analogLib vdc

analogLib cap

analogLib gnd

38

We have added inverter symbol from EEE459
Library

39

analogLİbvdcsymbol

Now, we will add ‘’vdc’’ from ‘’AnalogLİb’’

40

When insert the ‘’vdc’’ , ‘’Add ınstance’’ menu will
open .Here ‘’vdc’’ will be used to apply VDD
voltage

Write ‘’3.3 v’’ to ‘’DC voltage’’ , if you want
change properties of the component later, press
‘’q’’ and change it

41

analogLibSourcesIndependentvpulsesymbol

Now,we will add ‘’vpulse’’ from ‘’analogLib’’
42

When insert the ‘’vpulse’’ , ‘’Add
ınstance’’ menu will open .Vpulse is
generate pulse signals with
‘’Voltage1’’ and ‘’Voltage2’’ levels.The
delay time at the beginning of the
simulation is determined by Delay
Time. Also rise time, Fall time,Pulse
width,and period are determined by
these properties

Change the properties of ‘’vpulse’’ as shown in
figure.Remember that ‘’n’’ stands for ‘’nano’’ and ‘’u’’
stands for ‘’micro’’
43

analogLibPassivescapsymbol

Now,we will add ‘’cap’’ from ‘’analogLib’’
44

İnsert the ‘’cap’’

Change the capacitance of ‘’cap’’ to ‘’100.0f F’’

45

analogLibSourcesGlobalsgndSymbol

Now,we will add ‘’gnd’’ from ‘’analogLib’’
46

Place ‘’gnd’’ components in determined location

47

Now,we will draw the connections.Click to
Addwire(narrow) or press ‘’w’’.Click at the start
and end points of the wires

48

Then, we use ‘’Wire Name’’ in order to named
wires
49

When you click on ‘’Wire Name’’ button , ‘’Add
Wire Name’’ window will be opened. Write ‘’in’’
to ‘’Names’’ and place to related point and do
the same things to other wire connection

50

This is the last view of the circuit.Press ‘’check
and save’’

51

Now, click on ‘’Tools’’’’Analog Environment’’ in
order to run analog simulator

52

Click on AnalysesChoose ( you can select ‘’choose Analyses’’ to do the same thing)

53

‘’tran’’ is chosen as the default analysis time.
Write 4u to the ‘’Stop Time’’.You have
programmed the simulator to simulate the
transient response of the circuit for 4u
second.Select ‘’Enabled’’ and click OK

54

After selected the properties of Analog
Environment Click on SessionSave State.
Then ‘’Saving State’’ window will be opened.
55

On this window, select ‘’Cellview’’ in ‘’ Save
State Option’’ skip then press OK

56

When you apply thiss process ‘’spectre_statel’’ will be appear on ‘’Library Manager’’.When
you click on ‘’spectre_statel’’, ‘’Virtuoso Analog environment’’ window will appear on the
screen that you have selected and saved analyses properties. Thus you can make analysis
quickly
57

Come to ‘’Simulaton’’ skip and click ‘’Netlist and
Run’’

58

When you click on ‘’Netlist and Run’’ simulation
file will be ready and log file window will be
appear in screen

When you go down on log window that you will see ‘’
spectre completes with 0 error, 0 warning and 2 notices
. This note is announce to simulation succesful , then
‘’check and save’’ on the Schematics
59

In order to take out waveform window ,click on
ResultsDirect PlotTransient Signal.After this
process waveform window will be opened

60

Waveform window is opened but there is
not any wave as you see.So we have to
determine the nodes in order to find out
graphics.
61

According to we want to see output , we have to
select wire of out labelled as you see

After selected to out wire that you will be notice that
change of the wire colour from blue to green.

Then press ‘’ESC’’

62

And Finally waveform of output is come out

If you want to see two or more waveform on the
screen
63

In ‘’ Virtuoso Analog Design Environment’’
window taht select in turn in order OutputsTo
Be PlottedSelect On Schematic This will let you
choose the nodes to be observed
64

There are 2 type of signal to be observed after the simulation :
Voltage and Current.If you click on the wire, you select that
wire’s voltage as the observed signal (white circled).If you
click on the node like the input of the inverter, you select the
current of that node as the observed signal. You see circle on
that node.

Focus on the schematics editor and click on vpulse
node (circled),the wires at the input and output of the
inverter Then,Check and Save schematics

65

After you have selected ‘’vpulse ‘’ node , input and output wire
that you will notice that selected wires and nodes will appear in
‘’Virtuoso Analog Design Environment’’ on Outputs heading
66

When you have click on turn in order ‘’in’’ ,
‘’out’’,’’V1/PLUS’’ , ‘’Setting Outputs’’ window will be
opened. Select ‘’Saved’’ and click OK
67

Click on ‘’SimulationNetlist and Run’’ to start
the simulation.After the simulation is completed,
a waveform window will be opened.Do not
forget to ‘’Check and Save’’ the schematics
before running the simulation
68

In order to see these signals seperately.click on
‘’AxesTo strip’’ at waveform window.

You should see a waveform similar to the
figure.Three different colours represent the
vpulse as current waveform,input and output of
inverter.As seen the input signal is inverted,so
the operation of the circuit is correct 69

Just like that…

Would you want to learn which one is input and which
one is output?Well,if you click on the wires on the
schematics and press ‘’q’’. You will see the properties of
them.You can see the names of the wires there
70

As you see on the waveform window these graphs are
called ‘’ Square Waveforms’’. I will inform about square
wave forms in proceeded slides
71

SQUARE WAVE WAVEFORMS

 Square-wave Waveforms are used extensively in
electronic and micro electronic circuits for clock and
timing control signals as they are symmetrical
waveforms of equal and square duration representing
each half of a cycle and nearly all digital logic circuits
use square wave waveforms on their input and
output gates. Unlike sine waves which have a smooth
rise and fall waveform with rounded corners at their
positive and negative peaks, square waves on the
other hand have very steep almost vertical up and
down sides with a flat top and bottom producing a
waveform which matches its description
72

A Square Wave Waveform

Pulse Rising or
Width Leading
+A edge
Falling or
Trailing Edge

Amplitude Positive Negative
Half Half

0
One Cycle or Period T 2T

73

We know that square wave waveforms are symmetrical in shape as each half
of the cycle is identical, so the time that the pulse width is positive must be
equal to the time that the pulse width is negative or zero. When square wave
waveforms are used as "clock" signals in digital circuits the time of the
positive pulse width is known as the "Duty Cycle" of the period. Then we can
say that for a square wave waveform the positive or "ON" time is equal to the
negative or "OFF" time so the duty cycle must be 50%, (half of its period). As
frequency is equal to the reciprocal of the period, ( 1/T ) we can define the
frequency of a square wave waveform as :

74

Example

A Square Wave waveform has a pulse width of 10ms,
calculate its frequency.

For a Square wave waveform, the duty cycle is given
as 50%, therefore the period of the waveform must be
equal to: 10ms + 10ms or 20ms

75

So to summarise, Square wave Waveforms are
symmetrical in shape and have a positive pulse width
equal to the negative pulse width resulting in a 50%
duty cycle. Square wave waveforms are used in digital
systems to represent a logic level "1", high amplitude
and logic level "0", low amplitude

76

LAYOUT DRAWİNG
Basics of layout drawing
Until now , you designed your circuit and simulated it in the
virtual environment.To convert your design to real world ,
you need to draw te layout of it. Layout drawing is not as
easy as drawing wires in the schematics because you need
considering the real(physical) structure of the circuit. Do not
forget that , layout drawing is important and it is a job title
in the VLSI desihn centers.

This section is very important. Although all the steps here will
be explanied in this tutorial , try to understand by yourself
first in order to gain time.
77

What is LAYOUT ?
Layout is the drawings of masks used during the fabrication of the
CMOS chips. Masks are kinds of filters used to shape various
layers. Each layer in CMOS fabrication, like Polysilicon layer or
metal layer, are shaped with a different mask. Considering our
purpose as the designer, we have the ability to change very
restricted number of variables during design. For instance we
cannot change the thickness of the oxide layer in the gate, but
we can change the width of the gate. During layout drawing, we
will consider only the width and length of a metal layer, not the
thickness.

78

LAYOUT DRAWING USING CADENCE

 In the previous part, layout drawing basics are given.
In this tutorial, the layout will be drawn using
Cadence. At the end of the tutorial the design will be
checked in order to verify the physical structure of
the drawn layout.

79

Now we can start drawing the layout of the
inverter. Open Library Manager by
Tools>Library Manager on icfb window.

80

And Library Manager has opened

İn Libary Manager window , Schematic have to
be selected under to view skip as seen on the
figure First create a new cell view for the
inverter. Select File> New >Cell View

81

On ‘’Create New File’’ window that select
"Virtuoso" as the tool, also make sure that
library name is "EE459" and cell name is
"inverter". Click OK

After selected ‘’Virtuoso’’ as the tool,wiew
name will be changed as layout

82

Two new windows wiil appear. One is named as ‘’LSW’’
and the other one is the layout window.
LSW is a palette from which you can select the mask
layer you want draw with.At the moment it list the
layers defined in TECH_C35B3 process. Although there
are lots of layers listed, only some of them
Will be used. Some of the layers have two different
versions like ‘’POLY1 drw’’ and ‘’POLY1 pin’’. ‘’drw’’
stands for drawing and ‘’pin’’ stands for pin .While
drawing the layout only ‘’ drw’’ layers should be
used. 83

The Layer Selection Window (LSW)

Active layer

Instances /Pins selectable

Visibility & selection control for all layers
AV : All layers visible & selectable
NV : All layers invisible & unselectable
AS : All visible layers selectable
NS : All visible layers unselectable

Layer List
Click with LEFT mouse button to select the layer
as the ACTİVE layer
Click with MIDDLE mouse button to switch
VISIBILITY of the layer
Click with RIGHT mouse button to switch
SELECTABILITY of the layer

84

Layer Available Process Corners

NTUB N well for pmos devices

DIFF Used for drawing any diffusion (n or p type)
for transistor as well as for substrate and
well contacts
NPLUS Designates any diffusion within the box to be
n-type diffusion(used for the DIFF layer)
PPLUS designates any diffusion within the box to be
p-type diffusion(used for the DIFF layer)
POLY1 1st layer poly-silicon,used for transistor gates

POLY2 2nd layer poly-silicon (used for capacitors)

CONT Designates contact from diffusion to MET1

MET1-4 Four metal layers; ‘’drw’’ and ‘’pin’’ are the
same but appear different on the screen
(‘’drw’’ is used for standard drawing and
‘’pin’’ for pins)

VIA1 Metal via between MET1 and MET2 (similar
for VIA2-3)
PAD Designates area for bonding pads where the
protective silicon-dioxide layer will be etched
away (used only at the end of the project)

The LSW and some commonly used layers

85

Note: Most layers are available in three different types: drawing layer (drw),
pin layer(pin) and net layer (net). The circuit elements are laid out using the
drawing layers. The pin layers are used only for pins and are logical layers.
The net layers are generated automatically during extraction.

Aside: Due to a bug in Cadence, you cannot actually close the
LSW window once it opens unless you exit Cadence.

86

Layout Editor Menus

On ‘’ Virtuoso Layout Editing ‘’ window ,
there are some essantial tools to draw
layout. Commonly used tools have circled
87

On ‘’ Virtuoso Layout Editing ‘’ window select
Options  Layout Editor and when ‘’Layout
Editor Options ‘’ window opened , you notice
that diselect of the ‘’Gravity on’’ tabs Don’t
change this option
88

On ‘’ Virtuoso Layout Editing ‘’ window select
Options  Display and ‘’Display Options’’
window will be opened

Notice that ‘’ X Snap Spacing ‘’ and ‘’ Y
Snap Spacing ‘’ values equal to 0.05 Don’t
change this values

89

On ‘’msfb’’ window click Options  User
Prefences

90

Click ‘’Options Displayed When Commands Start
‘’ option and enabled it .Due to this option ,
when you selected any tools (move ,ruler,path
etc… ) a window will be opened interested tool

91

Create ruler

Window  Create Ruler
Hotkey : k

92

Rectangle

Create  Rectangle
Hotkey : r

93

Clear All Rulers

Window  Clear All Rulers
Hot key : shift + k

94

Stretch

Edit  Stretch
Hot Key : s

When applied this command , your drawing
can be adjustable as extend or shorten

95

Move

Edit  Move
Hot Key : m

Due to this Option you can carry your
drawings , or various parts to any point in
your layout screen

96

Copy

Edit  Copy
Hot Key : c
Through using this command you are able to
copy any items and changed by ‘’Rows‘’ and
‘’Columns’’ values on copy window that copied
intended nummer
97

Path

Getting started to draw path , when click to right mouse button once ,
rotate of the drawing path will be changed and in order to finish drawing
path againly click to right mouse button twice as

Create Path
Hot Key : p

If you want to change width of the path , you can
adjust from this tap
98

Merge

Edit  Merge
Hot Key : shift +m

Merge command is integrate two or more ıtems. Select
related drawings and make shift + m

99

Chop

Chop command is cut certain region in selected part . Firstly click on the part that want
to chop and you will see that appear the white line outside of the related part finally
select want to cut with right mouse button

Edit  Other Chop
Hot Key : shift + c

100

We are going to use the analog synthesis
capability of the tool to generate an
approximate layout in order to minimize the
effort as much as possible. Open the
schematic view of the “inverter” cell in the
“eee459” library that you created in Schematic
Entry. This should be similar to on Figure

The schematic view of the inverter cell
101

Then ‘’Add instance’’
window is opened,then
click Browse

Now , we will add a layout of
transistor.Click on Add İnstance from the
menu on Virtuoso Layout Editing window.
The shortcut key for this command is ‘’i’’. 102

and ‘’pmos4’’ to cell.View will be ‘’ layout’’
by default,check it 103

When we select Pmos as layout form , create
instance menus will be appear.To start off, it is
best to utilize the capability of the tool Select
the “Parameter” tab and scroll down to see the
properties you can configure. ( or Select the
PMOS and press
“q” to bring up its properties) Check the
“Substrate Contact” button as shown in figure
104

After select this option and as you bring the cursor on
the layout window , Pmos layout symbol come out on
window as yellow grid. İf one clicked on symbol , Pmos
symbol will be appear currently on window

105

Finally our Pmos layout came out completely

Note that you can also add or remove the
top and bottom contacts if necessary. Press
“OK”, and the layout window will update to
include a substrate contact for the PMOS

IMPORTANT Place the PMOS above it, flipping it
upside down, so that the substrate contacts
are at the top of the block. You can rotate an
object while moving it by rightclicking

106

Metal 1 substrate contacts for the PMOS consists
of an NPLUS area along with DIFF, and the
actual contact with CONT and MET1

107

Now , we will add a layout of Nmos. Click on
Add İnstance from the menu on Virtuoso
Layout Editing window

and ‘’nmos4’’ to cell.View will be ‘’ layout’’
by default,check it
108

Check the “Substrate Contact” button and place
Nmos transistor layout to Virtuoso Layout Editing Window
109

On LSW window that select ‘’NV’’ tabs

select ‘’POLY1 (drw)’’ and ‘’MET1 (drw)’’
after that press ‘’f’’ on Virtuoso Layout
Editing window

111

PMOS

Through this operation that you can see only
’’POLY1 (drw)’’ and ’’MET1 (drw)’’ of layout of transistors.
To see the previous one , click ‘’AV’’ on LSW and press ‘’f’’
on Virtuoso Layout Editing window

NMOS

112

Now we place contacts over here

Press ‘’o’’ to create a contact
automatically by choosing between pre-defined
contacts
113

These contacts are described in Table Contact
Types Available in the HitKit Process

Layer Description
VIA1_C Contact between MET1 and MET2


P1_C Contact between MET1 and POLY1

P2_C Contact between MET1 and POLY2

ND_C Contact between MET1 and NTUB

PD_C Contact between MET1 and Psubstrate

114

Since you want to contact POLY1 and MET1,
choose ‘’P1_C’’. Lay the contact so
that the mid points of the “POLY1” and the
contact coincide. You can zoom in on
the pin to make sure you place it exactly. 115

When you use ruler(k),you will see width and
length of POLY is 0.3500.To place P1_C contact
completely , change width and length values to
0.35

116

Connect the metal via using ‘’MET1’’ dg
from ‘’LSW’’ as shown in Figure.Connections
can be drawn using the create path <p>
commands. Through this connection,
‘’MET1’’ and ‘’POLY1’’ will be connected.
117

To start path , click on the middle of the
‘’P1.C’’ poly extension on NMOS , you
will see a ghost yellow line appear.
Move this ghost line to the other ‘’P1.C’’
poly extension belong to PMOS

118

Finally, The gates of PMOS and CMOS
are connected as in the figure

A single click will finish a line segment
and let you continue drawing , a
double click will finish the path 119

Now , we will connect drain of NMOS to
source of PMOS to appear output. To
start path click on the middle of the
NMOS drain (MET1)rail and you will see
a ghost yellow line appear again.Move
this ghost line to PMOS of the source
(MET1) rail

120

and the output connection has
connected between PMOS and NMOS
121

Creating Pins

You will need to create 4 pins (vdd,gnd,output,in) to
define your terminal names , to pass DRC for the
inverter cell.From your layout window ; choose
‘’Create’’  ‘’pin’’ from the menu . The Create
Symbolic Pin window will appear

122

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