Cadence comes with a variety of tools. A few among them are listed here…
- Virtuoso Schematic for schematic capture.
- Analog Artist (Spectre) for simulation.
- Virtuoso layout for layout
- Diva for Postlayout verification
Each of these tools are invoked by the typing respective command in the command terminal. The tools and the respective commands are :
| Command description | For invoking the tools | |
| layout | Layout only (and DRC). | |
| spectre | Spectre RF Circuit Simulator(like spice) | |
| msfb | Layout, schematic capture, VHDL, and Simulation tools | |
| icca | Place and Route tools. | |
| icde | Schematic capture only (and netlisting). | |
| icds | Schematic capture and VHDL. | |
| icms | Schematic capture, VHDL, Simulation, & Analog Artist/td> | |
| icfb | Everything… |
The Cadence command “icfb” makes all the licensed tools available, and you can check out licenses from the OptionsLicenses… menu. However, you can help reduce unnecessary license usage by running only the tools you need.
Tips :
- Avoid using mv, cp, etc… linux commands for moving cadence design files. Instead use the option available with Library Manager
- Always prefer to have Library Manager window open.
- The cds.lib file follows the following format:
DEFINE (name by which the library is presented) (Path to the directory containing the “techfile.cds” of the library)
For example, to add the Microwave library, append the following line in cds.lib:
DEFINE MicrowaveLibrary $CDS_INST_DIR/tools/dfll/etc/cdslib/artist/microwave
Bindkeys
| Hotkey | Description | Schematic Func | Layout Func |
| i | instance | add an instance to the cell | -do- |
| k | ruler | — | measure distance between two points |
| shift k | delete ruler | delete all the earlier placed rulers | |
| f | fit to screen | fit the entire layout to screen | |
| l | label | label a net | -do-Make sure that you have selected text layer in LSW window. Otherwise it create DRC errors. |
| shift c | chop/cuts pieces of selected item | Select the interconnect to chop and place the cursor at the starting point. Press shit+c. Then select area to chop | |
| shift m | merges selected items | ||
| ctrl r | redraw | ||
| ctrl p | insert pin | ||
| q | query | Gets info on the currently selected instance. helpful for changing the properties of instances | -do- |
| F3 | Pressing F3, after a hotkey(say r) pops up a window, which details about the options available with that hotkey. | -do- | |
| Esc | cancels current mode | -do- | -do- |
| z | zoom | zoom-in selected area; select area with mouse left click | |
| ctrl z | zoom in | zoom in by 2X | |
| shift z | zoom out | zoom out by 2X | |
| ctrl f | layers selection | hide all layers | |
| shift f | layers selection | display all layers | |
| ctrl p | pin | create a pin |
LSW – Layer Select Window
This window tells about all the layers (metal, poly, n-plus etc)that are available in the process. This window pops up when layout is invoked. Following are the options available on this window for selection of layers and instances.
| Option | Acronym | Description |
| AV | All View | you see all the layers |
| NV | No View | You see *only* the selected layer. You may have to hit ctrl-r (redraw) to see the new view. You can select more than one layer to view. |
| AS | All Select | When you select, you select every layer. |
| NS | No Select | When you select, it’s everything *but* that layer. |
| inst | instance | Deselect this to only select the current hierarchy, but no blocks. Great way for deleting lots of wire traces without deleting the actual transistors you’ve placed. |
| pin | pin | deselect this and you can’t select the pins. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS ONE. I’ve left it deselected many times and when I’ve gone to move chunks of layout, the pins stay behind, causing major LVS headaches later. |