Cadence Tutorial C: Simulating DC and Timing Characteristics

Created for the MSU VLSI program by Professor A. Mason and the AMSaC lab group
Last updated by Waqar A Qureshi FS08 (convert to spectre simulator)

Document Contents
Introduction
Layout Extraction with Parasitic Capacitances
Timing Analysis
DC Analysis

Introduction
This document is the third of a three-part tutorial for using CADENCE Custom IC Design Tools
for a typical bottom-up circuit design flow with the AMI/C5N process technology and NCSU
design kit. Tutorial A and B cover the use of the Virtuoso schematic entry tool, Virtuoso analog
simulation tool and Virtuoso layout tool. This tutorial covers the timing analysis on the
schematic and extracted view. It is assumed you have followed Tutorials A and B and have the
schematic and layout views of a CMOS inverter.

Layout Extraction with Parasitic Capacitances

• Launch Cadence and open the layout view for the inverter cell.
• In the Command Interpreter Window (CIW), set the capacitance-ignore-threshold by entering
NCSU_parasiticCapIgnoreThreshold=1e-18 in the prompt at the bottom of the CIW and
pressing Enter. Although this was not needed for functional simulations, it will make timing
analysis more accurate.
• In the Virtuoso Layout Editing window select Verify => Extract. A new window (below)
with extraction options will appear.
• Click on Set Switches and select Extract_parasitic_caps. Click on OK to extract parasitic
elements from the layout with the new parasitic capacitance threshold.
• After extraction, check the CIW to make sure there are no errors.
• Load the extracted cellview from the Library Manager window. This will open up a layout
should look similar to the one below. Press shift+f to see all the device parameters.

Extract Window Extracted Layout View

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Timing Analysis
STEP 1. Start Analog Environment(ADE L)
• With the extracted view open, in the Virtuoso Layout Editing window select Launch=>
Analog Design Environment(ADE L) to open the Virtuoso Analog Circuit Design
Environment window.
o You can also launch this tool from the CIW by selecting Tools => Analog Environment
=> Simulation in the CIW. When the Virtuoso Analog Circuit Design Environment
opens you have click on the Setup => Design to specify the library and cell, for example
“tutorial” and "inv".

STEP 2. Setup Analog Simulator

• In VirtuosoAnalog Design Environment, click on Setup => Simulator/Directory/Host.
• Choose spectre as the Simulator.
• Enter a path for your simulations files and results. You may set this to any valid path, but
you might find it useful to keep all simulations in one directory. If you don’t specify the
whole path, the simulation files and results will be created under the directory you launched
cadence. The following example saves the simulation file and results at
/egr/courses/personal/ece410/<username>/simulation assuming you launched Cadence from
your root 410 class directory If you need to run multiple simulations on the same cell, you
can even use different paths for each simulation.

Cadence Tutorial C: Simulating DC and Timing Characteristics 2

STEP 3. Set up Analog Environment to use Extracted View
• In Virtuoso Analog Design Environment, click on Setup => Environment. The
Environment Options dialog box (below) will pop up.

• In the Environment Options window, under the line Switch View List. type the word
“extracted” before the word “schematic” (see below). Then click on OK.

This entry is an ordered list of cell views which contain information that can be simulated.
The simulator (in fact the netlister) will search until it finds one of these cellviews. The
default entry does not contain an extracted cellview. As a result of this modification, the
simulator will use the extracted cellview instead of the schematic cellview to include the
effect of parasitic capacitance in the simulation.

• Make sure to check the Y for Use SPICE Netlist Reader(spp), since the default transistor
model files are written in SPICE syntax.

STEP 4. Set up stimulus file

• Create a new stimulus file by opening any text editor. Make sure to give the file a name
either when you create it or when you save it, depending on your text editor (“stimulus.txt”,
for example).
• Enter the following text, save the file and exit the text editor. (Note: each circle bulleted item
below represents one full line in the stimulus file; be careful if you cut and paste this text.
You also need to be sure to hit Enter after the last line to insert a line return in the text file.)
o simulator lang=spectre
o global gnd!
o Vdd (vdd! 0) vsource dc=3
o Gnd (gnd! 0) vsource dc=0
o v1 (A 0) vsource type=pulse val0=0 val1=3 rise=0.05n fall=0.05n
width=10n period=20n
o c0 (0 Y) capacitor c=3f

This assumes your input and output node are called ‘A’ and ‘Y’ and attaches a load
capacitance to the output that simulates the input capacitance of gates attached to the output

Cadence Tutorial C: Simulating DC and Timing Characteristics 3

 node. For additional information about stimulus files, including notes on creating files with
multiple inputs, see the Guide to Writing Stimulus Files.
• In the Virtuoso Analog Design Environment, include this new stimulus file by clicking Setup
=> Simulation Files and adding the name of the file in the “Stimulus File” box.
STEP 5. Setup Model Files:
• In Virtuoso Analog Design Environment, click on Setup => Model Libraries…
• If you have correctly set up your ECE410 Cadence environment, two Model Library Files
should already appear, “ami06N.m” and “ami06P.m”. If so, you may exit this dialog by
pressing OK.
• You can add the necessary Model Library Files by
o Click the bottom “Model Library File” box
o Type “/opt/soft/ncsu-cdk-1.6.0.beta/models/spectre/nom/ami06N.m”
o Click the “Add” button. This should add the model to the Model Library File list and
clear the Model Library File box
o Repeat the process or “/opt/soft/ncsu-cdk-1.6.0.beta/models/spectre/nom/ami06P.m”
o Your Model Library Setup dialog box should look like the one below. Once it does, you
can click “OK” to close the dialog.

STEP 6. Setup Analysis

• In Virtuoso Analog Design Environment window, select Analyses => Choose.
• In the window that pops up, select tran to choose a transient analysis.
• Enter the time limits for simulation: Set the Stop Time to “50n”.
• Choose Enabled at the bottom of the screen and press OK.

Cadence Tutorial C: Simulating DC and Timing Characteristics 4

STEP 7. Setup output traces
• In Virtuoso Analog Design Environment window, select Outputs => to be plotted => Select
on Schematic. This will activate the Layout Editing window with the extracted view of the
inverter, allowing you to pick which signals (nets/wires) you would like to have plotted
during the simulation.
• In the Layout Editing window select input gate poly and output metal1 (see example below).
• This will complete the simulation setup. Now your Virtuoso Analog Design Environment
window should look as follows (names may vary):

STEP 8. Run Simulation

• In the Virtuoso Analog Design Environment window select Simulation =>
Netlist and Run.
• When the simulation is complete, the CIW should show "Reading Simulation Data ......
Successful". If the simulation was not successful, go to Simulation => Output Log in your
Virtuoso Analog Design Environment to find out what the problem was.
After a successful simulation, an output signal plot will pop up. As shown in the plot below, you
should now see delays in the output signal due to the parasitics. If the simulated output
waveform looks like the function you are expecting, you have probably done everything
correctly. If not, check your steps and repeat until the correct output is obtained.

Cadence Tutorial C: Simulating DC and Timing Characteristics 5

STEP 9. Measure Propagation Delay
• In the Waveform Window click on Axes => To Strip to separate input and output signals.
• Click on Markers => Trace Markers (hotkey: a, b) and use them to measure the rising
propagation delay and falling propagation delay.
• To obtain a plot with higher resolution, you can run the simulation again showing only 1 or 2
cycles, say with a stop time of 25nsec.
• To make measurements with the markers, first you should select Marker A and locate where
input signal (A) raises to 1.5V (half of VDD). Then select Marker B and locate where output
signal (Y) falls to 1.5V. Finally, the delta values shown at the left-bottom corner of the
window is falling propagation delay time of your inverter. Use same method find out what
the rising propagation delay time is. Record these values and use them to calculate the total
propagation delay.

STEP 10. Measure Rise and Fall

Times
• Measure and record the output
rise time and fall time using the
crosshair markers A and B as in
Step 8.

Rise time of the output is defined as

the time taken for the output to rise
from 10% of the final value to 90%
of the final value (If the output rises
from 0v to 3v, then rise time is the
time for the voltage to change from
0.3v to 2.7v). Similarly the fall time of the output is defined as the time for the output signal to
fall from 90% of the final value to 10% of the final value (If the output falls from 3v to 0v, then
fall time is the time for the voltage to change from 2.7v to 0.3v).
DC Analysis
STEP 11. Setup Simulation
• Open a new text file (any file name is fine). Enter the following text, save the file and exit the
text editor.

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 o simulator lang=spectre
o global gnd!
o parameters vs=0
o vdd (vdd! 0) vsource dc=3
o Gnd (gnd! 0) vsource dc=0
o v1 (A 0) vsource dc=vs
o dcs dc param=vs start=0 stop=3 step=0.01

This assumes your input node is called ‘A’. Note an output capacitance is not needed since
we are doing a DC analysis and timing will not be considered. Instead a DC statement is
needed.

line 2: the “parameters” statement declares a simulation variable called “vs”, which is
initialized to 0. This parameter will be used to sweep the dc value of the voltage at input node
A. You can give this any name and starting value.

line 3: the standard definition of dc voltage “vdd!”

line 5: definition of a voltage source at the input node A. Notice that the dc voltage value is
set to the variable “vs” as defined in line 2. This allows the value to be swept instead rather
than being constant.

line 6: the DC sweep statement. The first field “dcs” is the name of the dc sweep (can be any
alphanumeric name). The second field “dc” is required to specify the command. The third
field “param=vs” specifies the parameter to be swept; in this case, it is the voltage at the
inverter input. The fourth and fifth fields (“start” and “stop”) specify the bounds of the
sweep. The sixth field “step=0.01” specifies the sweep step interval. Decreasing/increasing
this value will increase/decrease the dc operating point precision, but take more/less time to
simulate.

• In the Virtuoso Analog Design Environment, include this new stimulus file by clicking Setup
=> Simulation Files. If a file exists in the “Stimulus File” box, delete it. Then add the name
of the new file in the “Stimulus File” box.

STEP 12. Setup Analysis

• In Virtuoso Analog Design Environment window, select Analyses => Choose.
• In the window that pops up, select dc to choose a DC analysis.
• Choose Save DC Operating Point and press OK.

STEP 13. Setup Output Traces

• In Virtuoso Analog Design Environment window, select Outputs => to be plotted => Select
on Schematic and pick the input and output nets again as you did for the transient analysis
above. This will complete the simulation setup. Now your Virtuoso Analog Design
Environment window should look like the window below.

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STEP 14. Run Simulation
• In the Virtuoso Analog Design
Environment window select
Simulation => Netlist and Run.
• When the simulation is complete,
the CIW should show "Reading
Simulation Data ...... Successful".
If the simulation was not
successful, go to Simulation =>
Output Log in your Virtuoso
Analog Design Environment to
find out what the problem was.

After a successful simulation, an output signal plot will pop up showing the voltage transfer
curve. If the plot does not look like you would expect, check your steps and repeat until the
correct output is obtained.

STEP 15. Measure DC Parameters

• Using the crosshair markers, measure the switching threshold (midpoint voltage), where the
input voltage is equal to the output voltage.
• Measure the output high voltage and output low voltage.

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OPTIONAL. Saving Simulation State
The Analog Design Environment state can be saved so that the settings do not need to be
manually entered each time a design is simulated.

• To save the simulation state, in the Virtuoso Analog Circuit Design Environment window
select Session => Save State

The “Save As” field does not have to be a unique name for all designs; the state is saved
within the directory of the current cell view, so you can use the same Save As name for
multiple cells without overwriting each other.. For example, cells named inv and nand2 can
both independently have the state “state1” saved.

• Enter a Save As name, e.g., “state1” and click on “OK”.

Saving all simulation data can take a lot of memory so you may find it useful to alter the
What to Save parameters to save only the items you need to run future simulatoins. Saving
outputs from complex cells with multiple plotted node waveforms can generate very large
files.

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OPTIONAL. Loading Simulation State
• To load the saved state, after opening a specific cell, in the Virtuoso Analog Circuit Design
Environment window select Session => Load State

• Select the desired State Name and click on “OK”.

THE END

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