American International University- Bangladesh

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

EEE4217: VLSI CIRCUIT DESIGN Laboratory

Title: Introduction to Cadence and circuit level simulation of a CMOS inverter using Cadence
virtuoso (Part B).

Objective:

To create a schematic view of an Inverter and understand the circuit response.

Abstract:

This experiment introduces the students to the powerful circuit design and simulation tool Cadence
virtuoso ADE. Students will at first create a schematic based design of an CMOS inverter using 45nm
technology in schematic XL and then check the transient response of the circuit using ADE XL.

Building the Inverter_Test Circuit

1. Using the component list and Properties/Comments in this table, build the Inverter_Test
schematic.

Library name Cellview name Properties

MyDesignLib Inverter Symbol
analogLib Vpulse voltage1=0, voltage2=1.8,period =20n,
(as input signal) pulse width= 10n.
analogLib vdc DC voltage =1.8
analogLib gnd
2. Add the above components using Create — Instance or by press

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Choosing Analysis

This section demonstrates how to view and select the different types of analysis to complete the
circuit when running the simulation.

1. In the Simulation window (ADE), execute Analysis - Choose Analysis or click the
Choose - Analysis icon.

The Choosing Analysis form appears. This is a dynamic form, the bottom of the form changes
based on the selection above.

2. To setup for transient analysis

a. In the Analysis section select tran.
b. Set the stop time as 200n.
c. Click at the moderate and Enabled buttons at the bottom, and then click Apply.

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3. To set up for DC Analysis:

a. In the Analysis section, select dc.
b. In the DC Analysis section, turn on Save DC Operating Point.
c. Turn on the Component Parameter.
d. Click the Select Component, Which takes you to the schematic window.

e. Select input signal vpulse source in the test schematic window.

f. Select DC Voltage in the “Select Component Parameter‖ window and click OK.

f. In the analysis form, enter start and stop voltages as 0 to 1.8 respectively.

© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) 3

 Experiment 2: Instructor Manual

g. Check the enable button and then click Apply.

Selecting Signals for Plotting

1. Execute Outputs – To be plotted – Select on Schematic in the simulation window.

2. Follow the prompt at the bottom of the schematic window, Click on output net Vout, input net
Vin of the Inverter_Test. Press Esc with the cursor in the schematic after selecting it.

After setting the transient and DC analysis and also the signals for wave plotting, the ADE L
window will look like the figure below.

© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) 4

 Experiment 2: Instructor Manual

Running the Simulation

1. Execute Simulation – Netlist and Run in the simulation window to start the Simulation or the

Netlist and Run icon present in the ADE L window, this will create the netlist as well as
run the simulation.

2. When simulation finishes, the Transient, DC plots automatically will be popped up along with
log file.

3. Click on the Split Current Strip icon to separate the wave plots.

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 Experiment 2: Instructor Manual

Transient Analysis DC Analysis

Creating a block symbol for the drawn schematic:

Creating a block from a schematic is fairly useful when we are working with circuits of considerable
sizes. We can make the circuit less cluttered by using block symbols.
1) To create the block symbol of a schematic, we click on create  cell view  from cell view.
2) From the window that pops up, we specify the top, bottom, left and right pins of the block. Since
we are working with an inverter, we are dealing with only 4 pins- Vin, Vout, VDD and gnd. For this
example, we have selected Vin, Vout, VDD and gnd as left, right, top and bottom pins respectively.
3) We need to click on list beside every pin option to ensure that the type of pin has been properly
specified (e.g. Vin is an input pin while gnd is specified as input-output).
4) Lastly, we click ok to create the block symbol.
A window will appear showing the created block symbol, we click check and save to save the symbol.

Recalling the saved block symbol:

1) To recall the saved block symbol, we go to tools  library manager. Then we select the library
file we created at the beginning of our work. We will see the inverter cell we created under the
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 Experiment 2: Instructor Manual

cell column. On the right side, under the view column, we will see 2 options: schematic and
symbol. We will be able to see both the schematic and block symbol of the inverter we made in
thumbnail view.
2) Then file  new  cell view. The ‘new file’ window will appear.
3) We need to choose an appropriate but different name for our new cell. View and type will remain
as schematic and we will again use schematic L to recall our created symbol. Once we click ok, a
new empty workspace will be created.
4) We will create instance  browse library  name of the library we created at the start. The cell 
inverter (or, whichever name you saved your work under earlier)  symbol as view  dragging and
dropping the component in the workspace.

© Dept. of EEE, Faculty of Engineering, American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) 7