Setting up Cadence

Example using Xshell

1. First log on to the UNIX workstation using your user ID and password

If you are first time using UNIX workstation, please follow the steps below.
Open Xshell //You can find it on the desktop of simply search it in start
//Also you can log on to solarium.utdallas.edu by Xstart, Nomachine, all of
these are provided in the open lab.
Click File-New, which is located at the upper left corner, a window New Session
Properties will pop up.
Type into the Host name as showed
Click OK
Click Connect in the window Sessions
Type into your user ID and password

2. Once logged in, we need create a directory called ncsu1.3 from your
home directory;
md ncsu1.3
Note: There is always a space between different targets

3. Go the folder ncsu1.3 to make sure everything will be

copied here
cd ncsu1.3;

//go to the subdirectory under ncsu1.3

Note: . Indicates a UNIX command.

Note: There are two space in the copy command. One is between cp and /, and another one
is between /.cdsinit and .cdsinit . Here the later .cdsinit is the document name. You can type
any name with . you want if only you know what the file is.

4. Copy file .cdsinit to /local;

cp /home/cad/ee6326/ncsu1.3/local/.cdsinit .cdsinit
5. Copy file cds.lib to /local:
cp /home/cad/ee6326/ncsu1.3/local/cds.lib cds.lib
6. Copy folder cdssetup to /local/:
cp R /home/cad/ee6326/ncsu1.3/local/cdssetup cdssetup
Note: There are two spaces before and after -R

7. Copy .cdsplotinit to local:

cp /home/cad/ee6326/ncsu1.3/local/.cdsplotinit .cdsplotinit
8. Check what you have copied:
ls a
There must be 4 documents which you just copy from step 4 to 7.

Note: All the setup files only need run one time.

Schematic Tutorial in Cadence

1. Starting Cadence
1. Once the setup is complete, make sure you are in the directory
/ncsu1.3/,
Then type source command to get the access to Cadence
source /home/cad/ee6326/profile.500
Then use the command to start Cadence
icfb &
// Starting from the second time, go to /ncsu1.3/ first, then source the path and icfb&

You will see the line Loading NCSU SKILL routines in your command interpreter
window (CIW).

2. Go to Tools in CIW and click on Library Manager.

2. Creating a Library
1. Go to File in Library Manager -> New -> Library.
2. Enter the name of your library. Then chose Attach to existing tech library and then
select the option TSMC 0.4u CMOS035 (4M, 2P, HV FET). Then click OK.

3. Making a Schematic
1. Click on the library you created in the library manager and Go to File in Library
Manager -> New -> Cell View.

2. Type in your cell view name and click OK.

Save
Zoom in by 2
Zoom out by 2
Stretch
Copy
Delete

3
Undo
Property
Component
Wire (narrow)
Wire (wide)
Wire name
Pin

The University of Texas at Dallas

Check & Save

3. In the Composer-Schematic Editing Window, click on the Component button to open

the Add Instance window or using the shortcut I. As you open this, in the Component
Browser select the desired device.

Note: You can find nmos4 in N_Transistors and pmos4 in P_Transistors. vdd and gnd are in
Supply_Nets. vdc and vpulse are in voltage source.

4. Once you select this, in the Add Instance window, you can modify the parameters of
your device.
5. Further devices can be added by clicking on Browse and choosing the desired
components.
6. For the design of the inverter, we will be using the following components: nmos4,
pmos4, vdd, gnd, vdc, vpulse.
7. Once placed in the schematic window, connect the devices using the Wire (narrow)
button in the Schematic window which the shortcut is W. You can move the devices by
clicking m and clicking on the device to move it.
8. Pressing ESC will quit the current operation and you can click on Property to
change the parameters of the selected component.

9. Click on Check and Save button to save the schematic. Now you have finished your
schematic and ready to run a simulation.

Circuit Simulation using Spectre

In order to do circuit simulation in Cadence, we need to setup Analog Artist first.
1. Go to Tools in Composer-Schematic menu and choose Analog Environment to
open Analog Environment.

2. Go to Setup option in Analog Environment and choose the option

Model Libraries and enter the following lines and click Add:
/home/cad/ee6326/ncsu1.3/local/models/spectre/nom/tsmc35P.m.n88y
/home/cad/ee6326/ncsu1.3/local/models/spectre/nom/tsmc35N.m.n88y

A. Transient Analys is
1. In the Analog Environment Window go to Setup and select Design and the Design
window opens.

3. Once this is done choose the type of analysis you wish to perform. In this case now
we are going to do a Transient Analysis i.e. plotting a time-voltage curve. Click on
Analyses in the Analog Environment.

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4. In the Choosing Analyses Window, select tran and enter the stop time as 10n. Choose
conservative under Accuracy Defaults. Make sure Enabled is ON. Then click on
options.

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5. Under this input the start time as 0 and the step time equal to 1n. This means that
the transient analysis will start from time t=0 and go until t=10ns having a step time of
1ns.Click OK in the Transient Options window and finally click OK for the
Choosing Analyses window. These values can be fixed according to your requirements.
This step is not necessary for all transient analysis. This time you do not need to
change anything in the options.
6. In the Analog Environment Window go to Outputs and select Save All. To plot
select signals to output, and select allpub and click OK. This will save the voltage
values of all the nets. However this is not advisable for a big design since the simulation
would consume a lot of time just deselect allpub and choose selected. Then select
only those node voltages and branch currents which you require.
7. In order to observe the voltage at particular node, go to select Output, to be saved
Select on schematic, and then click on the particular wire. The wire will be highlighted
to indicate that it is selected. If you want to plot the current, you need select the
drain node.

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8. Then to Analog Environment Simulation Window, select Output, to be plotted, Select

on Schematic, and then select the output node in your schematic. The voltage
node will be highlighted and the current node will be denoted by a circle as in the earlier
case above.
9. Once this is done, go to Simulation on the Analog Environment Window and select
Netlist and Run.
10. Wait for a few seconds and after the simulation is finished, a waveform window will
automatically appear.
NOTE: In case if the designed circuit is huge and if the no. of outputs to be plotted
is large, the simulation might take some time. Also sometimes it might appear that

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there is no output waveform appears .This means that there is a problem in your
circuit you designed or you have made a fundamental mistake or short circuited
some node. So always check twice before running your simulation.
11. Another way of opening the Waveform Window is going to the Results, and select
Plot Outputs and choose Transient.

Note: Before you print out the waveform, you need to make the line bold, otherwise they
may not very clear. To make it bold, double click that line and in Type/Style, change
Fine to Bold.

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B. DC Analysis
1. In order carry out a DC Analysis, go to Choose in the Analog Environment Window
and in the Choosing Analyses Window, select dc. DC analysis can be carried out for a
number of parameters. Under the Sweep Variable select Component Parameter .Then
click on Select Component and go to the schematic and click the component
whose parameter you want to sweep. Select what sort of parameter you want to
sweep. Then under the Sweep Range enter the initial and final values of the sweeping
range. Then in Sweep Type select Linear and under step size enter a suitable step size
or simulation. Then click OK.

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2. Once this is done, go to the Analog Environment window and follow the same
procedure for plotting as you did for Transient Analysis.

3. Then go to Simulation in Analog Environment window and under Simulation

choose Netlist and Run.
4. A waveform will automatically appear showing the DC response of the circuit. We can
separate all the graphs by clicking on Strip Chart mode on the Waveform window, the
fourth button on the shortcut toolbar. Also in order to combine two graphs just select one
of them and place them over the other.
5. A plot of the DC characteristic curve of the inverter is shown and the drain current
Id is shown. On the Waveform window go to Marker, Place any kind of Marker you
want to see the particular point on the graph.

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C. AC Analysis
In order to conduct an AC Analyses, we will make use of a n inverter circuit.
Draw it in the schematic window with the specifications given below. Some of the
components we will be using will be a sinusoidal source (vsin). In the Composer window
go to Instance and choose vsin.

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1. Follow the same steps as above and invoke the Analog Environment window.
2. Then go to Choose in the Analog Environment window and select AC.
3. In Choosing Analyses window, under Sweep Variable select Frequency. In the
Sweep Range, enter in Start as 1 and in Stop as 1G. Then in Sweep Type, choose
Logarithmic and select Points per Decade enter 10.

4. Click OK, choose the outputs you want to see and run the simulation.
5. The output is as shown in the waveform in the fig below.
Try to figure out how the waveform be plotted by yourself.

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In order to learn Cadence much more, try out your own circuits and simulate them and
observe their response. Also to learn about Cadence and Analog Environment, go to
Help and view Openbook Main Menu.

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Homework Requirements:
In the report, make sure it include schematic and output waveform
which I posted above for transient, DC and AC analysis. Adding
some comments is preferred.
Suggestion 1: you can use difference sizes of transistors to get
similar waveform.
Suggestion 2: Change the waveform background color from black to
white when printing

NoMachine Hint.
1. Download at www.nomachine.com
2. After installment, choose NX as protocol, the host name is
engnx.utdallas.edu

3. Open in terminal by right click on the desktop

4. Connect to the solarium.utdallas.edu
ssh Y solarium.utdallas.edu
5. The rest will be the same
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