How to copy the previously designed components (cells) to a new project (library)

in Cadence Virtuoso for CMPEN 411 class by Kyusun Choi

Objective
Each homework project for CMPEN 411 is a complete stand-alone library, all the components (cells) must be contained
within the project (library) that will be turned-in for grading. So, one must collect all the components in the current
homework directory, it will be 'tar' and zipped, turn-in to the instructor for grading. That is, if you are doing the
Homework 1 using the components designed in Homework 0, the components (cells) from the Homework 0 must be
explicitly copied to the Homework 1 library. Otherwise, any missing files (cells) may cause your design verification for
the homework grade to fail. You will lose points if your turned-in hw1 design files cannot be verified due to missing files
(cells).

Instruction
1. Homework 1 preparation: Create a directory 'hw1yourlastname' under c411 directory (assuming you have c411
directory in your home for this class). Change the current directory to hw1yourlastname. Set up the directory for a
new Cadence Virtuoso library. Then start the hw1 design project. For example, my hw1 directory will be 'hw1choi'
and I will be running the following unix commands right after I login to my account:

% cd c411
% mkdir hw1choi
% cd hw1choi
% runcds
% virtuoso &

You can follow the same except that you need to use your last name after 'hw1'.

2. Once the Virtuoso is running, create the new library named 'hw1yourlastname' first. Attach the
NCSU_TechLib_ami06 technology to your 'hw1yourlastname' library. Then exit the Virtuoso to add the hw0 library
path to your hw1 project. One can manually add some library paths to hw1 project and copy all the necessary cells
from those library to the new hw1 library. After copying all the cells, one MUST delete the other library paths,
leaving only the 'hw1yourlastname' library, containing all the cells for the complete chip.

3. Once the hw0 library shows in your hw1 project, use 'Copy Wizard ...' from the virtuoso library manager to copy your
previous homework cells to the hw1yourlastname library.

4. To manually add the library path, I will be running the following unix editing command for cmpen 411 class:

% xe cds.lib

The file cds.lib exists in your hw1yourlastname directory once you created the library hw1yourlastname with
Virtuoso. My file contains the following two lines:

INCLUDE /home/noncse/kyusunt/cds.lib
DEFINE hw1choi /home/noncse/kyusunt/cmpen411/hw1choi/hw1choi

Similarly, your cds.lib file will contain your account path and hw1yourlastname in place of mine above. Then I will
add the following line:

DEFINE hw0choi /home/noncse/kyusunt/cmpen411/hw0choi/hw0choi

This line is to add my hw0 library to my hw1 project. You must type your directory path and hw0yourlastname in
place of my information. So the overall cds.lib file will contain the following three lines in my case:
 INCLUDE /home/noncse/kyusunt/cds.lib
DEFINE hw1choi /home/noncse/kyusunt/cmpen411/hw1choi/hw1choi
DEFINE hw0choi /home/noncse/kyusunt/cmpen411/hw0choi/hw0choi

Now be sure to save the file and Quit the cds.lib file editing.

5. To copy the cells from your hw0 library, run Virtuoso. Once the Virtuoso is running, the library manager will show
the libraries: hw0yourlastname in addition to your hw1yourlastname library. First select the hw0yourlastname
library in your Library Manager window. Then select the 'Copy Wizard ...' option under the 'Edit' pull-down menu in
the library manager. The 'Copy Wizard' window will pop. Set the 'Destination Library' to your hw1yourlastname.
Then select the cells from your hw0 library to be copied to your hw1 library. You will need to copy Layout,
Schematic, and Symbol files of each cell. Click 'OK' to copy them. Now quit (Exit) Virtuoso.

6. Once all the cells needed are copied to your hw1 library, you MUST delete the hw0 library paths from the cds.lib file.
To do that, again edit cds.lib file and delete the last line. This will leave only the hw1 library in your Library Manager
the next time you start the Virtuoso. In this way, your hw1 library will contain all the needed cells once you finished
the project.

More Homework 1 Instructions (general for all subsequent homeworks)

7. Use hierarchical design method to manage design complexity. That is, design simple cells and design top cell which
combines simple cells. The Cadence tool Virtuoso assumes all design is done this way, uses cellview to manage
cells. Use meaningful names for the cells; for example, use ‘and2’ rather than ‘hw0’ for the two input AND gate.

8. Now complete the hw1. Do verify the functioning and timing using hspice simulation.

9. As in any chip design, the design goal is to layout the circuit in a small area, and achieve very fast signal
communication. You may want to re-shape and update your design so that it will fit in the smallest area.

10. You can always add more labels on the layout to see the internal signals on the simulation output.
This will help debugging the circuits, visualizing the signal propagation, and analyzing the circuits.

11. From the simulation, list the delay times of the NAND2 gate and INV gate operations, which will be added to make
up the AND2 gate delay.

12. Which component is the slowest? Why does it take so long? How can we make it faster? Design the .hsp file to
demonstrate the fastest instruction execution of the microprocessor while maintaining the correct output result.
What limits the maximum speed of operation? Show the simulation plot to substantiate your answer.

13. Are there any errors in schematic?

14. Is there an error in layout? Does your layout pass the DRC checking without errors?

15. Is there a miss match on the schematic versus layout? Does your design pass the LVS checking without errors?

16. Create a tarred zip file of your hw1yourlastname directory in c411 directory. It will contain the schematics, symbols,
layouts, .hsp, .sp files, and .doc report file. In your c411 directory, use the following unix commands

% tar -czvf hw1yourlastname.tgz hw1yourlatname

to create a tarred zip file of hw1yourlastname library. For example,

% tar -czvf hw1choi.tgz hw1choi

 will archive the directory hw1choi and create a zipped file hw1choi.tgz in my c411 project directory. For the grading,
the command ‘tar –xzvf hw1choi.tgz’ will be used to restore project.

Please delete .tr0 files before zipping, for their sizes are usually large.

17. Make sure that you include all the files necessary into your project folder before %tar command. Turn-in your
project before 11:30pm on the due date.