Things You Didn't Know About Virtuoso: Rapid Adoption Kits

22 May 2012 • 1 minute read

This post isn't directly about tips and tricks for getting the most out of Virtuoso, but it is about a new source of information and hands-on guidance to help you put those tips and tricks into action.

They're called Rapid Adoption Kits, or--to use the obligatory Three Letter Acronym (TLA)--RAKs.

What is a Rapid Adoption Kit?

RAKs are collateral packages for a particular product area or flow which are designed to help you learn to use the tools as quickly and efficiently as possible. They center around a hands-on workshop database with a step-by-step manual so you can dive right in and start pushing buttons. They're easy to set up and let you move at your own pace.

Depending on the subject, other material may be included, such as videos or application notes.

Where can you find them?

Go to https://support.cadence.com/ and select Resources->Rapid Adoption Kits from the menus at the top. For Virtuoso, click on Virtuoso Custom IC and Sign-off Flow.

What's available?

As of today, there are 3 RAKs available.

Layout Design in IC 6.1.5

This material highlights new features and explores some basic functionality with Virtuoso Schematic Editor L/XL and Virtuoso Layout Suite L/XL in the 6.1.5 release. You will take a design from concept through implementation and learn how Virtuoso 6.1.5 capabilities can help you generate designs more efficiently

IC 6.1.5 Constraint Driven Custom Design

What you will learn: Use the Constraint Management System; use the Circuit Prospector for assisted constraint capture; verify constraints to ensure that design intent is met in layout; use the module generation (MODGEN) capability for precision Pcell-based array generation; perform constraint-driven wire editing; perform constraint-aware editing; perform special net automated routing (differential pair, shielding, etc.); perform full custom/analog placement.

Virtuoso Visualization & Analysis (ViVA)

What you will learn: View, configure, and export design data in a variety of formats quickly and easily; interactively analyze and annotate waveform data for design documentation; create and evaluate complex mathematical expressions, and save them for later reuse; how to efficiently handle gigabyte transient data files.

More Rapid Adoption Kits will be rolling out as time goes on. Give one a spin and let us know what you think!

Stacy Whiteman