Virtuosity: What's New in Run plan – Part I

The Run Plan assistant in Virtuoso® ADE Assembler has proved to be one of the most popular features. It provides the capability to create multiple variations of the setup within a single session, each of these runs has their own setup details that override the settings in the active setup. Simulations can be run for all the runs defined in the run plan with a single click. If there are no dependencies, the results are generated simultaneously. 

The different runs in the run plans can vary in terms of tests, analyses, simulation options, variables, corners or they can even run different run modes. Let us see the enhancements that have been made to run plan in IC6.1.7 ISR15 and ICADV12.3 ISR15 releases.

Synchronizing Run Plan with the Active Setup

Starting from IC6.1.7 ISR15, the Run Plan assistant remains in synchronization with any changes made to the test Name and variables or parameters in the active setup.

In the animation below, notice that when a test name is deleted or renamed, the Run Plan assistant is updated simultaneously. Similarly, the Run Plan assistant is updated when you edit or delete a variable/parameter in the Data View assistant.

If you want to turn off the auto-synchronization of variable or parameter between the Run Plan assistant and the active setup in Data View, set following variables in your CIW or .cdsinit.

maestro.setupdb autoSyncVariablesInRunPlan boolean nil
maestro.setupdb autoSyncParametersInRunPlan boolean nil

Note – The Run Plan assistant is always auto-synchronized when the test name is modified or deleted in the active setup.

Keeping Corners in Run Plan Up-to-date with the Active Setup

Another enhancement that was made to Run Plan assistant is that it always remains up-to-date with the corner definitions. Any change in the variable value, model files or deletion of variables in the Corner Setup form will be reflected in the Run Plan assistant. The animation below demonstrates it.

Notice how modifying the definition for corner "fast" (changing vdd value from 2.5 to 5.0 and model selection from 'ff' to 'ff mc') is propagated into Runplan corner "fast" in the Run Plan (Run.0).

How do I Create a Copy of my Run Plan?

It’s very easy to create copies of runs inside the Run Plan assistant. Simply right-click the run and choose Create Run Copy.

Related Resources

• Blogs
  • Virtuosity: Sweeping Multiple Config Views
  • When a plan comes together
• RAK
  • Run Plan RAK
• User Guide
  • Virtuoso ADE Assembler User Guide

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Virtuosity has been our most viewed and admired blog series for a long time that has brought to fore some lesser known, yet very useful software and documentation improvements, and also shed light on some exciting new offerings in Virtuoso. We are now expanding the scope of this series by broadcasting the voice of different bloggers and experts, who would continue to preserve the legacy of Virtuosity, and try to give new dimensions to it by covering topics across the length and breadth of Virtuoso, and a lot more… Click to Subscribe to visit the Subscription box at the top of the page in which you can submit your email address to receive notifications about our latest Virtuosity posts. Happy Reading!

Yagya D Mishra