Virtuosity: Reading Vector Files in Virtuoso Visualization and Analysis

Prior to IC6.1.8 and ICADVM18.1, to view digital and analog waveforms along with the applied stimuli, it was necessary to run the simulations using both digital and analog solvers. This could be a time-consuming process. However, now you can read in the digital stimuli files directly into Cadence® Virtuoso® Visualization and Analysis, the ADE waveform window. In addition, you can plot the analog waveforms using the stimuli.

The ADE waveform window supports the reading of vector files of the following formats - Value Change Dump (VCD) and Digital Vector File (VEC). Such vector files can be opened through the Results Browser just like other files.

Vector files can be read in directly to the ADE waveform window and both the digital waveform and the analog with the stimuli are available to plot. The Results Browser will show a folder for the digital signal called digital, and a folder called analogStimulus will contain the converted analog stimuli waveform. VCD files are slightly different as these have an associated file with the suffix .info. This file contains information about the voltage high and low levels, and the rise and fall times.

The analog stimuli files are automatically generated when you load a VEC file in the ADE waveform window. However for a VCD file, you need to perform an additional step to convert the digital signal to generate analog stimuli. The Vector Waveform Support RAK explains how to run this simple conversion in the GUI.

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Converting Vector Files from the Command Line

Perhaps you have several vector files to convert, or you just want to do this from the command line. Also, maybe you want to verify that your vector files are readable by the ADE waveform window. So, we've added a command-line utility, cdsConvertDigitalVector, to do just that. 

You can use this utility to convert a VEC or VCD file into SST2 and PSF XL database that can be loaded into the ADE waveform window.

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Related Resources

• Rapid Adoption Kit

  • Vector Waveform Support in ViVA

• User Guide

  • Virtuoso Visualization and Analysis User Guide

For more information on Cadence circuit design products and services, visit www.cadence.com.

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About Virtuosity

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 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!

Arja