Virtuoso ICADVM20.1 ISR20 and IC6.1.8 ISR20 Now Available

The ICADVM20.1 ISR20 and IC6.1.8 ISR20 production releases are now available for download at Cadence Downloads. For information on supported platforms and other release compatibility information, see the README.txt file in the installation hierarchy.

Xcelium 20.09 remains the supported Xcelium release in IC6.1.8 ISR20. If you use a newer version, for example Xcelium 21.03, appropriate error messages are displayed when you import text-based designs or run simulations. For more information, see the Overview section in Virtuoso What's New.

• ICADVM20.1 ISR20
• IC6.1.8 ISR20

We are no longer providing incremental software releases (ISRs) for the ICADVM18.1 release stream. ICADVM18.1 ISR13 was the final ICADVM18.1 ISR released. The recommended replacement release stream for ICADVM18.1 is ICADVM20.1.

 Infrastructure Updates

• In line with base releases and ISRs of other Cadence products, the ICADVM20.1 and IC6.1.8 ISR releases now require FlexNet license server version v11.16.4.0 or higher. From ISR17 forward, you are no longer able to run the software using older FlexNet versions. To upgrade your license server, you must download and install the latest Cadence Lic+Config_Utils release for Linux platforms (LCU04.30.000 and later). For more information, see the announcement on Cadence Downloads.
  
  
• In the ICADVM20.1 base and IC6.1.8 ISR14 releases, X virtual framebuffer (Xvfb) replaced cdsXvnc as the default display server for Virtuoso running in non-graphics mode. From ISR17 forward, cdsXvnc is no longer shipped with the Virtuoso Custom IC design platform. You must now download Xvfb.rpm and install Xvfb in /usr/bin. After installation, this change will be transparent to the users. Before running simulations from the Virtuoso ADE product suite, ensure that Xvfb is installed on all computers where netlisting jobs, such as ICRP or the netlisting process in LSCS, are running.

Here is a listing of the most important updates made in the current releases:

ICADVM20.1 ISR20 Only

• Usability Enhancements in Pin Tool (Virtuoso Layout Suite EXL)
  Use the new options in the enhanced Pin Tool to create and manage pin labels. New environment variables have been added to control the default state of options in the Create Pin Template form.

• Support of non-Latin Characters in the Design Notes (Virtuoso Schematic Editor XL, Virtuoso Layout Suite XL)
  Use Design Notes to document design goals and any additional comments in design intent info balloons and reports. All non-Latin characters are now supported in the Design Notes, which means that you share Design Notes in languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and so on.

• New Environment Settings Form in the Electromagnetic Solver Assistant (Virtuoso RF Solution)

  Use the Environment Settings form to configure the process corner settings for the models. Also, specify the settings to be used by the jobs that run electromagnetic simulations.

• Validate BGA, Flip Chip, and SMD Bump Setup (Virtuoso RF Solution)
  Use the Bump and Ball Editor form for all instances, including surface-mount device instances.

• Prevent Edits to Layers and Layer Attributes (Virtuoso RF Solution)
  Use the Lock section of the Layer Stack Editor form to prevent any unintentional addition of new layers or changes to the values of existing layers.

• Port Display for EMX Models in 3D Viewer (Virtuoso RF Solution)
  Use the enhanced features of Virtuoso 3D Viewer to view the mesh created for models using the EMX solver. EMX port names are now displayed in the 3D mesh and the Display Ports command lets you view or hide port numbers.

ICADVM20 .1 and IC6.1.8 ISR20

• Enhanced Graphical User Interface for Creating Fluid Guard Rings (Virtuoso Layout Suite L/XL)
  Use the new simplified and user-friendly GUI introduced in ISR19 to create fluid guard rings that are compliant with the latest PDKs and honor advanced cut spacing constraints. The new GUI also supports the asymmetric enclosure for fluid guard ring layers, allowing you to specify different enclosures for well/implant, metal, and diffusion layers. 

For more details on these and all the other new and enhanced features introduced in this release, see:

• What’s New in Virtuoso IC6.1.8 ISR20 and ICADVM20.1 ISR20 (Application Notes)
• Virtuoso IC6.1.8, ICADVM18.1 & ICADVM20.1 ISR: What's New Library
• ICADVM20.1 What's New
• IC6.1.8 What's New
• End-of-Release (EOR) Notification for ICADVM18.1
  

Please send questions and feedback to  virtuoso_rm@cadence.com.

To receive Virtuoso release announcements like this one, and other Virtuoso-related information, directly in your mailbox, type your email ID in the Subscriptions box and click SUBSCRIBE NOW.

Virtuoso Release Team