Custom IC Design Blogs

In IC6.1.8/ICADVM18.1 ISR3, we introduced a revamped Reliability Options form that entirely changed the way you run reliability analysis in Virtuoso® ADE Assembler and Virtuoso ADE Explorer. In our strive for making things better than before, we continue to enhance reliability analysis. In this blog, we will talk about two of such enhancements that are centered around the concept of reusing what you already have.

Reusing a Stress File

Since reliability analysis allows you to use different DUTs for stress and age tests, you may want to run stress simulation on a different set of parameters, such as voltage and temperature, as compared to those of the aging simulation.

In such cases, the stress reuse model is quite helpful. It provides you with the flexibility to separate the stress and age runs in different reliability setups. To do so, use the Configure Stress File form to pass the stress model (input.bs0) from one reliability setup to another.

Reusing a stress file also saves the time that would otherwise have been taken to run the stress test all over again.

 Do check out the Reusing a Stress File in a Reliability Setup video to know how to reuse a stress file in a reliability setup.

Reusing an Output Value

Similar to calcVal, we have developed a SKILL function, calcValForRel, exclusively to be used in the reliability flow. With the help of this function, you can pass the value of an output from one reliability setup to a design variable of another reliability setup.

Using this function not only allows calibrations between reliability setups, but also makes the reliability setups run sequentially, depending on which setup is using the calcValForRel expression.

 Do check out the Using the calcValForRel Function in Reliability Analysis video to know how to use the calcValForRel function.

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Happy reading!

Udit Rajput  and Yagya Mishra