Custom IC Design Blogs

Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution is a widely used tool in the EDA industry − it performs transistor-level power integrity analysis, including multi-mode simulation electromigration and voltage drop analysis for transistor designs. The combined use of Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution with several other Cadence tools provides the industry’s fastest design-closure flow. As it stands today, Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution exhibits many of the features that one would expect from a tool with this large a footprint.

In every release, the R&D team of Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution introduces a slew of new features to the tool. The aim is simple − to ensure that the tool continues to evolve and mature.

So, let’s take a quick look at the five key features that have been introduced from IC6.1.8/ICADVM18.1 ISR11 to IC6.1.8 ISR14/ICADVM20.1. These features are primarily based out of various enhancement requests from you − our users. Here, I have endeavored to provide a nuanced view of the “what” and the “why” for every inclusion. So, let’s put our explorer hats on and play with these five recent additions to the tool.

Ready? Set? Go! 

Highlights of New Voltus-Fi-XL Features

Here are the handpicked features from recent releases that I'm sure you'll be interested to learn about.

• PWL File-Based UTI Use Model (IC6.1.8/ICADVM18.1 ISR11): Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution searches for net-specific piece-wise linear (PWL) files instead of current (.pti) files in the simulation directory and passes them to LibGen through the *.vhdr files. This new use model significantly improves accuracy and reduces the UTI file size by using dynamic time steps.
  
  
• Customizable Query Box (IC6.1.8/ICADVM18.1 ISR11): You can now customize the display columns and their order in the Query Box form. The new order is saved when you save the configuration. Later, you can load the customized configuration file to set the default column display of the form. Thus, by letting you control your interaction, this feature greatly enhances the user experience and usability of the tool and also saves time.
  
  
• Saved Status of Markers (IC6.1.8/ICADVM18.1 ISR13): The check state of a violation marker is saved in the EM/IR tab of Annotation Browser and is reloaded when you start a new Virtuoso session. Earlier, when you exited a Virtuoso session, any EMIR violations that were cleared from Annotation Browser would be lost. Now, with the check status of the violations being saved in Annotation Browser, you can continue from where you left off before exiting a Virtuoso session. The check status of the violations is stored and retrieved plotwise for every row in Annotation Browser.
  
  
• Incremental PGV Update (IC6.1.8 ISR14/ICADVM20.1): You can now update a power-grid view (PGV) incrementally using the update_pgv command. This enhancement has been done in order to update the new modes using an existing PGV instead of rerunning the entire PGV generation flow. It will help you retrieve the mode information from the existing PGV easily and delete a mode as well.
  
  
• Net Analysis without Current Files (IC6.1.8 ISR14/ICADVM20.1): You can now create PGVs and analyze nets that are connected only to voltage sources and for which a current file is not available. This enhancement will help you continue the PGV generation flow even if there are some power nets without any current data. Earlier, when the current data was not available, Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution used to exit after generating a message about the missing current files. Now, with this new feature, the PGV generation flow will run successfully, and the generated summary report will display 0 current for the net that has no current information.

Sounds interesting? Then check these features out and see how they are working for you. 

 To learn more about the new features of Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution XL, watch the What’s New in Voltus-Fi-XL video available on the Cadence Support portal. Click the video link now or visit the Cadence Support portal and search for this video under Video Library.

Related Resources

For more information on Voltus-Fi Custom Power Integrity Solution, visit www.cadence.com.

Contact Us

For any questions, general feedback, or even if you want to suggest a future blog topic, write to custom_ic_blogs@cadence.com. 

Happy reading and stay safe!

- Pallabi Roy 

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