Stats

  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 1
  • Subscribers 126
  • Views 2037
  • Members are here 0
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Using Spice Models/Netlists with icfb

mixedsignal

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to the Cadence Environment and now I've got the task to make some simulations including some commercial PSpice models within the Cadence Environment (icfb, Virtuoso etc.). I found some information on the internet saying that this task could be done using "CDL in...". I tried this, but I'm facing now two problems:

1. The interpreter seems to ignore all RLC-units, I guess the spice file has a incompatible syntax here. Unfortunately I don't know how to fix it. I couldn't find any information about it on the internet. Does anyone know help here (how to do or where to get information)?

2. Due to problem 1. there are only transistors in the resulting schematic, but they all just come with the default parameters. It seems like all the transistor here just come with parameters like gate width etc. while they are being discribed in the netlist with typical Spice parameters like IS, BF etc. Since I couldn't find any transistor in the huge library which could handle those parameters, I'm asking you: is there a "Spice" like transistor available at all?

The first model I tried to simulate is the Texas Instruments OPA2227 with the official model:

http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/opa2227.html#toolssoftware

It is not necessary for me to build a graphical schematic, so if there is a way to directly use the Spice netlist for simulation, please let me know.

If you need further information please let me know.

 

Thanks in advance and kind regards,

Daniel

Parents

  • Hi Daniel

    1. To import passive devices and their related parameters, please add the following cdl control cmds to the netlist and then retry the import:

    *.bipolar
    *.capval
    *.resval
    *.dioarea
    *.dioperi

    You can get more info on cdl-in from $CDSHOME/doc/transref/transref.pdf. Cdl-in will not import inductors. You can try to edit the netlist to trick cdl-in so that the inductors can be imported as 2-terminal resistors.

    2. It is expected that cdl netlist will only have W and L for mos devices. They should work fine together with the spice/spectre models which you have. Please correct me if I am not understanding your question correctly.

    It is certainly possible to do a spectre simulation using the original netlist. Here is what you have to do:
    a. Create cell with a symbol view that has the same pins as the top level subckt in the netlist
    b. Copy the symbol view as "spectre" view
    c. Ensure that the pin order for "spectre" in simInfo section of cdf form is the same as that in the netlist
    d. Enter the name of the subckt in "componentName" field for "spectre" simInfo section
    e. Add the symbol to your schematic
    f. Add the netlist as one of the model files in ADE
    g. Start simulation

    The above is a rough guide on how to simulate a netlist. Since you mentioned that you are new to Virtuoso, it would be best if you can contact your local Cadence support so that we can provide more assistance on this.

    Best regards
    Quek

Reply

  • Hi Daniel

    1. To import passive devices and their related parameters, please add the following cdl control cmds to the netlist and then retry the import:

    *.bipolar
    *.capval
    *.resval
    *.dioarea
    *.dioperi

    You can get more info on cdl-in from $CDSHOME/doc/transref/transref.pdf. Cdl-in will not import inductors. You can try to edit the netlist to trick cdl-in so that the inductors can be imported as 2-terminal resistors.

    2. It is expected that cdl netlist will only have W and L for mos devices. They should work fine together with the spice/spectre models which you have. Please correct me if I am not understanding your question correctly.

    It is certainly possible to do a spectre simulation using the original netlist. Here is what you have to do:
    a. Create cell with a symbol view that has the same pins as the top level subckt in the netlist
    b. Copy the symbol view as "spectre" view
    c. Ensure that the pin order for "spectre" in simInfo section of cdf form is the same as that in the netlist
    d. Enter the name of the subckt in "componentName" field for "spectre" simInfo section
    e. Add the symbol to your schematic
    f. Add the netlist as one of the model files in ADE
    g. Start simulation

    The above is a rough guide on how to simulate a netlist. Since you mentioned that you are new to Virtuoso, it would be best if you can contact your local Cadence support so that we can provide more assistance on this.

    Best regards
    Quek

Children
No Data

Community Guidelines

The Cadence Design Communities support Cadence users and technologists interacting to exchange ideas, news, technical information, and best practices to solve problems and get the most from Cadence technology. The community is open to everyone, and to provide the most value, we require participants to follow our Community Guidelines that facilitate a quality exchange of ideas and information. By accessing, contributing, using or downloading any materials from the site, you agree to be bound by the full Community Guidelines.