VoltageStorm ICT File and Missing Manuals

Hi there,

The recommended approach for creating a .tch file from an .ict file has changed a bit from release to release. I think I can help point you in the right direction, but could you confirm whether you're on 6.2.2 and need to stay there?  Or do you have flexibility to move to a more recent release?

Let me know,
Bob

Hello Bob,

This is Ho-Hsin. Actually my version of Voltagestorm is 6.2.2, and I try to use icecaps command to convert .ict file to .tch file. However, I encounter another problem: I could create only fire tech file(resistor information), not ice tech file (capacitor information). My procedure of creating tch file is the following:

Shell> icecaps -plan ictfile plan_dir  

According to the description, this command is used to generate the script that is used to be executed to build .opt simulation files. These files are used in the following command -concat option to generate the unifed RC techfile.

Shell> icecaps -concat ictfile concat_dir

After using this command, I got some warning messages:

IceCaps Warning: Unable to open A_1_4.opt

IceCaps Warning: Unable to open A_1_5.opt

....

Icecaps job:concatenation completed. 909 layers are missing

It looks like I generate the icecaps.tch successfully. However, this tech file only contains the fire but not ice.

Do you have any ideas about this problem? Is it caused by my ict file? Or this process is not the standard process in converting .tch file in 6.2.2 version. Would you mind recommending me the another one coz I do not have the manuals regarding to generating .tch file.

Thanks any help in advance

Ho-Hsin

Hi Ho-Hsin,

I checked with my favorite extraction expert, and he suggested you use "rcgen" instead of icecaps. The documentation is here on Sourcelink:

http://sourcelink.cadence.com/docs/files/Release_Info/Docs/dataprep/dataprep6.2.1/icm.html

 rcgen -plan -lsf_q <queu_name>  ict_file

Let us know if this helps.

Thanks,
Bob

Hello Bob,

Thanks for your quick response. My version of dataprep is 6.2.2. It seems that 6.2.2 version does not support rcgen command coz I could not find command realted to rcgen. Are there any suggestions related to icecaps command since this command is the only command I could use to extract RC information in 6.2.2 version.

Thanks for your help

Best Regards

Ho-Hsin

 Hi Ho-Hsin

Check if you have "Techgen" in your path. (Make sure to use capital T.) If you have access to that, you can use it to compile your .tch from the .ict file. There is even a -rcgen option to Techgen I believe. I can dig up some details if you do have Techgen - let us know!

 - Kari

Hello Kari,

I found the "Techgen" command in my path. Would you mind giving me the more details related to this command?

Actually I found,

Techgen -rcgen <options_for_rcgen> processfile

I am not sure what I need to put into <options_for_rcgen> and processfile.

Is processfile the ".ict" file?

Thanks for your help again

Ho-Hsin

Hi Ho-Hsin,

Yes, the process file is your .ict file.

Here's the Techgen reference manual:

http://sourcelink.cadence.com/docs/files/Release_Info/Docs/qrcxTechgen/qrcxTechgen6.2.1/qrcxTechgenTOC.html

Refer to appendix B, "Running Techgen as RCGen" - but you can probably just use the options Bob gave you.

Hope this helps,

- Kari

 Hello Kari

Thanks for your help. Techgen works successfully to generate RC tech file.

However, the problem right now is it takes me 9 hours to generate 3 metal layers tech file. Is it usual? Any suggestion???

Thanks for your help again

BRS

Ho-Hsin

 Hi Ho-Hsin,

Glad you got your .tch file! Yes, it takes a long time - we usually try to run Techgen on as many machines or processors in parallel as we can. A runtime of 9 hours really isn't too bad - you can run that overnight.

 - Kari

Hello everybody

I would like to ask you about a problem in Voltage Storm. I am being working with a standard-cell library that does not have a 3-D interconnect .tch file, whereas RCGen and IceCaps are not available at the moment. What I could do perhaps is to find another .tch file (for example of gpdk technology library from Cadence) and try to extract the available information. However, LibGen does not seem to accept .ict files in Encounter 7.1 or 5.2, even if the user guide of Voltage Storm says so for the file requirements. Could anybody help me with this or is it impossible to do something with my own standard-cell library?

Thank you very much in advance