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writing out a .vcd file from spectre

geezmaneti

I'm working with a small (very small) SRAM circuit. I'm simulating the design using Spectre from within Cadence (icfb). I'm VERY frustrated with the waveform viewer that pops up when the simulation is done. I'd love to write out a .vcd file and use a viewer that undoubtedly will be more suitable for debug of a "digital" design. I plan on using GTKWave since it's free, though if i had access to nWave (part of Verdi, formaly Debussy) i'd do it in a heartbeat. Any help would be appreciated, even if it's to point me to another forum. 

By the way, a user (TAM1) has already kindly pointed me in the direction of the '-input mycmdfile.tcl' option for the simulator, then, add a couple of lines in that file instructing the simulator to dump the .vcd file for all levels. However, it seems that spectre doesn't like tcl commands (or at least the -input option). 

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  • Andrew, when i say icfb, that is what i type at the command prompt to bring up my Cadence design environment. This is what we were using at TI when i left 2.5 years ago. However, i was a "digital" designer in a mixed-signal group and i pretty much stayed out of Cadence except to import my design and do some debugg in our top-level simulation environment (which was managed from Cadence). I'm now back in school and this is for a project. Since i have digital design experience, i'm aware of much nicer waveform viewers (like the one in the image posted above) and various formats for those viewers... I am NOT very knowledgable about the Cadence environment. So i'm not sure about the ICxxx release numbers you speak of. I did click on the help button from within the Cadence log window and, aside a very long version number, it looks like the entire environment is called Virtuoso, though i thought that was the layout tool from within the environment.

    I can also envoke the "analog environment" from the schematic window and i can choose Spectre as my simulator. I then setup some options, including my stimuli and my signals to output, then just click the green traffic light. Spectre will run and then a waveform viewer pops up with my signals. That waveform viewer might not even be part of Spectre for that matter. It might be a built in Cadence tool which makes sense due to the fact that i'm simulating this "digital" circuit in an "analog environment".

     I know this may not clear anything up, but i'm hoping (that was a lot of typing for me and reading for you).

     Thanks,

    Mike 

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  • Andrew, when i say icfb, that is what i type at the command prompt to bring up my Cadence design environment. This is what we were using at TI when i left 2.5 years ago. However, i was a "digital" designer in a mixed-signal group and i pretty much stayed out of Cadence except to import my design and do some debugg in our top-level simulation environment (which was managed from Cadence). I'm now back in school and this is for a project. Since i have digital design experience, i'm aware of much nicer waveform viewers (like the one in the image posted above) and various formats for those viewers... I am NOT very knowledgable about the Cadence environment. So i'm not sure about the ICxxx release numbers you speak of. I did click on the help button from within the Cadence log window and, aside a very long version number, it looks like the entire environment is called Virtuoso, though i thought that was the layout tool from within the environment.

    I can also envoke the "analog environment" from the schematic window and i can choose Spectre as my simulator. I then setup some options, including my stimuli and my signals to output, then just click the green traffic light. Spectre will run and then a waveform viewer pops up with my signals. That waveform viewer might not even be part of Spectre for that matter. It might be a built in Cadence tool which makes sense due to the fact that i'm simulating this "digital" circuit in an "analog environment".

     I know this may not clear anything up, but i'm hoping (that was a lot of typing for me and reading for you).

     Thanks,

    Mike 

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