Ciranova Update at DAC

Ciranova Update at DAC
by Daniel Payne on 06-17-2011 at 4:55 pm

Intro
Ciranova offers you an alternative for analog layout automation besides Cadence Virtuoso. Mark Nadim provided me an update at DAC last Wednesday.

Notes
New in 2011
– New GUI with schematic, layout and constraints
o Cross probing between all three windows
– Schematic for constraint entry
o Can start with a blank schematic, enter new design
o Read any native OA schematic
o See all the MOS instances in a tree, define layout constraints very quickly
o Drag and drop constraints
o Cross probe between MOS list and Schematic view
o Hierarchy supported
– Helix First Look
o Schematic and Analog constraints in, layout out
o Find in netlist common bulks, get placed together
o Easy way to create initial layout constraints, does auto grouping of layout
– New customers: Marvel
– 28nm migration is important, Helix is an easier way to conform to new design rules
o Auto placement helps on minimum rules
o Read design rules for density and Helix can push transistors apart to reach the rules
– Create many alternative layouts, Extract a netlist, use Calibre parasitics, create fully extracted netlist ready for Berkeley AFS
– Users: Initially the Circuit Designer starts, then handed off to the Layout Designer for completion
– Routing Example: pattern based constraints used, then autoroute between all the rows and columns of placed Devices
– New way to create layout constraints, based on patterns or Python scripts (mostly CAD or Circuit Designers create scripts)

Summary
Ciranova Helix is a tool that can create analog layout using PyCells very rapidly by a Circuit Designer. Demanding IC designers from the largest semiconductor companies in the world use these tools.

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