Are you contemplating manipulating your layout hierarchy by adding or removing a few levels? Are you wondering if having a layout hierarchy out of sync with the schematic is advisable? Well, neither I (nor Cadence) will recommend that you play around with your layout hierarchy (to add or delete hierarchical levels) when you are generating a layout. For all likely purposes, we recommend that you use the Layout XL Generation command— Generate All From Source , Generate Clones , and the others—to put together a Virtuoso Layout XL-compliant design. But, what we do suggest is that if you have a design situation that can benefit from some manipulation of the layout hierarchy, Layout XL can now support you in that effort. So, if you are putting together a half-cell or a unit cell design, and would like to create a cell on disk that can be used across layouts, you might prefer to create a Make Cell over creating a Clone, because the Make Cell instance can be saved on disk and used across layouts. Although the Make Cell functionality has been available in Layout L (and higher tiers) for a long time now, what has changed recently (in IC6.1.7 and ICADV12.2) is that the Make Cell instance you now create in Layout XL is, by default, transparent and Layout XL-compliant. This means if you are working with a legacy design, it is now easier for you to generate an XL-compliant layout for the design. And, being XL-compliant means that you can now take advantage of the various connectivity-aware features of Virtuoso Layout XL that are all aimed at helping engineers create layouts that are connectivity-correct by construction. Likewise, if you were creating a dense layout, you could benefit from using the enhanced Flatten command support in Virtuoso Layout XL. Again, I am not recommending that you keep your layout and schematic hierarchies out of sync, but, if a design demands a denser layout generation, then using the enhanced Flatten command can help achieve that, while the layout still remains Virtuoso Layout XL-compliant. The Flatten GUI remains unchanged, but running the command in Virtuoso Layout XL helps ensure that the XL-compliance of the design is maintained after Flattening. Also, the flattened instance retains its connectivity reference and the reference to the original instance. All this makes it possible for you to use and stay in Virtuoso Layout XL even though your design wasn’t originally meant to be supported in Layout XL. Pablo Picasso once said “ Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. ” Use the new and enhanced hierarchy manipulation commands to craft your layout design. Be the artist who knows what rules to bend, and when! Click the Play button below for a brief preview of the video series that covers all that you would need to know about hierarchy manipulation—what hierarchy manipulation means, when it can help, what are the enhanced and new commands that can help you stay Virtuoso Layout XL-compliant inspite of having schematic and layout hierarchies that are out of sync. (Please visit the site to view this video) Visit Cadence Online Support to view the full video series. Search under Resources—Video Library for the following videos in the Staying XL-Compliant by Manipulating the Layout Hierarchy series: Staying XL-Compliant by Manipulating the Layout Hierarchy - Part 1 (Introduction) Staying XL-Compliant by Manipulating the Layout Hierarchy - Part 2 (Using the Flatten Command) Staying XL-Compliant by Manipulating the Layout Hierarchy - Part 3 (Using the Make Cell Command) If you don’t have a Cadence Online Support account, you can play the Staying XL-Compliant by Manipulating the Layout Hierarchy videos (mp4) natively in Cadence Help when you are using Virtuoso IC6.1.7/ ICADV12.2 (ISR6 or later). In the Cadence Help Virtuoso Documentation Library, look under Video Demos for each of the videos in the series. Related Resources Virtuoso Layout Suite XL User Guide Generating Transparent Layout Hierarchy Rapid Adoption Kit (RAK) Hierarchy Manipulation. Staying XL connectivity compliant when using Flatten, Make Cell and Transparent Instances Note : For more information on Cadence products and services, visit www.cadence.com . What's Next Virtuoso Video Diary will next bring to you a video on Virtuoso ADE Explorer titled ‘Saving and Importing a Setup’. This video demonstrates how you can save the current ADE Explorer setup and import a saved setup in the current ADE Explorer session. Saving and Importing setup is an important feature of ADE Explorer and helps in increasing productivity by reusing the setups. Stay tuned to know more… About Virtuoso Video Diary Virtuoso Video Diary is an online journal that relays information about Virtuoso videos that are available in the Cadence Online Support Video Library. For IC6.1.7 and ICADV12.2, over 100 videos on a wide variety of new and exciting Virtuoso features have already been created. Virtuoso Video Diary brings you direct links to these videos and other related material, on regular basis, in your mailbox. Subscribe to receive the e-mail notifications. Rishu Misri Jaggi![]()
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