Interface Element (IE) Setup can be one of the most challenging parts in AMS Designer. If you use the traditional Connect Rule/Connect Modue Based Setup , it requires you to juggle between multiple windows to compose the setup flow. However, with this new Interface Element/IE-card Based Setup , you can configure your connect rules and connect modules, specify the scope for the built-in IE cards, and set values of important IE card parameters - All in One Place - through an intuitive and easy-to-use GUI. If you find the old setup a tad bit tedious, you’re in the right place! Because this article will help you gain insight into the new setup to make your work easier. First, let's start by understanding how this setup works. The interface element card, better known as the IE card, specifies the parameters for a particular design unit. If you do not specify a design unit, the parameter settings are applied to all IEs globally. You can use an IE card to automate the process of creating a custom discipline and connect rule that connects the custom discipline to the electrical discipline. The software applies the custom discipline to domainless nets in your design. So, if you have digital modules with undeclared port disciplines, you can use an IE card to specify a discrete discipline for domainless nets and the elaborator will insert the appropriate connect module automatically. Now, let's move on to understanding the GUI. This is how the Interface Element (IE) Setup form appears when you select Interface Element/IE-card Based Setup : In the table at the top, you can specify the design unit, that is, the scope to which you want to apply a particular setup and the supply voltage or reference supply node you want to use in the setup. Each row basically represents a line in the AMSD IE statement in the netlist, as shown below: Select the Advanced Setup check box to change the IE card parameters for the selected scope. You will see two new tabs in the IE Parameters section at the bottom of the form: Basic and Extended . The parameters from connect rule are categorized as Basic and Extended, and are displayed in the respective tabs along with their default values. The Basic tab lists the commonly used parameters, such as output impedance ( rout ), raising/falling time ( tr ), and so on, as shown below: In the Extended tab, you can find the list of all connect rules, including the built-in ones. You can also add customized connect rules to this list. Just select from the connrule drop-down list box and choose the file you want to add, simple! Some other advanced parameters are present in this tab too, as shown below: If you’d like to generate the IE report after running the simulation, select the Enable IE Report check box in the form. You can view the IE report by selecting Simulation - Output Log - IE Report from ADE L or ADE Explorer. Here’s what it looks like: To conclude, here are some interesting tips for this setup that will come in handy: Tip 1: Place the mouse over a parameter name in either of the tabs to display a tooltip that provides a brief description about the parameter and its default value given in the associated connect rule. You can even modify the tooltip description in the Extended tab. Cool tip , isn't it? Tip 2: Did you know that you can use the amsIEsList environment variable to create your own default settings for this setup? This variable specifies the default IE cards and the values of related fields to be loaded in the form when Interface Element/IE-card Based Setup is selected. If you make some changes you don’t like, just click the Reset all IE Parameters to Default Values button to revert to the default settings. Tip 3: If you’re impressed with this setup, you can make it your default setup for AMS simulation by setting the useIeSetup environment variable to t . To see how to configure IE card information using this setup in ADE Explorer, watch: Configuring IE Cards Information in ADE Explorer video available on Cadence Online Support . Note : To see how to perform the same task in ADE L, you can watch the Configuring IE Cards Information video, which is also available on Cadence Online Support . Alternatively, you can search for these videos under Resources — Video Library . Note : If you don’t have a Cadence Online Support account, you can play the videos (mp4) natively in Cadence Help when you are using Virtuoso IC6.1.7/ ICADV12.2 (ISR8 or later). In the Cadence Help Virtuoso Documentation Library, look under Video Demos for each of these videos. Related Resources Virtuoso ADE Explorer User Guide Setting IE Cards Note : For more information on Cadence products and services, visit www.cadence.com . Virtuoso Video Diary: What's Next Virtuoso Video Diary will next bring to you a video that introduces the new search functionality in Hierarchy Editor. This video demonstrates how to search for a cell name, instance name, or occurrence path in the Virtuoso® Hierarchy Editor window using the HED toolbar or the Search Assistant pane. Stay tuned… 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 a hundred 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. Garima Sharma![]()
![]()
↧