How-to: Using Cadence

How-to: Using Cadence

If you require use of Cadence, please contact ITS at askit@albany.edu

Prerequisite

Please be sure you are familiar with the University at Albany’s SSH protocols. A link to information and instructions about these protocols can be found here: SSH instructions

Instructions

Once you are familiar with how to SSH onto UAlbany’s computing resources, you can access UAlbany’s version of Cadence by connecting to the hostname

 

ceashpc-12.rit.albany.edu

 

Be sure to include any X11 forwarding (VcXsrv or XQuartz for Windows or Mac, respectively) as needed.

 

Then, once you have logged on using your UAlbany NetID and password

Hint: Be sure to enter your NetID in lowercase letters, e.g. ab123456

you may access Cadence by running

module load cadence/IC231

 

you may access Calibre from Cadence by running

 

module load cadence/IC618-calib

 

This should now enable you to use commands particular to Cadence.

 

Working with Different PDKs

If you use more than one production design kit (PDK) for Cadence, e.g. for both classroom use and for research purposes, here are some best practices provided by Cadence support on how to navigate between them:

 

1> Ensure separate PDK installation directories and project directories like below :

/cad/pdk/pdk1/ # PDK root

/cad/pdk/pdk2/ # PDK root

/projects/student/course/ # Design workspace for pdk1[course]

/projects/student/research/ # Design workspace for pdk2[Research]

2> Create separate cds.lib files for both project-setups:

cds.lib inside course directory will point to pdk1 technology and design library created using the technology.

cds.lib inside research directory will point to pdk2 technology and design library created using the technology.

3> Invoke suite (e.g. Virtuoso) in different project-setup

For Course :

Goto to the /projects/student/course/ directory and source required setup file[ license , tool path, PDK path etc]

And then invoke virtuoso.

OR

For Research:

Goto to the /projects/student/research directory and source required setup file[ license , tool path, PDK path etc]

And then invoke virtuoso.

UAlbany Cadence Support

Please contact Randy Moulic for any issues with accessing Cadence tools.

Randy Moulic

jmoulic@albany.edu

Please email askIT@albany.edu for all other issues accessing Cadence.