The
Electric VLSI Design System at CMOSedu.com
Quick install: ensure Java is installed (go to java.com) and save electric-9.03.jar to your computer (e.g., the Desktop).
§ Double clicking on this saved jar file starts Electric in Windows using 64 MB of memory (see here for how to increase memory allocation, very important if doing simulations or large designs).
§ In Linux/Unix open a terminal window, navigate to where you saved the jar file, and enter: java -Xmx512m -jar electric-9.03.jar & to start Electric with 512 MB of memory.
§ For the Mac, double clicking on the saved jar file should start Electric. If not, use the Linux/Unix command-line command seen above in a xterm.
§ Examples for the C5 process (SPICE models C5_models.txt) for fabrication through MOSIS are found in:
o MOSIS_SUBM_PADS_C5.zip (Both analog and digital: 1] pads with ESD protection, 2] “Tiny-Chip” padframes [1.5 mm x 1.5 mm], and 3] test chips.)
§ Unzip then open these libraries after you start Electric (File -> Open Library) and simulate using LTspice
§ Download all of
the books’ Electric examples in Electric_CMOSedu.zip
with extras!
§ Electric VLSI tutorials
from CMOSedu.com are found here
§ Detailed information on installing and using
Electric with add-ons (e.g., SPICE) is found here.
Dr. Steven M. Rubin leads
the development of Electric in the VLSI
Research Group at Oracle, Inc.
§ The Electric VLSI Design System – free and powerful CAD
system for chip design (schematics, layout, DRC, LVS, ERC, etc.) that runs on
any platform (Unix, Linux, Mac, Windows).
§ The Google group for Electric is located at http://groups.google.com/group/electricvlsi.
Also see the Electric
Users around the World (map)
§ Electric’s history at Wikipedia.org.
§ An online user’s manual with tutorial is found here and examples
are found here.
§ Tutorials and videos illustrating the use of Electric
are seen here.
§ Labs using Electric are found in 8-bit MIPS microprocessor (from Prof. Gupta at Villanova
U.)
§ Very helpful information
from Kazzz
is found in: Eclipse-GNU-Electric.ppt
and EditTechnology-GNU-Electric.ppt
§ Installers for the Java
3D viewer are found here.
§ Untested
analog and digital pads for TSMC’s CL018 (180 nm, lambda = 90 nm) CMOS process
using the MOSIS DEEP rules are found in MOSIS_DEEP_PADS_CL018.zip
Return
to:
CMOS Circuit Design, Layout, and
Simulation
CMOS Mixed-Signal Circuit Design