Lab 1 - ECE 421L
If
the CMOSedu directory was inserted correctly, the user will be greeted
by these two screens. The top is the library manager, which can be used
to navigate one's library and cells. The bottom logs any errors or
processes encountered in the usage of Cadence Virtuoso.
To
start work, students must click "file>new>library" to create a
new library in which cells can be attatched to. Students then name the
library, and select which existing tech library to use in this project.
For this class we will be using the tech library highlighted in the
screenshot below.
Once
the library has been created, students can create new schematics by
clicking "file>new>cell view". A pop up will appear allowing
users to name and create a new schematic.
A
new window will appear showing the stage for the students to create
their new schematic. Creating instances allows students to insert
components in which their circuit will be created from. Either the
"create new instance" button can be clicked or the "I" hotkey can be
used to bring up a new component window. The dropdown can be clicked to
navigate which library to pull an instance from. For basic circuit
components students are expected to use the "NCSU_Analog_Parts"
library.
Navigating through the folders, students will find all the neccesary components to complete this lab assignment.
Once
the correct components have been found, they can be placed onto the
schematic editor by hovering over the desired location and clicking.
Often
times, the components will not be placed with the right orientation so
this must be fixed by selecting the desired component and clicking "R".
This opens a new pop up window that allows users to rotate or flip
components in many ways.
Once
students rotate and move around their components, the circuit begins to
take shape. While connections are missing, the circuit can now be
understood by the user.
The
next step is assigning values to every component of the circuit. By
selecting a component and clicking "Q", a window will pop up allowing
users to assign values. The screenshots below show this window for a
voltage source and resistor respectively.
Connections
can be made between components by clicking where each node begins and
end. Students must complete this for every connection that is to be
made in the circuit.
Once the ADE has been opened, users choose which simulation they would like to run by clicking "Analyses>Choices".
In
the window shown below, users click which simulation they wish to run.
For this lab, students used a transient simulation which required a
time for the simulation to run. One second was used for this circuit,
but any time can be used as the circuit is running on direct current.
Next step of the simulation is to choose which outputs and inputs will be plotted once the simulation is ran. This can be done by clicking "outputs>To Be Plotted>Select On Schematic".
After returning to the ADE, students can run the simulation by clicking "Simulation>Netlist and Run".
Assuming no errors occurred, the simulation results will pop up in a new window.
With this, the first part of "Tutorial 1" and the lab has been completed.
Throughout
the duration of this lab, and anytime work is being completed on
Kompozer, I will regulary back up my files. To do this, I will zip the
folder I am working on and emailing it to myself. This ensures that no
matter what issues arise I will have a recent copy of the work
completed.
