University of California at Berkeley Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences Instructional Support Group /share/b/pub/cad.help /share/b/pub/irsim.help /share/b/pub/sample.help /share/b/pub/simple.help /share/b/pub/simpler.help July 1, 2004 CONTENTS: About the CAD Tools Man pages and Help files Troubleshooting Screen Colors Using irsim Using SIMPLer Obtaining CAD Tools for use at other sites About the CAD Tools ------------------- Many CAD programs used by EECS classes are developed by the CAD research group in our own department (http://www-cad.eecs.berkeley.edu). Those CAD tools are maintained by the EECS CAD Group. We also support some commercial CAD applications. To locate a CAD program on an Instructional UNIX system, look for it in one of these directories: /share/b/bin /usr/eesww/bin Add these to your UNIX search path with the commands set path = ($path /share/b/bin /usr/eesww/bin) rehash See also http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cad for WEB-based versions and other references to SAMPLE, SPLAT, SIMPL, SIMPLer, FastCap, FastHenry. See http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/software for references to commercial CAD products including HSPICE, XILINX, CADENCE, SUPREM, SYNOPSYS. Ptolemy is in /usr/eesww/ptolemy0.7.1/. See http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/pub.cgi?file=ptolemy.help. Programs such as 'sample' and 'drawplot' are gone but not forgotten on our UNIX systems; their source code, when available, is too old to compile on modern computers. Old copies of CAD programs may be found under ~cad with the command (for example): find ~cad -name sample To set up printing from old CAD tools, you may need to type this: setenv PRINTER lw199 (for example) Man pages and Help files ------------------------ Here is how to create a basic MANPATH setting, which the /usr/sww/bin/man command will use to locate man pages: setenv MANPATH ${MANPATH}:/usr/eesww/man:/share/b/cad/man You can add the path to certain CAD man pages; just add a colon to the above command followed by the path you wish to include. The man option "-a" will call up all related man pages for a program, for example: % man -a magic .... NAME magic - VLSI layout editor .... Also see /share/b/cad http://cuervo.eecs.berkeley.edu/Volcano/wui/workspace/start.html Troubleshooting Screen Colors ----------------------------- If you find that your XWindows program displays colors badly on a PC via Exceed, it is probably caused by old color entries in a UNIX file called .Xdefaults. Please see /share/b/pub/exceed.help for instructions about correcting that. Using irsim ----------- 'irsim' is available on our Sun SPARC computers in /share/b/bin/irsim. A simple test can be run by executing the UNIX commands cd /share/b/cad/src/irsim/test-input /share/b/bin/irsim scmos60.prm invf101.sim -invf101.irs The expected behavior from a working IRSIM "analyzer" window involves a graph running along the entire screen and a scrollbar at the bottom which you should be able to scroll back and forth with. The "anXhelper" program is not needed for this version. On-line manual: http://bwrc.eecs.berkeley.edu/Classes/icbook/IRSIM/index.html Using SIMPLer ------------- SIMPLer is a simplified version of SIMPL (SIMulations of Profiles from the Layout). It generates cross-sections of IC chips given a fabrication process. SIMPLer was written in Java v 1.1.2 by Harlan Hale (hhile@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu) and was used by EE40 until about 2004. SIMPLer can be run as a WEB "applet" or as a Java program on your local computer. The pros and cons of each method: Run SIMLer on... Pros... Cons... ==================== ====================== ========================= 1) any WEB browser: Fast; no set-up. Can't save your work. Printing works. -------------------- ---------------------- ------------------------- 2) our UNIX systems: Fast in 199 Cory; Delay in getting account; Can save your work; Access it from home. From home, need SSH; From home, need EXCEED. Printing may not work. -------------------- ---------------------- ------------------------- 3) your Windows PC: Fast; Need JAVA; Can save your work. Need WINZIP. Printing may not work. ==================== ====================== ========================= Details are given below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Using a WEB browser, go to the URL http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee40/SIMPLer/SIMPLer.html This runs the "applet" version of SIMPLer. JAVA: Your WEB browser should support Java 1.1.2 (no older than Netscape version 4.5 or Internet Explorer 4.0). It should have "Java" enabled (you will find that option under "Preferences", "Security" or "Internet Options". PRINTING: Select "Print" from the WEB browser "File" menu. Set output to "landscape" mode to make it fit the paper. Harlan's help file suggests that it prints better from IE than Netscape, but that may depend upon your printer. PROS: This is the easiest way to run it, and you can select colors for many functions so that it is easy to view on the screen and also prints distinctly on your printer. CONS: Lacks the ability to save the fabrication steps you have created or load a previously saved file of fabrication steps. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Login to an EECS Instructional UNIX computer in 199 Cory (or c199.eecs.berkeley.edu) and type the command cd ~ee40/SIMPLer /usr/sww/bin/java -classpath ~ee40/SIMPLer/SIMPLer.jar SIMPLer This runs the "application" using Java. JAVA: Java is installed on all the EECS Instructional UNIX systems. You need version 1.1.2 or greater; you can check the default version with the command /usr/sww/bin/java -version For more information on running Java on EECS Instructional computers, see "Java" under http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/software . SAVE/LOAD: The file extension ".SPF" is automatically added to the filename your enter. It saves and looks for files in the current directory unless you tell it otherwise. Error messages are displayed at the bottom of the "Welcome" screen. PRINTING: Select "Print" from the SIMPLer "File" menu. In "Print to: Printer", enter any one of these Instructional printers: lw199 (b&w printer in 199 Cory) lw199c (color printer in 199 Cory) The print jobs may be garbled; we do not expect to correct the code. INSTRUCTIONAL ACCOUNTS: If you are enrolled in an EECS class, you can request a UNIX account by logining in as 'newacct' (password: 'newacct') at a workstation in 199 Cory and entering your SID number. The new account will be created the next day (see the on-screen instructions). Once you have a UNIX account, you can login at a workstation in 199 Cory or over the network (from home, etc) to one of our servers. LOGGING IN FROM HOME: On a home PC, you'd need 'ssh' to login and 'exceed' to display the X Windows graphical output from SIMPLer on UNIX. For details about how to login and find those programs, see http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/connecting.html Note that print jobs will go to printers known to our UNIX system, not to a printer attached to your home computer. PROS: It may be faster than the WEB-based version, and it includes "save" and "load" features so you can reuse your fabrication steps. CONS: If you don't have a UNIX account, it may take 24 hours or more to get one. If you are unfamiliar with UNIX, you have to get used to the window interface and some UNIX commands. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) On a home PC, download Java (Runtime Environment is sufficient) and SIMPLer, start a command prompt. "cd" to the directory where you installed SIMPLer and type: SIMPler.bat JAVA: Download the Java 2 RunTime Environment from http://java.sun.com/products/jdk/1.2/runtime.html . SIMPLer: Go to http://inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee40/SIMPLer/ . Download the SIMPLer "PC package"; it is a WinZIP file. WINZIP: Download from http://www.winzip.com/ . SAVE/LOAD: The file extension ".SPF" is automatically added to the filename your enter. It saves and looks for files in the current directory unless you tell it otherwise. PRINTING: This relies on your local printer. Set output to "landscape" mode to make it fit the paper. The print jobs may be garbled; we do not expect to correct the code. PROS: Probably faster than the WEB-based version, and it includes "save" and "load" features so you can reuse your fabrication steps. CONS: Complicated setup. Java requires about 38-MB of local disk space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obtaining CAD Tools for use at other sites ------------------------------------------ EECS-supported research software is available through the EECS/ERL Industrial Liaison Program (ILP): Industrial Liaison Program University of California at Berkeley 201 Cory Hall #1770 Berkeley, CA 94720-1770 phone: (510) 643-6691 FAX: (510) 643-6694 email: ilp@eecs.berkeley.edu WWW: http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/ILP/ The WWW site includes an entire catalog, describing the products available, how to order and how a company can join the ILP. EECS Instructional Support Group (ISG) 378/386 Cory, 333 Soda (inst@eecs.berkeley.edu) EECS Electronics Support Group (ESG) 377/380 Cory (esg@eecs.berkeley.edu)