Tutorial for Innovus 16.2 T.

Manikas, SMU, 2/26/2019

Tutorial for Cadence Innovus Place & Route

For Innovus Version 16.2
T. Manikas, Southern Methodist University, 2/26/2019

Contents
1 Preliminary Setup .................................................................................................................................. 1
2 Starting Tool and Reading in the Design Files ....................................................................................... 2
2.1 Saving and Restoring Your Design............................................................................................... 10
3 Floorplanning ...................................................................................................................................... 12
3.1 Specify Floorplan......................................................................................................................... 12
4 Power Planning ................................................................................................................................... 14
4.1 Connect Global Nets ................................................................................................................... 14
4.2 Power Rings................................................................................................................................. 15
4.3 Power Stripes .............................................................................................................................. 18
4.4 Connect Power to Standard Cell Rows ....................................................................................... 22
5 Placing the Standard Cells ................................................................................................................... 23
6 Routing ................................................................................................................................................ 24
7 Adding Filler Cells ................................................................................................................................ 26

1 Preliminary Setup
Create a separate directory for the above files in your account (e.g., Innovus). Create the subdirectories
synth and lib

1. Move full_adder_pads_syn.v to the synth directory

2. Move osu05_stdcells.lef to the lib directory

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2 Starting Tool and Reading in the Design Files

1. Make sure that you are in your main separate directory (e.g., Innovus) as mentioned earlier
2. At the Unix prompt, type: innovus
3. When the Innovus tool window appears, go to the menu bar and select File, Import Design to
get the Design Import window.

4. For the Verilog Netlist, click on the box with the dots […] to open the Netlist Files window

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5. Click on the ">>" button to expand the window to show the directories:

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6. Double-click on the synth folder, then select the file full_adder_pads_syn.v and click the Add
button to add it to the Netlist Files list. Click Close to close the Netlist Files window.

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7. In the main window, for Top Cell, select "Auto Assign"

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8. For Technology/Physical Libraries, select "LEF Files". Click on the […] button open the LEF Files
window.

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9. Using the same approach as for selecting the Verilog Netlist file, select the file
lib/osu05_stdcells.lef

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10. For Power, enter the following:

a. Power Nets: vdd
b. Ground Nets: gnd
11. Click on OK.

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2.1 Saving and Restoring Your Design

NOTE: It is a good idea to save your design periodically. Select File, Save Design. In the Save Design
Window, select Data Type: Innovus.

To load a saved Innovus file, do File, Restore Design. In the Restore Design Window, select Data Type:
Innovus. Select the file to be restored.

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3 Floorplanning
3.1 Specify Floorplan

In Innovus tool menu bar, select Floorplan, Specify Floorplan to get the Specify Floorplan window.

1. In the Basic tab, select the following options:

a. Core Margins – select Core to IO Boundary and set all margins to 100
2. Click on OK.

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4 Power Planning
4.1 Connect Global Nets

In Innovus tool menu bar, select Power, Connect Global Nets to get the Global Net Connections
Window.

1. In Power Ground Connection

a. In the Connect area, select Pin
b. In the Scope area, select Apply All
2. For each net vdd and gnd, do the following:
a. Enter the net name (vdd or gnd) in the following boxes:
i. "To Global Net"
ii. "Pin Name(s)"
b. Click on the "Add to List" button
3. Click Apply, then click Cancel

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4.2 Power Rings

In Innovus tool menu bar, select Power, Power Planning, Add Ring to get the Add Rings window.

1. For Net(s), enter vdd and gnd nets as follows:

a. Click on folder icon to the right of the Net(s) box to get Net Selection window
b. Select vdd and gnd from Possible Nets column
c. Click Add to copy to Chosen Nets column
d. Click OK

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2. In Ring Configuration, select metal1 for Top and Bottom, metal2 for Left and Right.
a. Width should be 8
b. Spacing should be 1
c. Offset should be “Center in channel”
3. Click OK

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4.3 Power Stripes

In Innovus tool menu bar, select Power, Power Planning, Add Stripesto get the Add Stripes window.

1. Basic Tab
a. For Net(s), enter vdd and gnd nets as follows:
i. Click on folder icon to the right of the Net(s) box to get Net Selection window
ii. Select vdd and gnd from Possible Nets column
iii. Click Add to copy to Chosen Nets column
iv. Click OK

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b. In Set Configuration, select Layer metal2 and Direction vertical. Width should be 8 and
Spacing should be 1.
c. In Set Pattern, set Set-to-set distance to 100
d. In First/Last Stripe, select Relative from core or selected area, set start to 20

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2. Advanced Tab
a. Set Snap wire center to routing grid as Grid
3. Click OK

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4.4 Connect Power to Standard Cell Rows

In Innovus tool menu bar, select Route, Special Route, and click OK. This will create power (vdd) and
ground (gnd) rails for your standard cell rows. Save your design using the procedure described in
Section 0 above.

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5 Placing the Standard Cells

In Innovus tool menu bar, select Place, Place Standard Cell to get the Place window.

1. Select “Run Full Placement” and “Include Pre-Place Optimization”

2. Click OK

After cells are placed, change to Physical View in the Innovus Window to see placement results.

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6 Routing
In Innovus tool menu bar, select Route, NanoRoute, Route to get the NanoRoute window.

1. Click OK.

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7 Adding Filler Cells

1. Now that we have routed all the wires and placed all the cell in our design, we will add empty
filler cells to the design. Select Place, Physical Cell, Add Filler.
2. In the Add Filler window, enter the Cell Name FILL and check Mark Fixed. Click OK.

3. Note that filer cells are added to the layout:

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