10/22/13 Microelectronics Students' Group Documentation How to convert a project from CDB to OA

wiki.usgroup.eu/wiki/public/tutorials/cdb2oa 1/3
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How to convert a project from CDB to OA
What is CDB and OA
Although this is a simple task, it can be a headache to figure how it is done. This tutorial was
already tested with the following conversions:
AMS HiT-KiT 3.70 (Cadence IC5) to AMS HiT-HiT 4.00 (Cadence IC6)
First things first we should define what is CDB and what is OA!!! These two acronyms are two
database formats. The CDB stands for Cadence DataBase, and OA means Open Access. Like the
name of each one indicate the CDB is a proprietary format of Cadence Design Systems, while the OA
is an open format. Open Access was a effort made between several electronic companies community
to improve the interoperability between their projects.
How to perform the conversion
The example present next, uses the HiT-KiTs AMS 3.70 and 4.00 to explain the conversion process
although it should work with other FDK (Foundry Design Kits).
Let us consider that we have a project already made with the AMS HiT-KiT 3.70 in Cadence IC5, and
this project is located in:
~/projects/austriamicrosystems/freq_synthethizer
The first step is to create a new project with the AMS-HiT-KiT 4.00. Let us consider that this new
project is created in:
~/projects/austriamicrosystems/hit-kit-4.00/freq_synthethizer_oa
Then in the CIW (Command Interpreter Window) i.e., the Cadence main window, select the menu
Tools, option Conversion Tool Box like it is shown in the following figure:
The conversion tool box window will appear. Then press the option CDB to Open Access
Translator.
10/22/13 Microelectronics Students' Group Documentation How to convert a project from CDB to OA
wiki.usgroup.eu/wiki/public/tutorials/cdb2oa 2/3
The CDB to Open Access translator window will pop-up, where we can see the path to the cds.lib
file of the AMS-HiT-KiT 3.70 version highlighted. The CDB to Open Access translator reads the
cdb.lib file and displays the available libraries for translation. Just select the ones to be translated
and press OK. And voil, you now have you project translated to Open Access. Just check the CIW
window to see if there were any problems during conversion.
Known problems and solutions
The CIW window says that one or more libraries are locked.
Lets assume that the cell view vco_control of the library ndivider from our previously converted
project has its schematic locked. To unlock it go to following path
~/projects/austriamicrosystems/freq_synthethizer/charge_pump/vco_control/schematic
and delete the sch.cdb.cdslock file.
After deleting the file, run the simulation again and the problem should be solved. If the same
problem occurs go to all the the cell view directory and delete all the sch.cdb.cdslock if any.

public/tutorials/cdb2oa.txt Last modified: 2009/07/03 15:58 by doliveira
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10/22/13 Microelectronics Students' Group Documentation How to convert a project from CDB to OA
wiki.usgroup.eu/wiki/public/tutorials/cdb2oa 3/3