CAE EDA Quickstart Guide

To make the best use of this guide, you should check out two articles first:

1. First, the Software Overview, it has important information on how software is launched.
2. Second, the Module Overview, it contains important info about the module command.

In brief, the EDA software now works as follows:

1. Use module load to setup your software environment.
2. Use <software>-run to enter the container environment.
3. Invoke commands like virtuoso or vsim, depending on the name of the program you need.

It's important to do module load before any *-run commands.

You can chain module load to create more complex software environments, but take care to only load what is needed, as conflicts are possible.

Example: Launching Cadence Virtuoso with EMX

1. Log into a research or lab system and open a terminal.
2. Optionally, type module avail to see what modules are present.
3. Type in module load cadence/emx to use the default emx, or cadence/emx/version if you need a particular EMX version. Use module avail to see available versions.
4. Create a project directory if this is a new project. In your project directory, use your favorite text editor of choice to add load(strcat(getShellEnvVar("EMXHOME") "/share/emx/virtuoso_ui/emxinterface/emxskill/emxconfig.il")) to a new file named .cdsinit. Only do this edit ONCE per project.
   • For integrations other than EMX, you will need different .cdsinit content.
5. Launch the program via wrapper cadence-run virtuoso, and the virtuoso program opens directly. It will take a few moments to load.
   • If you want an interactive shell in the EDA environment (container), then cadence-run would suffice. Your prompt should now look like cadence>.
   • In the shell, run virtuoso & to run the program and still continue to access the EDA container shell, or invoke emx directly from the command line.
6. Virtuoso should now have launched, a GUI appears. The Virtuoso window should have logs regarding loading EMX defaults based on the install. The integration is a success.

Example: Cadence Virtuoso with RFIC Dynamic Link

1. Log into a research or lab system and open a terminal.
2. Load the Keysight(ADS) module, Cadence modules, and RFIC Dynamic Link Modules:
   • module load cadence/ic/251
   • module load cadence/xcelium/2509
   • module load keysight/suite/2026
   • After loading this, module emits a helpful message appears telling you to load the corresponding rfic-link module. Run the module command it provides.
3. Switch your working dir into your project directory with the cd command. Create a new directory first if this is a fresh project.
   • Run the helper script "cae-rfic-link" to create or edit your setup.loc and .cdsinit files.
   • If you have existing files, the helper script won't overwrite them without you explicitly passing corresponding flags. Consider copying your .cdsinit before running the script if it contains valuable config that you cannot otherwise recreate.
4. Only if you require ADSLib features, then additionally run echo INCLUDE \$HPEESOF_DIR/cdslibs/rfde.lib > cds.lib
5. Now, you are ready to launch Cadence. As in the EMX example above, you may either cadence-run and then virtuoso &; or cadence-run virtuoso to enter the container and start Virtuoso.
6. The RFIC Dynamic Link (ADS)features should be available from their typical location (the "launch" menu in Cadence Schematic View).

Example: Launching MentorGraphics (now Siemens) Calibre

1. Log into a research or lab system and open a terminal.
2. Load the relevant module: module load mentor/suite
3. Launch the container and execute the process: mentor-run calibre -gui or break this into two commands mentor-run and then calibre -gui.
   • calibre's default run mode is to be a command line interface, thus passing -gui is required for a graphical application..

Example: Launching Synopsys DesignVision

1. Log into a research or lab system and open a terminal.
2. Load the relevant module: module load synopsys/suite
   • Loading the suite pulls in the majority of Synopsys programs and tools, but surrenders granular control over each individual version.
   • If you only need a particular Synopsys components, you can run commands like module load synopsys/designvision/VERSION, omitting the version string if default is acceptable.
3. Enter the container environment and execute a program, either with synopsys-run design_vision or synopsys-run followed by design_vision if you wish to enter an interactive shell first.
4. DesignVision now opens.

Example: Launching Silvaco Deckbuild

1. Log into a research or lab system and open a terminal.
2. Load the relevant module: module load silvaco/suite
3. Launch the container and execute the process: silvaco-run deckbuild or break this into two commands silvaco-run and then deckbuild.