Adding a Cell and Searching for its Instances

This tutorial will show you how to add a cell and search for its instances.

Adding a Cell

1. Open the Digital Logic project.

2. Add a restore point so that all changes made in this tutorial can be reverted. To do this click the Add Restore Point icon. Notes can be added to the restore point to keep documentation of the progress.

   

3. In the Layers window, turn on the m1 image layer.

   

4. In the Project Cells window, click the down arrow on dig block, block 0 array, and then buf. Then, click the down arrow in the window that moves the user into the target netlist.

   

5. Remove the old cell. In the overlay window, select the cell then right click and select delete cell instance

   

Performing a Cell Search

1. Click Search Plans.

   

2. Add a new search plan named Test.

   

3. The edit search plan settings window will open allowing you to set options for the search. This tutorial will have you searching for the BUF instance that was deleted earlier. Add a cell to the list by clicking the add icon (1), highlight all the BUF(S) from the add cells window and make sure that M1 and Polysilicon are checked. (2), finally select Add to include the highlighted cells in the Test search plan.

   

4. Change to the Select tool in the Cells tab and click in an area without any cells. If a cell is selected, this click will de-select that cell.

5. Execute the search plan to search for all the cells in the Test cell list.

   

   Note: It’s important that no cells are selected. If a cell is selected, then the search will be restricted to the bounds of the selected cell. If no cell is selected, the search is performed within the bounds of the top cell.

6. After the search scans the entire area the results window will display. This window shows you the original cell next to the suspected placements of other instances it finds. To accept the result click the green check mark or press ‘1’, and to reject the result press the red X or press ‘0’.

   

Viewing Cell Instances

1. To review the results, go to the Project Cells window and click the Cell Instances button.

   

2. Click on an instance in the Cell Instances window to visit it.

   

Editing Cell Instances

1. If you find an instance that has been incorrectly added by the Cell Search algorithm, you can delete it manually.

   Make sure the instance is selected. Then right-click it and select Delete Cell Instance.