Known Problems and Solutions in Virtuoso ADE Assembler

This document describes the known issues with Virtuoso^® ADE Assembler and suggests the workarounds for these issues. Each issue is identified by a Cadence Change Request (CCR) number.

Unless otherwise stated, the issues described in this document were identified in IC23.1 or an earlier release. For a list of the issues that were fixed in this release, check the README file at downloads.cadence.com.

CCR 2808717: Oppoint expressions do not evaluate when you use an extracted view in the Switch View list

Description: If you add an extracted view to the beginning of Switch View List on the Environment Options form for a test and then run a simulation for the test, the results of the operating points are not plotted. Neither the operating points are found in the save statement of the netlist.

This issue is observed with the extracted views only. Smart Views are handled as expected when added to Switch View List.

Solution: Use a config view to point to the extracted view instead of the switch view list. After this, config sweeps work and operating points will be plotted.

CCR 2794501: Bindkeys are not set when the tool name is used as `ADE Assembler`

Description: The hiGetBindKeyPrefixList() function returns bindkeys for both application names, ADE Assembler and assembler. However, if application name is set as ADE Assembler in hiSetBindKeys(), bindkeys are not set.

For example,

;;the following does not work
hiSetBindKeys( "ADE Assembler" list(
    list("Ctrl<Key>3" "print(\"Ctrl 3 working with ADE Assembler\")")
    list("Ctrl<Key>4" "print(\"Ctrl 4 working with ADE Assembler\")")
)) 
;;but this does
hiSetBindKeys( "assembler" list(
     list("Ctrl<Key>1" "print(\"Ctrl 1 working with assembler\")")
     list("Ctrl<Key>2" "print(\"Ctrl 2 working with assembler\")")
))

Solution: Use the application name as assembler when setting bindkeys for Virtuoso ADE Assembler.

CCR 2692214: Netlist generation fails if a component name is missing from the CDF of a VerilogA view

Description: Generally, for VerilogA views, CDF is automatically generated and the names of all the components used in that view are added to the CDF. If the CDF is missing for a VerilogA view or the names of some components are missing from the CDF, netlist generation fails for that view and the following error is reported:

*Error* eval: undefined function - _nlCustomPatchVerilogaDebugTrace

Solution: Specify the following statement in the .cdsinit file:

(procedure _nlCustomPatchVerilogaDebugTrace(@rest args) t)

CCR 2408738: The `spectre.envOpts netlistBBox` environment variable does not work in ADE Explorer and ADE Assembler

Description: You cannot use the netlistBBox variable to resize the netlist window in ADE Explorer and ADE Assembler.

Solution: Currently, there is no way to change the default window size. You need to manually resize each window.

CCR 2259524: If a Monte Carlo simulation is run with two or more tests that contain the same set of swept local variables, the Yield results view does not show results

Description: When multiple tests contain the same set of swept variables, the Yield results view does not show results for those tests. The results appear fine in the Detail and Detail-Transpose views.

Solution: Use a run plan or global variables to sweep a common set of variables for multiple tests.

CCR 1986691: When the test setup contains a pre-run script, the Report Identical Histories Before Run feature ignores any changes in the pre-run script done outside ADE Assembler

Description: If you edit the pre-run script for a test using a test editor outside ADE Assembler, the Report Identical Histories Before Run feature is unable to detect the changes, and does not report any difference in the setup.

Solution: If you have enabled reporting of identical histories, ADE Assembler displays a message reporting that the active setup is similar to the setup of an existing history. On that message, you can confirm that you still need to run the simulation. Alternatively, you can choose to disable reporting of identical histories.

CCR 1963792: Overridden specifications are ignored for fault expressions in the Fault results view

Description: The Detail and Fault results view show different values for the faultexpr outputs with overridden specifications. This is because currently, the Fault result view ignores the overridden specifications.

Solution: Currently, a workaround is not available.

CCR 1698716: The Plot and Save check boxes are disabled when using a config to bind an instance to a DSPF view

Description: If you are working on a design that uses a config to bind an instance to a DSPF view, you cannot toggle the Plot and Save check boxes in the Outputs section of ADE L or the Outputs Setup pane of ADE XL, Explorer, and Assembler, because the check boxes are disabled.

Solution: To enable these check boxes, set the allowInvalidObjectSelection environment variable, as shown below:

To set this variable in the .cdsenv file, use the call: auCore.selection allowInvalidObjectSelection boolean t
To set this variable in the .cdsinit file or CIW, use the call: envSetVal("auCore.selection" "allowInvalidObjectSelection" 'boolean t)

Alternatively, set the following SKILL variable in the .cdsinit file, as shown below:
_allowInvalidObjectSelection = t

CCR 1696853: Enable or disable status of sweeps and corners are ignored if you edit the swept variable or corner in the setup and update the points table

Description: If you disable any swept point or corner on the Run Preview tab, and then add or edit the swept variable or corner in the setup, all the points are automatically enabled when you update the points table. For example, if you have a swept variable with values as 1:0.1:1.5. You open Run Preview and disable some sweep points. Next, you edit the sweep values of that variable in the Data View pane value and set its values as 1:0.1:2. If you update the points table in the Run Preview tab, all points become enabled.

Workaround: Currently, a workaround is not available.

CCR 1657981: dyn_floatdcpath violations are not visible in the Checks/Asserts view

Description: When using MMISIM 16.1, the dyn_floatdcpath violations do not appear in the Checks/Asserts view. However, these violations are visible in the XML report for the dynamic checks.

Workaround: Add the following in the Additional Arguments field on the Miscellaneous tab of the Analog Options form:

leaki_sim_mode=0

CCR 1582503: The Quick Plot command ignores reference waveform when plotting outputs with wave spec

Description: When you use the Quick Plot command to plot outputs with wave specification, it does not plot the reference waveform as done by the Plot command.

Solution: Use the Plot command to plot the outputs with wave specification.

CCR 1566735: Timing delay and bias level do not shift the reference waveform regions

Description: Currently, the timing delay value and bias level specified in the waveform compare options is not reflected by shifting the waveform in the ViVA graph window. However, the comparison algorithm does take the time delay value into account correctly. This is an incorrect representation of the graphical data shown.