Generating Synchronous Clones

Synchronous clones stay synchronized during editing— changes made to one member of a family are automatically reflected in all the other members of the clone family.

You can use the Synchronized Family option on the Generate Clones form to create multiple clones as members of a single synchronized family. The clone source and the individual clones are each generated as a group in the layout view and linked to the other members in the same synchronized family, with each group containing all the physical shapes, vias, instances, and groups in the layout implementation of the target structure.

Labels in the canvas can be defined either as text displays or as label objects. Text displays in the clone source are synchronized in the generated clones; label objects are not.

If you add a new instance to an existing synchronous clone using either the Create Instance or Generated Selected From Source command, or by removing an ignore property from an existing instance inside the clone, the clone in question is not desynchronized from its family. Note, however, that it may no longer form a valid clone source, in which case you will be unable to use the Generate Clones, Create Family, or Add to Family commands on that structure.

• Synchronous Clones and Instance Creation
  If you add a new instance to an existing synchronous clone using the Create Instance, Copy, or Generate Selected From Source commands, the system automatically adds a similar instance to the other clones in the family, ensuring that the family remains synchronized. If you add or remove an ignore property from an existing instance inside the clone, the clone is not desynchronized from its family, but the change to the property is not replicated in the other clones in the family.
  In both cases, the clone in question may no longer form a valid clone source, which means you will be unable to use the Generate Clones, Create Family, or Add to Family commands on that structure.
• Synchronous Clones and Dummy Devices
  Layout XL considers a layout instance to be a dummy device if either the instance or its master has at least one property included in the list of Properties used to ignore objects during check on the Parameters tab of the Connectivity form or the instance has the physOnly attribute set.
  When Layout XL detects a dummy device among the objects in the clone source, it generates a similar instance with the same properties in the target structure. This new instance is automatically named Ix, where x is an appropriate integer value assigned by the database.
  Layout XL considers a dummy device as a simple shape in the clone structure. Therefore, dummy devices are synchronized in the same way as any other shape in a family of synchronous clones. Any physical editing, such as move, rotate, or delete performed on a dummy device (including those used in chains of devices) is reflected in every other member of the synchronized family.
  To add a previously defined dummy device to a synchronous clone:
  1. Create the instance for the dummy device outside the clone family.
  2. Add the appropriate ignore-for-check property to the instance.
  3. See Use the Edit – Group – Add To Group command to push the dummy device inside the clone family.
  
  All the other occurrences of the synchronous clone are populated with a similar dummy device. These new devices are named automatically and are connected as required by the Layout XL connectivity extractor.
  When using the Add To Family and Create New Family commands on the Update Clone Families form, any dummy devices present in the reference group are copied in other occurrences of the clone.
• Synchronous Mutants
  Mutants are clones that may not exactly match the source in connectivity. So, when searching for clone targets on the Generate Clones form with the option Exact Connectivity set to false, you may find mutant targets in your search result. These mutants will be displayed as mutant (number) instanceName1 instanceName2, and so on.
  As the resulting mutants do not exactly match the source in connectivity, they have missing or extra nets called partial nets. However, these mutants can be considered as copies of the layout clone source with the connectivity of the schematic targets. Therefore, all the routing shapes present in the clone source are copied to the generated mutant, even if the shape net is a partial net, which is missing in the mutant target. As a consequence, the generated target clone is physically identical to the clone source, even if the clone is a mutant. This allows for synchronous mutants to be created as the cloning synchronization mechanism does not require any logical aspects to be met as long as the clones are physically identical.
  As the logical connectivity of the mutant instances (inherited from the clone schematic target) may be different from the physical connectivity of the routing shapes (inherited from the clone layout source), the XL connectivity extractor may generate short markers when processing the mutants.
• Synchronous Clones and Device Abutment
  You cannot abut two devices if one of the devices is in a synchronous clone and the other is not in the same synchronous clone.
• Synchronous Clones and Pin Permutation
  You cannot permute two pins if one of the pins is on a device in a synchronous clone and the other pin is on a device that is not in the same synchronous clone.
  If you permute two pins on an instance in a synchronous clone, the change is not propagated to the other members of the family, nor is the clone desynchronized from the other members of the family, because pin permutation is a logical rather than a physical update.
• Remastering Clone Instances
  When an instance is remastered in a clone, the clone synchronizer automatically remasters the equivalent instances in other clones.
  In addition, the physical binding in the Configure Physical Hierarchy window is updated for the remastered instance in the current clone, and for all equivalent instances.

Related Topics

Generate Clones Form

Connectivity Form

Ignoring Components with no Schematic Counterpart

Update Clone Families Form

Creating a New Clone Family

Adding a Group to an Existing Family

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