Technical University Hamburg-Harburg

Department of Microelectronics
Masters Program Microelectronics and Microsystems

Winter Semester 2004-2005

Course: Circuit Design Laboratory- Part 1: Analog Design

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Krautschneider
Instructor: M.Sc. Paola Vega-Castillo

Tutorial 4: Layout and Verification of the OP-AMP Design

4.1 Introduction
The most important aspect of layout is the minimization of area. The price of ASICs depends both on the
selected process and on the layout area. Therefore, designers always try to create a layout of minimum
dimensions. In addition to the area consumption, matching effects and parasitic capacitances should be
considered.
For the layout of your operational amplifier, first consider an arrangement of the components (floorplan) that
requires minimum area. Figure 1 is an example of a possible floorplan for the OP-AMP.

Power Rail vdda

inp
M4
M0/M1

M2

inn

out

M3
idc50
u
M5/M
6

M9

M8
M7
C

Power Rail vssa

Figure 1: Possible floorplan for the OP-AMP
Set the width of the power rails to 10m and layout them using Metal1. Do not forget to include metal1 input
and output pins in the design. The value of the compensation capacitor is determined from both its area and
perimeter. Use the value you have in the schematic and layout the capacitor using the layers POLY1 and
POLY2 laying one above the other.

4.2 Layout-XL and DLE

Cadence offers assistance for the layout generation by means of the DEVICE level editor (DLE). The DLE
generates the layouts of the transistors and resistances (not the capacitances). In addition to this, it supports
the wiring of the individual elements.
To start with the layout, follow the next steps:
a) Create the layout view of your operational amplifier.

b) Start the DLE clicking on LAYOUT/Tools/Layout XL. The layout and the schematics windows are now
available.
c) Select LAYOUT/create/Pick from Schematic in the layout window.
d) In the Schematic window, mark all the elements and change to the layout window.
e) Click on the position where the elements should be placed. If you see no elements placed, press Shift-F to
make all display Levels visible. If you need to redraw the window contents, press Crtl-r.
f)

Click on LAYOUT/Connectivity/Show Incomplete Nets to display all unconnected nets. The appearing
window can be closed with OK. If a transistor in the layout window is marked, then it appears also in the
schematic window as selected.

g) Complete the connections between the circuit elements and include the input and output pins.
Remind to frequently run the design rule check. Your layout should be free of DRC errors to continue with the
next steps of the design flow.

4.3 Extraction and LVS

Extraction and Layout vrs Schematic (LVS) check have to be carried out for preparing the design for layout
verification. In this handout the extraction, LVS check and the procedure for postlayout simulation are
explained.

4.4.1 Extraction
The individual components of your design are extracted from the layout. During the extraction, the extraction
tool infers what kind of components are present in the layout. These are stored in the view " extracted ". To
extract your design, follow the next instructions:
a) Before you start the CDFII Environmnet, please set the environment variable in the Unix-Terminal-window:
setenv CDS_Netlisting_Mode Analog
b) Open the layout of the OP-AMP and perform the Design Rule Check to make sure that the layout does not
contain any errors.
c) Open the extraction window with LAYOUT/Verify/Extract... To start the extraction click OK.
d) If the extraction was succesfull, the message Total Errors Found: 0 prompts in the CIW.

4.4.2 LVS
LVS means layout versus schematic. In this verification step the netlist of the schematic view is compared with
the netlist, which was produced by the extraction. If layout and schematic correspond, then a post layout
simulation can be started. To run this verification, follow the next instructions:
a) Before you start the LVS check, open the schematic of the OP and erase all voltage and current sources.
b) Open the extracted view. Click on LAYOUT/Verify/LVS....
c) Fill out the fields for the schematic and extracted view. This can be done by using the browse button. In
the column Schematic enter schematic as the selected view and in the column Extracted enter the
extracted as the selected view.
d) Make sure that the Rules File is divaLVS.rul and the Rules Library is TECH_CYE. Start the LVS by
clicking on Run.
e) After finishing the LVS you can get information about the results of the LVS run by clicking Output in the
LVS setup window.

f)

If the message "LVS failed" appears, you can analyze the error by opening the logfile and/or output file.
If the message "LVS succeeded" appears, have a look at the output file. If it contains the message "the
net-lists match", the layout correctly describes the circuit in the schematic. In that case the LVS is
finished, otherwise the error must be eliminated and a new LVS run should be started.

4.4 Postlayout Simulation

The layout can be verified by means of postlayout simulation. After executing the Extraction and LVS in the
last part, the actual post layout simulation can be performed. With simulation, the influence of the parasitic
elements in the design performance can be estimated. If the postlayout simulation still fulfills the specifications,
then the layout can be submitted for production. Otherwise it must be redesigned.

4.5.1. Settings for postlayout simulation

a) In order to run a postlayout simulation, you must first extract the parasitic capacitances. For this, extract
your design again, but this time set the switch by clicking Set Switches to capall.
b) Create a new cell.
c) In this cells schematic, insert the OP-AMP symbol and all the necessary voltage/current supplies.
d) Execute any analog simulation, in order to test whether the wiring of the OPs is correct or not.
e) For the postlayout simulation, the parasitic capacitances must be taken into account. For that, click on
Affirma/Setup/Environment.... to open the Environment Options window of the simulator.
f)

In the option Switch View List, enter the view extracted directly behind spectre and press OK.

g) Create a new netlist with Affirma/Simulation/Netlist/Create Raw. Do the parasitic elements appear in
the new netlist?
h) Start the simulation as usual. Check by means of different simulations whether the specification of the OPAMPs are still fulfilled or not.

4.5 Protocoll
a) Print the final layout as a Postscript file.
b) Have a look at the netlists of the schematic and extracted views.
capacitance ?

How large is the extracted poly

c) Have a look at the elements of the extracted view and explain the parasitic capacitances.
d) Print the netlist of the postlayout simulation
e) Verify that the post layout simulation of the extrated View still fullfills the specification. Simulate and print
the most important characteristics of the OP-AMP.
f)

Explain the difference between both simulations.

g) How large is your layouts area? Are improvements still possible?