Cadence Tools

This is a short list of tools in the Cadence suite. This isn't everything, but enough to point you to the right spot in the (openbook) documentation system.

VLSI tools (chip design, simulation, and layout)
- icms - command to start an IC design desktop. This tool starts all the others listed below.
- Composer - schematic capture
- Analog Artist - Analog/Mixed Signal simulation framework and GUI. It is similar, but far more powerful, to PSpice Probe.
- cdsSPICE - analog SPICE simulator.
- Spectre - analog simulator, not based on the original Berkeley SPICE. It is still a Newton-Raphson engine, however. It does behavioral models as well as standard MOSFET, BJT, and others. I use it in preference to cdsSPICE, Berkeley SPICE, or PSpice.
- Virtuoso - layout editor
- DFII, Design Framework II - Database system that Cadence uses for all IC tools. Basically, all designs can be hierarchical have several views. Views can be schematics, layouts, behavioral descriptions, etc.
VHDL (hardware description language) tools:
- hdldesk - GUI desktop for HDL tools. This calls Leapfrog, cv, and ev if you want it to.
- Leapfrog - simulator
- cv - compiler
- ev - elaborator (VHDL term for linker)
Systems Tools (circuit board level stuff)
- brddesign - GUI desktop for system tools.
- Concept - schematic capture
- Allegro - PCB layout
- Analog Workbench - simulator interface with virtual oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, etc. Uses Concept for schematic entry.