Cadence-based Design, Simulation And Test For D/A Converter

The analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion technologies emerged fromthe development of the digital technology and the digital computer and developedrapidly. At present, the monolithic Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog Converter,as a significant branch of integrated circuit, has wide application in communication,electronic countermeasure, etc.The monolithic Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog Converter features largescale and complexity, where it has to pay attention to not only the functional design ofdigital circuit, but also the high performance of analog circuit. Therefore, it is toodifficult to design and test by using conventional designing software and test measures.A comprehensive EDA designing and simulation software and a programmable testsystem are used for designing and testing works.To solve the above problems, a12bit D/A converter, as a designed and testedtarget, was presented for illustrating Cadence designing and simulation system of largescale EDA tool. A test software was programed based on Verigy93000SOC system.Analysis and studies based on the above works were presented as follows:1. Various EDA designing softwares were deeply analyzed. A Cadence designingand simulation system was used for the12bit D/A converter. By studying the designingflows of Cadence system and analyzing Cadence’ s function units, including, schematicedit, circuit simulation, layout edit, process design rule check and wire connectioncheck, EDA designing tool kits were ready for D/A converter designing and simulation.2. According to the simulations of reference, output amplifier, input digitalflip-latch, R-2R resistance network and overall circuit, the Zener breakdown referencestructure was verified and featured the target specifications, even exceeded the targets.3. By analyzing the process specification of D/A converter, layout model kits wasbuilt based on Cadence system and the layout design based on process design rules werecompleted. At the same time, DRC and LVS tools carried out the layout process rulecheck and wire connection check, which greatly increased the feasibility of success forthe first time. 4. According to the hardware and software design based on Verigy93000SOC testsystem, the D/A converter specifications were well comprehended. The buildingstructure of the system was mastered. The ability of compiling test software wasimproved, as well as the test accuracy and efficiency for D/A converter.