Using Designs

Advanced Design System uses designs to store the schematic and layout information you generate to accomplish your design goals.

A design can consist of a single schematic or layout, or it can be made up of a number of schematics and layouts embedded as subnetworks within a single design. All designs in a project can be displayed and opened directly from the Main window or from within a Design window.

In a Design window you can...

Create and modify circuits and layouts
Add variables and equations
Place and configure components, shapes, and simulation controllers
Specify layer and display preferences
Include annotations using text and illustrations
Generate layouts from schematics (and schematics from layouts)

The basic process of creating a design or layout is as illustrated:

Creating Designs

You can create a new design (layout) using one of three ways:

Choose Window > New Schematic in the Main window and use the Schematic Wizard to set up a design.
Choose Insert > Template in the Schematic window and select a template for the new file. When you use a template, most of the initial setup and configuration for the schematic, the simulation, and the data analysis is done for you automatically.
Choose File > New Design in the Schematic (Layout) window and use the New Design dialog box to name the file you are creating. You can also open the Schematic Wizard or choose a Schematic Design Template from this dialog box.

Listing Designs

Even after you close all Schematic and Layout windows, designs that you opened remain in memory until you explicitly clear them or exit the program.

To list designs, use one of two ways:

In the Schematic (Layout) window, choose Window > Designs Open.
In the Main window, double-click the Networks directory to display all designs, and then double-click a design to list its schematic, layout, and hierarchical information.

To view the component hierarchy within a design, choose Tools > Hierarchy from the schematic window.

To view the design hierarchies within a project, choose View > Design Hierarchies from the Main window.

Opening Designs

You can use either the Main window or the Schematic (Layout) window to open a design (layout).

Choose File > Open Design in the Schematic (Layout) window and use the dialog box to locate and open the design.

Use the File Browser pane of the Main window to locate the design (layout) and double-click to open it.

Using Design Kits

To effectively use the design environment in Advanced Design System and take advantage of its powerful simulation capabilities, designers must have a library of components that are linked to model files or simulation data. These components and models are often distributed by foundries in the form of design kits. Many customers are also creating design kits themselves.

Agilent Technologies provides ADS design kits to popular foundries, for distribution to their customers. The ADS library structure can be used for any technology or process to package and distribute a reusable set of components. With the ADS Design Kit user interface, you can now easily install and manage all of your design kits.

From the ADS Main window, you can:

Install a design kit
Setup the design kit installation at different levels
List multiple design kits simultaneously
Define a project and specify a design kit to be used for technology files

Once your design kit is installed and configured, you can start using it just like any other ADS component. For more detailed information on ADS design kits, refer to the Design Kit Installation and Setup documentation.

Adding Components

You can place, connect, and configure the following items in the drawing area of your design window to create your design:

Components
Data items
Measurement sources
Simulation controllers

You can also add entire circuits as subnetworks to create hierarchical designs. Keep in mind that when you begin a design using a template, most of the simulation and analysis setup and configuration is done for you automatically.

To add a component...

Drawing Shapes

You can draw and modify shapes in the drawing area of your design window to create a layout. You can also add Traces to represent electrical connectivity.

To place a shape...

Select the shape name from the Insert menu or click the shape on the toolbar.
Place the shape in the Layout window following the instructions that appear in the status bar at the bottom of the window.

Synchronizing Designs

Use Design Synchronization (Schematic window > Layout > Generate/Update Layout OR Layout window > Schematic > Generate/Update Schematic ) to generate and synchronize your schematic and layout artworks and symbols. The window where you invoke the synchronization operation acts as the source from which the destination representation is generated or updated.

Synchronization Modes

The synchronization can be complete or incremental and can be done to and from a schematic and a layout.

Generate	Update	Place Component
Place all activated components, including those with no artwork, connected to the starting component.	Update a previously generated design by placing components that have been modified	Place items that have no counterparts in the other representation.
Components with fixed location status are not moved.	Components with fixed location status are not moved.	Use the "Current Rep only" component placement mode.
Components that are not placed in the other representation are highlighted		"Wire guides" show connectivity in the other representation
Any component can serve as the starting point for which the location, orientation can be specified		Use the "Options > Variables" command to override the default resolution path for variable- and substrate- references

Cross-Probing

To see the layout representation of a specific wire or pin in your schematic, select Layout > Show Equivalent Node and click the wire or pin that you would like to see in the layout. When you view the layout, the wire or pin that you selected in the schematic will be highlighted in red.

To see the schematic representation of a specific wire or pin in your layout, select Schematic > Show Equivalent Node and click the wire or pin that you would like to see in the schematic. When you view the schematic, the wire or pin that you selected in the layout will be highlighted in red.

Documenting Designs

Advanced Design System includes a documentation tool for creating HTML documents using the designs and results within a project. This "Electronic Notebook" generation tool can be used to:

Capture schematic, layout, and data display images in a project, and import images from other sources.
Generate html documentation that can be distributed and viewed outside of ADS.

To document designs...