Using the cdsLib Plugin from Cadence Design Systems for OpenAccess

In the 6.14 release of the Virtuoso® Layout and Schematic Editor from Cadence Design Systems, the library definition map file, lib.defs, has been replaced by the Cadence® native library definition map file, cds.lib; therefore, the lib.defs file is no longer valid for Cadence IC6.14 or later releases. This creates problems when a user mixes OpenAccess tools from other vendors.

The good news is that Cadence Design Systems offers a download on their website of a free cdsLib plugin for use with non-Cadence OpenAccess tools. Customers can also use the same cdsLib plugin to read the library definition instead of writing their own cds.lib parser. The link to the plugin is:

http://www.cadence.com/webforms/Pages/cdslibplugin.aspx

The cdsLib plugin package redefines the plugin file: oaLibDefSystem.plg to read another plugin file, cdsLib.plg. To ensure your OpenAccess tool can get the correct laLibDefSystem.plg, you have to be careful about the sequence assigned to the UNIX environment variable: OA_PLUGIN_PATH. The cdsLib plugin should be defined at the beginning of the search path of OA_PLUGIN_PATH.

With the Cadence cdsLib plugin, there is no need to develop a cds.lib parser. Because Cadence IC6.14 only recognizes the new cds.lib file, the workaround solution is to use the UNIX symbolic link method to link the cds.lib file to the lib.defs file which allows different OpenAccess tools to use the same library definition file.

%   ln  -s  cds.lib  lib.defs

To maintain interoperability with the Cadence environment, OpenAccess tools can be extended to recognize either cds.lib or lib.defs.

For more details on downloading, installing and verifying the cdsLib plugin, refer to the “Using the cdsLib Plugin” application note (KB#2864) located in the knowledge base of the SpringSoft support website (support.springsoft.com).