Translating the Cell to a Sonnet Project
If you wish to translate your Virtuoso SonnetEM View into a Sonnet project but not execute a simulation, you may use the Tools ⇒ Translate Only command, available in the main menu of the Sonnet Cadence Virtuoso Interface. When you select the command, the Save As Sonnet dialog box appears to display the project to which the translation will be written. When you click on the OK button the Virtuoso SonnetEM View is translated and written to the specified Sonnet project.
If you edit the project in Sonnet be aware that there are Sonnet features which may not be used in the Virtuoso Environment. Major features that do not translate are listed below:
Metal Types: Metal types in Sonnet may be assigned on a polygon basis. You may have two polygons on a metal level using a different metal type. In Virtuoso, the metal type applies to a whole metal level. All polygons on a metal level must use the same metal type.
Parameterization and Optimization: Geometry parameters are available in Sonnet, but may not be used in a Virtuoso SonnetEM View. Therefore, parameterization or optimization of a circuit may not be done from within the Virtuoso environment. However, it is possible to translate the Virtuoso SonnetEM View to Sonnet and run a parameterization or optimization in the Sonnet environment, then use the results to change the geometry in Virtuoso to the optimal values.
Ports: Virtuoso symbolic pins may not be used in translation; all other Virtuoso pin types may be used.
Reference Planes: You may set a fixed reference plane in the Cadence Virtuoso Interface, but you may not use a linked reference plane where the length of the reference plane is linked to a vertex of a polygon.
The following Sonnet features are not available in Virtuoso: dimensions, subdividers, dielectric bricks, calibration lengths, and parallel subsections.