Advanced Translation Options dialog box

Analysis Section - Analysis Options dialog box

The Advanced Translation Options dialog box is opened when you click on the Advanced button in the Translation Options section of the Analysis Options dialog box. Please note that the options in this dialog box are global settings which will override all other settings; hence, these options should only be used by an experienced user. The controls are detailed below.

Process Stackup and Geometry Options

All Thick Metal: Converts all metals which use a conductivity and thickness setting in your cell to the Thick Metal metal type in the destination Sonnet project. Thin film resistors are not converted. For more information about Sonnet’s metal types, please refer to "Creating Planar Metal Types" on page 50 of the Sonnet User’s Guide.

All Lossless Metal: Converts all metal in your cell to the Lossless metal type in the destination Sonnet project. For more information about Sonnet’s metal types, please refer to "Creating Planar Metal Types" on page 50 of the Sonnet User’s Guide.

All Lossless Dielectrics: Converts all dielectrics in your cell into lossless dielectrics in the destination Sonnet project. For more information on Sonnet’s modeling of dielectric loss, please refer to "Dielectric Layer Loss" on page 65 of the Sonnet User’s Guide.

Remove Unused Materials: Removes any materials (via or planar metal) which are defined in the substrate file which are not being used in the layout. For more information on materials, please refer to the Material Setup dialog box.

Union Geometry: Merges any adjacent metal polygons with the same metal properties. If a polygon has another geometry element attached, such as a port, it will not be merged.

Add Via Pads: Adds a full metal pad to the top and bottom of any via which does not already have a pad at the bottom or top in the geometry being input. The pad is created using the same metal type as the via. Note that the via pad is added by the Sonnet solver prior to analyzing and is not shown in the Sonnet’s project editor 2D view. It is, however, visible in the 3D view in the project editor.

Lossless Extensions: Transmission lines are added in your translated Sonnet project which extend from the box wall to your circuit. If this option is selected, Lossless metal is used for the extensions. If this option is not selected, the extensions inherit their metal properties from the polygon to which the ports are attached.

# of Points to Convert Database Object to Polygon: This field controls the conversion of ellipses or donuts from Virtuoso to Sonnet. Sonnet polygons are always constructed of straight lines; curves are constructed by using a series of straight edges. This value controls the curvature of the ellipse or donut edge. The higher the value the smoother the edge. The default value is 48. The upper limit is 360.

Simplify Via Array Options

This section of the dialog box contains the options which control how the via array simplification is performed when a circuit is translated into Sonnet.

For a detailed discussion of Via Array Simplification, please see Appendix I "Via Array Simplification" in the Cadence Virtuoso Interface manual.