Batch Mode in Spectre

Can anybody tell me when we use batch mode in spectre? Also, how to
set the mode from interactive to batch?

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi,

1. The Interactive option allows faster response to simulator requests
but also locks a simulator license when in use.
When you run multiple simulations (ex corner Analysis) in batch mode,
a new start-up is required for each single simulations. Means a new
spectre process is called, License checked in, run, exit, license
checked out and so on. This behaviour slows down the simulation. This
is done only once with Interactive mode. When Spectre is launched in
Interactive mode from ADE, the license is hold until ADE gets closed.
Interactive mode is better if you're concerned about speed. You have
to use Batch if you need to free the Spectre license.
FYI: There is a more complete answer about this topic on the Cadence's
Sourcelink : SR1838156.


2. The following document shall help you:
Virtuoso® Analog Design Environment User Guide ($CDSHOME/doc/
anasimhelp/anasimhelp.pdf).
This is the bit that answers your question:

controlMode
Used to run Spectre in batch or interactive modes depending on the
value of the variable.
To set this variable in the .cdsinit file or CIW, use the call:
envSetVal(“spectre.envOpts” “controlMode” ‘string “batch”)

Hope it helps !

Riad.

 

When your company is low on spectre licenses, I recomend the batch
mode. The penalty of checking in and out licenses is hardly recognized
according to my experience. Remember that when the ADE is running, the
license is locked even if spectre is not running. Not all designers
care to close the ADE when doing something different for a couple of
days, and then you have to run around in office looking for inactive
ADE's.

 

Svenn Are Bjerkem wrote, on 05/31/08 20:57:

One of the things I keep meaning to getting around to requesting is something
which is a half-way house between interactive and batch. The idea would be that
in parametric sweep, it would use interactive, but once the sweep has finished,
it would tell the simulator to exit.

That way you'd get the speed when sweeping, but the license would be returned to
the pool in normal interactive use.

Regards,

Andrew.

 

This would be quite helpful, considering that batch mode has a few issues.

I would think it would be fairly easy to just get interactive mode to kill
spectre once done. It would be an incredible help to many people. We'd
probably erect statues of whichever programmer at Cadence deserved the
honour.