ICFB

I'm taking a course in VLSI design and the instructor wants us to use
Cadence ICFB (IC Front to Back Enviroment) . What I have is Orcad 10.0
that includes capture, simulation, layout and so on. What is the main
difference between what I have and the ICFB version. Can I do
everything in Orcad 10.0 that I can in ICFB?

Is there a trial/student version of ICFB? Where can I get it?

Thanks for the information.


-Henk

 

OrCad is a tool for the PCB market, whereas IC is the premier tool for the
custom IC design market. Layout in OrCad means circuit board layout. Layout
in IC means mask layout. Both tools are used by very different people for
very different markets. ICFB is not actually a tool, its a design
environment for a collection of tools that make up the IC design flow:
http://www.cadence.com/products/custom_ic/index.aspx

No. But it depends on what you want to do. As long as the OrCad simulator
can read the device models used for your class you can run very basic
circuit simulations. But anything beyond that is IC only. If you are serious
about VLSI then this is a good chance to get started with IC, since you will
most likely encounter it in industry after you graduate.

No. IC is a very expensive, very large and very professinal tool. Since they
ask you to use IC that means they are providing it to you. Typically your
school will have a licensing agreement with EuroPractice and have it
installed on the local Unix network. Ask your instructor about your local
setup and how to start the tools. Typically your sysadmin will have created
scripts you can use to setup your Unix environment.

Best Regards,
Johannes Grad