cicpy

cicpy

cicpy is the Python frontend around ciccreator data and layout flows.

It can:

• translate .cic data into other formats
• generate Magic and Xschem output
• place stacks and devices
• generate SVG and other derived views

Install latest and greatest

git clone https://github.com/wulffern/cicpy
cd cicpy
python3 -m pip install -e .

Root workflow

The project now has root-level test and docs commands similar to cicsim.

make test
make docs
make build

Docs

• Routing examples
• jcell test
• svg test
• transpile test
• minecraft test
• sch2mag test

Commands

• transpile: translate a .cic design into Magic, Xschem, SKILL, Verilog, and SPICE-family outputs. Supports extra library inputs through --I. See transpile.
• jcell: extract one named cell from a .cic file as JSON. Supports extra library inputs through --I. See jcell.
• place [Deprecated]: place devices from a .cic design using one of the built-in placement patterns. Supports extra library inputs through --I.
• minecraft: emit a Minecraft build script from one layout cell in a .cic design. Supports extra library inputs through --I. See minecraft.
• svg: render a .cic design library into SVG views. Supports extra library inputs through --I. See svg.
• sch2mag: read a schematic-driven project, place and route it, then write .mag and .cic layout output. See sch2mag.
• spi2mag: read a SPICE subcircuit and placed-cell library, then write .mag and .cic layout output. This is the SPICE-driven counterpart to sch2mag.
• orc [Deprecated]: expand ORC recipes into grouped .json and .spi output files.
• filter [Deprecated]: currently a parse-only placeholder command that loads a .cic file, optionally merges included libraries through --I, and exits.

Library Includes

Commands that read .cic data can load extra library files with --I.

cicpy svg top.cic tech/cic/sky130A.tech TOP \
  --I analog_lib.cic \
  --I digital_lib.cic

Use --I when the top-level .cic only contains one generated cell and references child cells stored in separate library .cic files.

For command help:

cicpy --help
cicpy <command> --help

Custom IC Creator Python

Python toolbox for transpiling ciccreator output to other IC design formats.

Install

Latest from git:

git clone https://github.com/wulffern/cicpy
cd cicpy
pip install -e .

Stable release from PyPI:

pip install cicpy

Commands

cicpy [OPTIONS] COMMAND [ARGS]...

For full option lists: cicpy --help and cicpy <command> --help

Common transpile options

cicpy transpile SAR9B.cic.gz demo.tech SAR9B \
  --layskill    # Cadence SKILL layout
  --schskill    # Cadence SKILL schematic
  --spice       # ngspice + CDL netlists
  --xschem      # Xschem schematics
  --magic       # Magic .mag layout
  --verilog     # Verilog (experimental)

Extra library includes

Commands that read .cic data accept multiple --I flags to merge library cells:

cicpy svg top.cic tech/cic/sky130A.tech TOP \
  --I analog_lib.cic \
  --I digital_lib.cic

Changelog