@Tim Edwards @yrrapt out of the following 2 methods to use pre-installed tools and sky130 PDK which one if prefered ? Can you please list what are pros and cons of both these methods. There is also a third one to do custom installation of PDK and individual open-source tools. https://github.com/efabless/foss-asic-tools https://github.com/efabless/volare

If you’re planning on submitting a design to a shuttle (free or paid), clone https://github.com/efabless/caravel_user_project (for digital) or https://gitgub.com/efabless/caravel_user_project_analog (for analog) set your

OPENLANE_ROOT

and

PDK_ROOT

and

PDK

variables, cd

caravel_user_project

(or

caravel_user_project_analog

) and

make setup

. See https://github.com/efabless/caravel_user_project/blob/main/docs/source/index.rst#section-quickstart

@Mitch Bailey 1. Does this repo sets up both sky130 and gf180 pdk automatically? 2. Can user do his core design inside this repo and then harden it with caravel harness through this repo ? 3. Docker and Volare not required if this repo is used for initiating new design for mpw shuttle?

1. Yes. It will setup up according to your

PDK

variable. 2. Yes. The sample core design here is

user_proj_example

, but you’re free to change that. It also includes the macro

user_project_wrapper

(for digital) that will need to be recreated after you finish your core design. 3. docker and volare are required. I don’t know if they’re included in the setup or not.

Since pdk is already setup in caravel user project repo, will docker or Volare still be required. My basic doubt is that which methodology of pdk and tool setup is recommended for new user to open source design since many have evolved in last few years.

Both the docker and pdk version are specified in

caravel_user_project/Makefile

. This Makefile uses docker to run openlane and volare to download the pdk. If you need to update the pdk later, you can use volare.

@Mitch Bailey PDK is already installed in my setup at certain path through

volare

. EDA tools are also installed manually. Have been following recently uploaded efabless YT videos to start designing by copying and cloning caravel repo on my local machine. I want to use simplified

make setup

based pdk and tool installation procedure. If I run

make setup

, then: 1. what will happen to my existing pdk and tool installations ? 2. will any conflict be created in my pdk and tool setups due to duplicate installations ? 3. How can I remove older pdk and tools from my setup after having run

make setup

?

My current understanding is that

make setup

removes and reinstalls

CARAVEL_ROOT

.

PDK_ROOT

is updated if needed, so you should be ok. Not sure about

OPENLANE_ROOT

- should give you a message if you need to do anything. As far a tool installations go, I believe

make setup

enables a docker environment so you don’t need to worry about the tools. So 1. pdk will be updated if needed. tool installations won’t be touched. 2. shouldn’t be any conflicts. 3. don’t think this is necessary

1. Since I plan to use

caravel_user_project_analog

repo for analog only design, is

openlane

installation anyway required ? 2. pdk update will happen after running

make setup

through previously installed

volare

?

1. You may be correct that analog projects may not need openlane. I’m not certain. 2. I think the tools are included in the docker. I doubt that they are installed locally. 3. I think that is correct. previously installed volare will be used to update the pdk.

Does

make setup

also installs analog tools:

xschem ngspice magic klayout netgen

?

I think the tools are included in the docker. I doubt that they are installed locally.

Ok, it means they will get invoked automatically and setup required for individual tools using

xschemrc

.magicrc

files is already done in docker ?

You might need local installation of klayout, magic, ngspice, and xschem for manual use. Anything executed with the Makefile will use the docker, I think. There may be a way to access these gui of these programs through docker, but I’m not sure.