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CADENCE UNIVERSITY SOFTWARE PROGRAM (2008)

Cornell University's School of Engineering (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)), Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator Based ScienceS? and Education (CLLASSE), Laboratory for Elementary Particle Physics (LEPP), and Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), use real world CAD tools and methodologies provided by the Cadence University Program in our instruction and academic research.

Cadence software is implemented in the following ECE courses:

ECE 314 - Computer Organization
Topics include performance metrics, data formats, instruction sets, addressing modes, computer arithmetic, microcoded and pipelined datapath design, memory hierarchies including caches and virtual memory, I/O devices, bus-based I/O systems.
ECE 474 - Introduction to Digital VLSI Design
Topics include basic transistor physics, switching networks and transistors, combinational and sequential logic, latches, clocking strategies, domino logic, PLAs, memories, physical design, floor planning, CMOS scaling, and performance and power considerations.
ECE 491/492 - Senior Electrical and Computer Engineering Project
Individual study, analysis, and, usually, experimental tests in connection with a special engineering problem chosen by the student.
ECE 574 - Advanced Digital VLSI Design
Top-down approach to asynchronous design and the relation between computer architecture and VLSI design.

Cadence tools are used at to help teach students design flow from specification to fabrication using state-of-the-art design tools. Several student groups have designed integrated circuits using Cadence tools as a part of their degree projects.

Research areas at Cornell which utilize Cadence software include the following:

  • CESR Test Accelerator (ILC Damping Ring R&D)
  • International Linear Collider
  • Energy Recovery Linac
  • DSP and Number System Research
  • Superconducting Radio-Frequency R&D
  • CMOS Imaging Array Research
  • VLSI Systems Design
  • Cornell Electron Storage Ring
  • Analog and RF Circuit Design
  • Beam Position Monitor
  • ERL Low Level RF Control

LEPP and CHESS, although administratively separate units, share the same building, use the same accelerator, share one running schedule, and use the same network connection to the rest of the university. The research thrust of the two units will increasingly overlap in a project called an Energy Recovery Linac, or ERL, on which researchers and students are already using OrCAD for electronics design tasks. Wherever possible, financial administration, resources, facilities, outreach, network technology, and software licenses are shared by both units under the umbrella organization of CLASSE. Although LEPP and CHESS receive substantial support from the NSF and NIH (in the case of CHESS), a significant fraction of the support for each of these facilities comes from Cornell University general funds. Although CHESS, as a multidisciplinary research unit, has diverse participation by many academic departments at Cornell, LEPP comes under and is composed of faculty members of the Physics Department within the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell.

Where ECE is engaged directly in instructing students' first encounter with advanced electronics design tools, the LEPP and CHESS facilities are where the best students will be able to work on more advanced and sophisticated problems that give them real world experience in electronic technology before leaving the university. We have a vigorous program of graduate and undergraduate research projects, relying on complex electronics for operation and data acquisition. For many years, OrCAD has been the primary platform for designing the electronics used at the Labs.

Cadence is a registered trademark of:
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (http://www.cadence.com/)
2655 Seely Avenue
San Jose, CA 95134