pdaDesignKit

Define a series of BB sources.

The BB definitions are needed to validate the data in the netlist, so we use the xPDK_BB data for that. A netlist can be a mixed technology provider and/or design house and/or software library.
The technology providers are typically:

Wafer foundry - having a Process Design Kit (PDK)
Assembly service - having an Assembly Design Kit (ADK)
Test service - having an Test Design Kit (TDK)

From design houses and software partners there are typically also

IP library: one or more BBs grouped in a design kit that add capabilities on top of the PDK / TDK / ADK.

For use in the netlist there are behaving in the same way, so we can combine them inside it.

Structure

This element does not have attributes. The elements are shown below, in a sorted per type fashion.
In case a list is printed after an element, it indicates that you can have many, otherwise it should be a single element. With a optional it tells the element is not required.

XSD

The schema file can be downloaded or viewed at xPDK_Netlist.

Details

changelog

Trace changes to the netlist; this field is not required to be kept up date with all changes made to the netlist, either by software or designer. Type xPDK_ChangeLog documentation: list, which can be empty. Software or design kit providers are not required to fill this data when changes are made, but it can help users to see what changed over time.

xPDK_BB

Type xPDK_BB documentation: This section in a xPDK extends from xPDK_Header.

This BB information contains the typical shared data between software:

building blocks
their parameters
connections
user interface behavior
simple layout information
references to compact model information

This information is needed in schematic design and circuit simulation as well as in layout.

This scope is therefore fairly broad and future extensions are likely to capture more information. The current common fields provide for a rich design kit already compared to other formats, while adressing different software.
Vendor extensions are supported in this section, so software specific details are possible therefore to tune behavior.

Extensive example

This example is part of the full file below. It is mostly listed here so you do not need to download it. It shows many fields and properties that can be defined and these are described in the child pages.
This file includes the technology file and adds the Met, Met1 and Met2 xsection's in the meta data to show both options work.

Use:

xmllint - -format - -xinclude - -schema xPDK_BB.xsd xPDK_BB.xml

to validate.

full file