Is Magic capable of serious analog design?

[hyy95120]

I am learning analog ic design right now. I can not afford the commercial layout tools, so I am looking for the following options:

1) Schematic entry:
gschem, I've used this one for a long time and it is very powerful.

2) SPICE
LTC SPICE is free and the author said it is AS POWERFUL AS HSPICE, and it
is internally used in Linear Tech to design their own ICs.
I have used it in DC-DC designs, It IS Powerful

3) Layout
I've heard about Magic and haven't used it. Can any one tell me if it is capable of serious analog ic design?


Thanks a lot!

 

[swkimaz]

Do you hear about Ledit and Lasi? These are not bad and Lasi is free layout tool.
check on https://cmosedu.com/

 

[mm6349]

LTspice/SwitcherCAD III is pretty good tool. The main goal is for switching mode power supply design. You may need to check about the model available. There is a lot examples from cmosedu.com website for the book by R. Jacob Baker.

I used Magic long long time ago. The tool was used by most students in the US in the past for doing the chip design. It should be good enough for you. You may need to find the users group to see how you can get the support when you have the problem..
One other thing, you may need to see how difficult to setup the design environment (technology setup), extraction capability, DRC accuracy, GDS/CIF export capability.

You may take a look for LASI from cmosedu website.


mm

 

[truebs]

Magic is a Wonderful layout tool and can be used for a serious layout design. BUT ....there exist some problems with it , mainly :-

1. Becomes slow when GDS size is very big.
2. Sometimes hangs when working on BIG designs.

But i stil believe that one can use MAGIC as it is quite powerful tool and CAN BE CUSTOMIZED as per your need.

If u know some Intrinsics , u can make MAgic serve u better.