Others deliver a PDF. We deliver a circuit you can probe.
BrigenOne is the circuit analysis viewer CPS developed in house. What you receive is not a stack of static images but live data you can trace, cross-reference and measure — no installation, just download and open.
Install
None — single executable
Collaboration
Concurrent multi-user over the network
Viewing
Dual screen: layout and schematic side by side
System
All Windows versions supported
Why this matters
The value of a circuit analysis report depends on how quickly your engineers can read it.
The usual delivery
A stack of PDFs
To confirm where a device sits in the layout, you compare coordinates across dozens of images by hand. To follow a net, you trace it with your eyes. Half an hour on a single net is normal.
BrigenOne
Interactive circuit data
Select a device in the schematic, press one key, and it is highlighted on the layout — and the reverse. Highlight a whole net with one key, synchronised across views. Step through metal layer imagery to see which layer a route sits on.
This is one of the few things about CPS that cannot be copied. There are plenty of reverse engineering firms; keeping a software team and handing customers the tool is another matter.
Core functions
Everything else is support. These are what actually make a report faster to read.
R
Cross Reference — layout and schematic, both directions
Select a device in the schematic (say C12) and press R: it is highlighted in the annotation view. Select M906 in the layout and press R: the schematic it belongs to opens with the device highlighted.
This is the most used key in the whole application. The correspondence between layout and schematic is the hardest part of a reverse engineering report to build yourself, and the most valuable.
Shift+9
Cross Probe — pick a net in the schematic, see the real routing on the die
Hover a net in the schematic and press Shift+9. The net is highlighted not only in the schematic but on the corresponding physical routing in the layout — which layer it runs on, how far it detours, how wide it is.
For analog work this is the function that matters most. Analog designs are frequently won or lost in the layout rather than the schematic: the width of a supply trace, the symmetry of a differential pair, the parasitic capacitance on a critical node. None of that is legible until the circuit and the physical routing are in front of you together.
N9Ctrl+9
Net and Probe — trace several nets at once
N highlights and selects the entire net under the cursor. 9 is Probe, which also highlights a whole net but gives each net its own colour, so several can be traced at once without confusion.
Ctrl+9 clears every highlight in one go.
Search
Finding cells and devices
A large die can carry hundreds of cells in its hierarchy. The search bar finds them directly by cell name or instance name and opens the matching view, without expanding the hierarchy tree level by level.
To locate PMOS M336 in the Top annotation view: choose search type Instance name, enter M336, press Enter — the device is highlighted immediately.
F1…F10
Layered background imagery
The background window holds the real captured layer imagery. F1 through F10 map directly to Metal 1 through Metal 10; a dedicated key toggles between PL and PS images.
You can also scroll through layers in the background panel, or double-click a layer to jump to it. What you see is an actual photograph of the die, not an illustration.
KQ
Measurement and properties
Press K in the annotation view for the ruler and measure distances directly on the die image; Esc exits. Select any device and press Q for the property window: instance name, device type and parameters.
Dual screen
Dual screen is the default: annotation on the primary display, schematic on the second. Under BRIGEN → Setting → Screen you can put annotation or schematic on the left instead. Watching layout and schematic together without switching windows is the difference you feel most in daily work.
Multi-user
BrigenOne supports concurrent use over the network. Several engineers on your team can open and read the same project at the same time — no waiting for each other, and no copying files onto individual machines. When you discuss a circuit, everyone is looking at the same data.
The functions in use
Bi-directional cross-referencing is easier to show than to describe. The screenshots below are from a delivered project.
R
Pick a device in the schematic, see where it sits on the die
This die holds tens of thousands of transistors. Locating one of them on the layout by hand is a needle in a haystack — the slowest and most error-prone step in reading any reverse engineering report.
Schematic
Transistor M1287 selected in a lower-level schematic (white box), with each device annotated with its width/length ratio — 0.35/0.45 here.
Layout — press R
The same device is immediately marked on the captured die imagery (white box). Red outlines are other identified devices; magenta marks contacts.
Shift+9
Pick a net in the schematic, see how it actually routes
For analog work this matters most. The width of a supply trace, the symmetry of a differential pair, the parasitic capacitance on a critical node — none of it is legible until the circuit and the physical routing are in front of you together.
Schematic
A net selected in the schematic, highlighted in white, showing which functional blocks it passes through.
Layout — press Shift+9
The same net as it is physically routed: how far it detours, which layer it runs on, how wide it is.
Four views
Any cell opens in four ways. Select a name in the Cellview panel and four icons appear.
Annotation View
The real die image overlaid with device and routing annotation. This is the main view for judging physical layout.
Schematic View
The recovered circuit, partitioned by functional block with correctly named connections.
Annotation Symbol View
The cell’s symbol representation within the layout hierarchy.
Schematic Symbol View
The cell’s symbol representation within the circuit hierarchy.
Navigating hierarchy
The Cellview panel switches between BlockCell and CellDefinition: hierarchical schematics live in BlockCell, digital cells in CellDefinition. Double-click a LibDevice that has schematic and symbol views to descend into its internal circuit.
Finding a device
The search bar at lower right finds devices by instance name and other criteria. To locate PMOS M336 in the Top annotation view: open the Top annotation view, choose search type Instance name, enter M336, press Enter — the device is highlighted.
Known limitations
Descend opens a new view; there is no return-to-parent function — simply close the view tab when finished. BrigenOne is also a read-only viewer, so Create and Edit in the menu are unavailable. To modify circuits, use the Cadence-compatible files delivered alongside.
Keyboard reference
Cadence conventions throughout — engineers who have used Composer barely need to relearn anything.
Function keys
Function
Key
View
Cross Reference
R
Both
Highlight net
N
Both
Probe
9
Both
Cross Probe
Shift+9
Both
Clear probes
Ctrl+9
Both
Property window
Q
Both
Ruler
K
Annotation
Download data
D
Both
Pan
Z
Both
Fit graph
F
Both
Fit background
Shift+F
Annotation
Popup window
Ctrl+~
Both
View control
Action
How
Zoom in
Ctrl + scroll up
Zoom out
Ctrl + scroll down
Continuous zoom in
Hold left mouse button
Continuous zoom out
Hold right mouse button
Zoom to area
Right-drag; the yellow box is the zoom region
Pan
Arrow keys
Layer imagery
Layer
Key
Metal 1 – Metal 10
F1 – F10
PL / PS toggle
Dedicated toggle key
Specific layer
Double-click it in the background panel
Getting started
Three steps
Download Brigen.exe. No installation — double-click to run.
Log in with the account and password CPS provides.
Pick your project on the project management page, click Ann to open the annotation view, and start browsing.
Account
BrigenOne needs an account issued by CPS to open project data. It is provided with your circuit analysis report.
System requirements
Operating system
All Windows versions (32/64-bit)
Processor
1.3 GHz or faster
Memory
1 GB minimum, 2 GB or more recommended
Disk space
At least 100 MB, depending on data volume
Display
800×600 or higher
Network
Concurrent multi-user access to the same project
The BrigenOne top-level hierarchy: level shifters, current sources, regulators and power switches as functional blocks, with the property panel showing the selected instance.
Ask for a live demonstration
We can walk you through a public report online and demonstrate cross-reference and net tracing live.
