Who can remember the days when PCBs used to be done with 'Dot and Tape'? When PCs became part of our lives, this all changed. I remember when I first saw a schematic on a PC being translated to a PCB outline with some footprints (decals) all interlinked with rat's-nets. This was impressive.
Through the years electronic design capabilities have grown, this in turn creating more powerful PCs and software to expand EDA (electronic design automation) capabilities even further. If we compare today's complex designs characterised by high pin-counts, fine pitches, high switching speeds, ball grid arrays, embedded components, flexy boards, etc, to the days before SMD components, it is clear that PCB tools have also came a long way. Now, in order to succeed and compete, locally and especially globally, you need modern tools and the technology benefits that they provide.
Today, we take for granted that the CAD system will see to it that the net list of the schematic is the same as the PCB. Yet we also need routing tools that are both intelligent and fast. The combination of high clock/switching speeds with high I/O pin-count devices creates an additional need. These pins need to be swapped at PCB level in order to untangle the rats-nets for a more routable PCB and in order to pass EMC tests. If this is performed manually, the risk of error increases and can be very costly. Modern tools provide automatic links between PCB, schematic and FPGA environments. With the need for passing EMC requirements, or sometimes just to make a high speed circuit work, you need a tool that can simulate the integrity of high speed signals and switching ie, ringing, harmonics, crosstalk, eye diagrams, and more. Such tools are available to test concepts, before even starting with a schematic, and also to simulate PCB layouts before ordering a physical PCB.
Apart from designing a better product this can help avoid expensive design respins and lost market share due to the delay in bringing product to market. For companies who understand the need for reduced time to market, there are PCB tools available today that allow a team of PCB designers to work on the same PCB database at once. Today, we consider this as advanced, but who knows what we will see in years to come?
Seminars
Mentor Graphics is hosting country-wide seminars in South Africa in September. According to Dataquest figures (2003), Mentor Graphics is the market leader in PCB design with a 32,9% market share globally and 49,5% market share in Europe, the main trading partner.
These seminars offer PCB designers and electronic engineers a rare opportunity to learn about technology advances, especially in the field of integrated PCB design solutions and high speed design. Seminars will be held in Midrand, Durban and Cape Town on 15, 20 and 22 September respectively, and will be limited to the afternoon, taking into consideration the high time demands on designers today.
For more information on the seminars see www.asic.co.za or contact Roelof Pelser, ASIC Design Services, +27 (0)11 315 8316, [email protected]
| Tel: | +27 11 315 8316 |
| Fax: | +27 11 315 1711 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.asic.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about ASIC Design Services |
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