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WILSONVILLE, OR, May 3 — Mentor Graphics Corp. (mentor.com) today released PADS2004, its front-to-back, Windows-based PCB design flow.
Among the highlights: BoardLink is now available in the PADS
flow, and integrated FPGA design, the first such offering for the RTU
market.
The new flow permits so-called guardbands around components,
new toolkits for chip-on-board and wirebonding, and improvements to
configurations for FIRE, for interactive high-speed routing.
PADS2004 includes an enhanced version of HyperLynx, the tool
suite for pre- and post-layout SI simulation and analysis. HyperLynx
7.1 includes a new spreadsheet-based stack-up editor and a quick
terminator for differential resistors.
The company continues to pursue angles that make it easier for
users of competitive products to migrate to Mentor environments.
PADS2004 has an enhanced OrCAD schematic and symbol library translator,
for example.
In a conference call with PCD&M editors, Mentor cited the
ease-of-use enhancements, which stretch to every tool in the flow. The
design definition environment features an enhanced user interface with
new project management capabilities and support for "strokes" -
shortcuts for commonly used commands. A new Align command facilitates
schematic organization and clean up, and a connectivity spreadsheet
editor provides a spreadsheet method for connecting large parts
quickly. A new tutorial is also included. "The enhancements in PADS2004
address specific customer requests and make it easier than ever to
install and use," said Syed Gulani, the newly installed general manager
of PADS.
DxBoardLink is a new tool that ties the FPGA design flow with
PCB layout. The tool is said to read pin-out data from an FPGA design
and automatically generate schematic symbols. The tool also permits
designers to fracture over-sized symbols into smaller, more manageable
symbols that make the schematic more readable and useful.
The suites come in PADS PE, PADS XE and PADS SE, based on functionality.
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