The topology router automatically routes the bus interconnects following the pathways defined by the engineer. The resulting routing has structure and quality comparable to hand routing completed by experienced designers. The benefits according to Mentor include design cycle time reduction. The bus path data generated is stored and can be incrementally modified and reused for future designs.
According to Harry Potts, vice president and general manager of Mentor Graphics’ System Design Division, “…it has been an industry goal to mimic the talents and routing results of an experienced board designer as they follow the guidance of an engineer. By working closely with key customers we have been able to achieve this goal and supply our users with a tool that improves their productivity, quality, performance and manufacturability of the PCB."
The topology router is currently released to selective companies for evaluation and will be generally available in the fourth quarter of 2006.