WILSONVILLE, OR – Mentor Graphics Corp. has released the latest version of its Board Station design flow for large, enterprise customers. The Board Station flow includes tools for design creation, layout and manufacture, and is designed to meet the requirements of enterprise design teams. This release is said to offer improved integration with the enterprise, as well as improved design productivity and 'what if' signal integrity analysis.
“Advances in PCB fabrication technologies, system performance and FPGA densities/pin counts, compounded by emerging government regulations such as RoHS, continue to challenge our most aggressive customers as they strive to meet competitive time-to-market goals,” said Dan Boncella, director of marketing, Systems Design Division at Mentor. “This new release of our Board Station flow addresses these challenges by continuing to tightly integrate our high speed pre- and post-layout analysis tools, library and data management, and adds PCB interactive routing productivity enhancements.”
This version of Board Station is said include the following enhancements:
- Library and data management - Tighter integration with DMS and added functionality to provide off-the-shelf RoHS design-for-compliance capabilities. - Constraint editor system (CES) - Addition of electrical rules entry, layout and analysis functionality to complement the high-speed physical rules already provided. - Signal integrity verification - Addition of the newly released ICX Pro Explorer functionality to the flow, our next generation high-speed constraint development tool. - Design layout - Additional support for layout of flex boards, addition of trace glossing so designers can more closely control interactive routing on dense designs, hard and soft autorouting “fences” to help control routing around dense BGAs as opposed to through them, and additional gate and pin swapping capabilities to optimize layout. - FPGA-on-Board - Improved integration of I/O Designer to accommodate high pin count and high performance FPGA implementation on the PCB.
LAS VEGAS and LAKE FOREST, CA – Direct Logix and PROMS Inc. have announced a technology partnership and the immediate availability of a fully developed bi-directional interface between applications from both companies.
The Direct Logix’s Control Center Auto CAM Automation and DFM Analysis have been combined with PROMS’s ProCIM Enterprise, reportedly providing a seamless link for web-based engineering and business processes. According to a news release, these combined solutions provide the best methodology for integration and automation from CAM through engineering and the entire manufacturing process.
“Direct Logix has proven that their unique solutions complement our products very well,” said Don Leduc, COO of PROMS Inc. “This partnership and its combined integrated solutions will provide a wealth of benefits to board manufacturers on an enterprise-wide scale.”
Leigh Eichel, Direct Logix vice president, said, "PROMS’s system approach and implementation methodology is very impressive. Direct Logix has several partnerships that have previously been announced. The interface was developed and deployed into production in record time which is a testament to each companies technology and technical staff."
BEAR, DE – Arlon Materials for Electronics (Arlon-MED), a division of Bairnco Corp., has released its CLTE-XT Microwave Laminate. It represents the eXtended Technology of the existing CLTE product line.
CLTE-XT is a micro dispersed ceramic PTFE composite utilizing a woven fiberglass reinforcement to provide the highest degree of dimensional stability, critical in multi-layer designs. CLTE-XT is in said to be superior when utilizing thin (0.005" and 0.010") substrates or when CLTE-XT is combined with thin film resistor-conductor materials, such as Ohmega-Ply and TCR foils, utilized for embedded resistors in applications that require a high degree of resistor consistency.
CLTE-XT is reported to have very low CTExyz and the lowest TCEr (dielectric constant stability across temperature) for applications that require electrical phase stability, dielectric constant stability and mechanical stability well over a -55 to 150°C operating temperature.
MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada – Cimmetry Systems Corp. has released AutoVue v 19.1 Client-Server, web edition for Linux servers.
AutoVue 19.1 for Linux servers provides organizations worldwide with the ability to view, markup, digitally mockup and collaborate in real-time on hundreds of native document types, including 2D/3D CAD, EDA and Office, with one web-based solution. This helps organizations reduce CAD software costs and eliminates the requirement for engineers to run a windows machine just to view and print Office documents.
The supported server platforms include Redhat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 4.0 and Novell SUSE SLES 9.0 Sp3.
BRIDGEPORT, CT – Alpha-Core Inc. has introduced Model HBC-2 Turns Counter, a high precision instrument that counts the number of turns of magnet wire in toroidal and other types of closed core transformers, of both low and high frequency designs. It also measures the turns-ratios between primary and secondary windings of all types of transformers, checks continuity, and will detect the presence of shorted turns.
Depending on the core material in the transformer (silicon steel, powdered iron, amorphous cores or ferrite cores), the operator can select a test frequency of 2.5 KHz, 12.5 KHz or 50 KHz. A range selector of 1:1 or 1:2 ratio allows the tester to count up to 1999 turns or 3998 turns respectively. For a higher number of turns, two, three or more test turns are used.
The Model HBC-2 has an LED readout for instant display of the number of turns when testing toroidal transformers or to display the transformation ratio when testing E/I lamination type transformers.
Transformers up to 15 lbs can be placed on the instrument table. Heavier transformers can be tested on the bench using extension test leads.
WALLINGFORD, CT – Amphenol Industrial Operations, a manufacturer of high reliability connectors, now offers a RoHS-compliant series of filter connectors that removes electromagnetic interference (EMI).
Unlike other options that redesign PCBs to incorporate filtering, Amphenol's Amphe-dB industrial filter connector is installed at the entrance of a device, reportedly providing a clean signal where the information enters or exits. This helps to ensure EMI will not affect the device's other components and allows it to operate properly.
The Amphe-dB is customizable for many applications through various filtering options and shell configurations. Its filter technology can also be incorporated into many of Amphenol's industrial connectors.
