Allegro 17.2-2016 PCB design platform features comprehensive in-design interlayer checking technology said to minimize design-check-redesign iterations and a new dynamic concurrent team design capability that accelerates product creation time by up to 50%. Utilizing material inlay fabrication techniques, these new capabilities reportedly can reduce material costs by up to 25%. Includes embedded Sigrity technology, to ensure critical signals meet performance criteria and power integrity (PI) for power delivery and IR-drop issues.
Capabilities include:
Rigid-flex design enhancements, to specify multiple rigid and flex stack-ups in the same database. Stack-up-by-zone feature can also be used in rigid designs to create material inlay regions leveraging a mix of expensive and inexpensive materials, enabling reduction of material cost by up to 25%.
Unique and comprehensive in-design inter-layer checks for flex and rigidflex that saves manual effort and ensures all rules for advance flex designs are adhered to, avoiding many design-check-redesign iterations.
PI for PCB designers that leverages Allegro and Sigrity technologies to provide faster, more reliable access to IR-drop analysis results, to efficiently meet power delivery network (PDN) design requirements.
Interoperable Allegro and Sigrity technologies that provide an easy to use environment, which shortens design and verification time. This is achieved by avoiding unnecessary physical prototype iterations through improved route channel utilization using tabbed routing, new in-design backdrilling rules and efficient sharing of custom return path via structures optimized with Sigrity technology.
New Native 3D engine that streamlines system design process and provides improved visualization and collision detection to avoid unnecessary MCAD/ECAD iterations.
Synchronous team design capability shorten design time by up to 50% for dense designs and increase efficiency by enabling the team to design synchronously. Allows up to five PCB designers to conduct real-time, concurrent PCB design work within the same design database, shortening time to route a dense design by up to 80%.
OrCAD 17.2-2016 PCB design software features new capabilities for OrCAD Capture, PSpice Designer and PCB Designer to address challenges with flex and rigid-flex design as well as mixed-signal simulation complexities in IoT, wearables and wireless mobile devices. Includes technology enabled for integrated rigid-flex planning, design and real-time visualization, as well as built-in translators that enable direct design imports from select EDA vendors. PSpice Designer now supports system-level simulation using C/C++/SystemC and VerilogA, via new PSpice compact model interface. Enables hardware/software virtual prototyping for design and simulation of intelligent IoT devices.
New multi-stack-up database capability and extensive in-design interlayer checks help avoid errors introduced through manual checking. Features enhancements targeted towards improving PCB editors’ productivity and ease-of-use in padstack editing, constraint management, shape editing and in-design DRCs. Includes an advanced design differencing engine that enables design review with global teams using state of art visuals. Advanced annotation and auto-referencing capabilities now available, for added control over design component annotation process.
Pads PCB software platform has been extended to develop PCB-based systems from concept through manufacturing hand-off. Includes Pads HyperLynx DC Drop and Pads FloTherm XT tools. Permits creation of low- and high-power products. Identifies problem areas, and provides investigative solutions. Validates results in layout to ensure appropriate guidelines were followed. Optimizes power distribution networks (PDN), analyzes voltage drops caused by insufficient copper across power supply rails, and identifies layout areas that contain excessive current density. Builds simple thermal profile models in minutes, applies complex mechanical parts directly from MCAD, creates custom CAD geometry with ease, and imports detailed electronics assemblies from EDA tools.
SoloPCB Designer 2.0 free PCB design software is Windows-based and consists of powerful schematic capture and PCB layout modules. Is said to have features and functionality of high-end commercial systems blended into an easy-to-use system. Does not require purchase of physical PCBs from a set manufacturer. Users pay only for Gerber and drill files based on design content.
Squink desktop PCB printer now comes with Multilayer Package, a multilayer board option. Can inkjet-print conductive traces, dispense solder/glue and pick-and-place components on rigid or flexible substrates. Includes a new cartridge containing insulating ink and a curing lamp. The latter is placed on top of the circuit to cure insulating ink via UV light while protecting eyes and skin of users. Specially formulated ink is electrically insulating and compatible with existing Advanced Ink, and is printable on top of conductive traces or an insulating layer. Can also be used to improve printing on materials not easily compatible with advanced ink such as porous, stretchable or textile materials. Design using standard CAD tools such as Eagle, Altium and KiCad. Imports Gerber files.
IsoPro version 3.3 software runs on Microsoft Windows 7, 8.1 and 10. Edits and converts Gerber, Excellon Drill, and DXF files for use by Quick Circuit prototyping systems to fabricate PCBs. Training videos are now available in seven languages.
