CHELMSFORD, MA – The IPC-2581 Consortium today announced a significant milestone in validating the accuracy and robustness of IPC-2581 data from generation through to consumption: availability of multiple inspection viewers for IPC-2581 files.

The IPC-2581 Consortium’s technical working group has published a validation matrix showing data produced by Cadence and Zuken has been correlated and validated against typical proprietary and multi-file manufacturing formats by several independent companies – Adiva, Easylogix, DownStream and Wise Software Solutions.

“This is a significant milestone reached by the design and supply chain companies that are part of the IPC-2581 Consortium,” said Hemant Shah, product marketing director, System & Software Realization Group, Cadence. “The availability of multiple validation viewers from three independent companies provides the industry with the openness, independence and confidence that has been lacking from the PCB design and supply chain.”

The IPC-2581 technical working group worked diligently with consortium member companies to compare and validate IPC-2581 outputs produced by Cadence Allegro and Zuken CR-5000 against traditional data formats provided to PCB manufacturers – Gerber (274X), Netlist data (IPC-356D), NC-Drill data, and ODB++. Adiva, Wise, DownStream and Easylogix have compare tools that can accept design data in multiple traditional formats which includes Gerber (RS274X), NC-Drill, Netlist data (IPC-356D), ODB++ and IPC-2581. Results of the thorough validation can be found on the consortium website.

The free viewer from Wise is available for downloading from the consortium website as well as from Wise’s website immediately. Validation viewers from DownStream and Easylogix will be available for download by end of February.

The consortium has also made three designs in IPC-2581 format available for viewing using any of the three independent free viewers. More designs will be made available in IPC-2581 format in the coming weeks.

Consortium members will answer questions on the progress and status of IPC-2581, the Consortium and future plans and events during an open chat session Feb. 22 hosted by Printed Circuit University. To participate in the chat, visit https://www.printedcircuituniversity.com/ipc2581-consortium-chat-p-711.html.

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