SAN JOSE -- The first printed circuit board design to be completely exported and fabricated using the IPC-2581 data transfer format was demonstrated this fall at PCB West. Now, the players who made it happen describe the story.

The bare board was fabricated using a design from Fujitsu Network Communications. Fujitsu exported the fabrication data contained within a single-file of the IPC-2581 format from the Cadence Allegro PCB Editor. The assembly pallet was constructed and the IPC-2581 data augmented and validated using VisualCAM from Wise Software. Wise exported the data to Sanmina in China and Sierra Circuits in the US for board fabrication; the fabricators used Frontline Genesis 10.2 CAM software.

Fujitsu's Gary Carter said the company sent a three-up array using IPC-2581, whereas usually it sends a one-up image. The tools using the new format correctly step and repeated the image three times. "IPC-2581 also interpreted V-grooving correctly, even though it is not in the 'A revision," he added.

The team did find four issues with Genesis, including pad rotations, and interpretation of the step and repeat, where it did not output the array properly. The errors, they said, were likely the result of Genesis reading the "wrong part" of the spec. Interestingly, Carter added, a competitive format (ODB++) could not see the pad rotation until they used Genesis.

Carter showed PCD&F the electrical test results performed by Sanmina on the 12-layer HASL board. All were in conformance, with the test board passing Omegameter, all visual criteria per IPC-6012B, all hole quality tests per 550 degrees F at 10 sec, and Class 3 Telcordia testing. TDR passed at 50 and 100 ohms.

"I think the process went very smoothly," Carter said. "We executed the import and export of IPC-2581 data using varied data tools in the chain. It shows the willingness of the supply chain to collaborate and get it right. We are very close to saying that Fujitsu could start delivering boards in IPC-2581."

Added Hemant Shah of Cadence, chair of the IPC-2581 Consortium, "With three manufacturers having done IPC-2581, it proves the standard works. We also know it saves 30% of the setup time over Gerber."

Amit Bahl, vice president of Sierra Circuits, told PCD&F he was very pleased. "One reason I'm so happy about the standard is because it forces a complete package. It will save time and errors. With Gerber, you have three steps, each of which is manual and each an opportunity to make a mistake. Gerber has no standard naming. If we guess wrong, that error could propagate to a built board."

Bahl credited IPC-2581 and ODB++ for pulling in data in an organized way. However, he said, IPC-2581 adds attributes to everything, which allows more intelligence. "Revision B includes the stackup information. ODB doesn't have that yet. This solves a lot of problems for the fabricator.

"We deal with 100 jobs a day. We see the problems every day," he added.