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Design News

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Design News; Published: 09 April 2009

PISCATAWAY, NJ – Dr. David Kung has been named chair of the IEEE Design Automation Technical Committee (DATC), effective July 1. During the transition, he will work with Dr. Juan-Antonio Carballo, DATC’s chair and partner with IBM Venture Capital Group.

DATC is a technology member organization of the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation (CEDA) and provides a forum where researchers, developers, users and students can exchange ideas.

Dr. Kung is currently the senior manager of the design automation department at IBM Research. “David brings a tremendous wealth of research and management experience to DATC, along with impressive accomplishments in the electronic design automation field,” said Dr. Carballo.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Design News; Published: 08 April 2009

AUSTIN, TX – National Instruments (NI) introduced its design and prototyping platform, NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (NI ELVIS) II+.

The single, integrated system incorporates an onboard 100 MS/s oscilloscope that is reported to sample nearly 100 times faster than the previous version, NI ELVIS II. The oscilloscope allows users to gain tangible exposure to high-frequency measurement techniques and filter designs.

Features include several add-on boards, providing the study of control, telecommunications and embedded systems and microcontrollers. Users can learn sensor physical properties and application techniques and limitations through the Quanser QNET-014 sensor board add-on. The QNET-013 add-on provides aerospace application fundamentals of motion control, dynamics and kinematics.

The integration of NI ELVIS II+ with NI Multisim and SPICE software exposes users to a range of circuit concepts with interactive simulation, analysis experiments and PCB creation.

Details: Written by Staff; Category: Design News; Published: 07 April 2009

SAN JOSE, CA – Sales of EDA tools in the fourth-quarter fell 17.7% from last year to $1318.7 million, and the moving average dropped 9.4%, on declines in CAE, PCB/MCM and IC physical design and verification, the EDA Consortium said.

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Details: Written by Staff; Category: Design News; Published: 06 April 2009

YAVNE, ISRAEL –Valor Computerized Systems Ltd. has released Enterprise 3000, version 8.2, an automated DFM verification tool for PCB design.

According to Valor, version 8.2 introduces significant improvements to overall system performance. On average, processing time is reduced by 25% due to improvements made to the analysis algorithms. In addition, improvements in memory management enable analysis of larger designs than previously possible. The new version also incorporates functionality that improves the system’s ease-of-use, simplifies the DFM analysis preparation process and improves upon filtering capabilities.

Version 8.2 provides additional new analysis verification for HDI designs through the integration of net integrity, electrical return path, and via stack count for HDI designs. “Via Stack Count” verification is used to locate likely microvia fractures and return path validation. Version 8.2 also enables wire bond and die pad netlist validation.

A new design preparation rule set module makes preparing a design an order of magnitude faster and easier than using traditional automation techniques. Attributes are now provided with a complete and meaningful name, making it easier for DFM users to set-up and be productive.

The analysis for thermal impact of embedded pads has been improved to calculate the percentage of perimeter for the covered area to minimize incorrect identification of DFM issues.

The Enterprise 3000 DFM software provides a virtual manufacturing system that can simulate the entire PCB production process, concurrent with the design process, reducing respins, lowering the cost of new product design and improving overall quality.

SAN JOSE, CA – Cadence Design Systems has entered the world of blogging with the launch of "Industry Insights."

Hosted by journalist Richard Goering, the blog encourageS discussion on topics pertinent to the electronics design community. It can be accessed at: www.cadence.com/community/blogs/ii.

“The blog will provide an enhanced platform for peer-to-peer dialogue and commentary on the many issues, challenges and innovations that impact engineers and design managers in their everyday work,” said Adolph Hunter, vice president of corporate marketing.

EAST WALPOLE, MA – Hollingsworth & Vose introduces ViaMat, nonwoven aramid paper. It is reported to improve dimensional stability and to enable higher interconnect densities in electronic packaging applications.

The fibers are randomly aligned, creating an isotropic nonwoven paper that allows for uniform density and resin pickup. A low CTE provides dimensional stability, and the surface smoothness allows uniform resin application.

Saturation of the product can be processed on most existing glass resin saturation lines with minimal cost. Interconnect density is increased over industry standard woven materials because of the product’s laser/plasma ablation and drill ability.