PADS PCB Design Solutions: The standard in desktop PCB design (Part 2)

PCB Layout 



As the standard in desktop PCB layout tools, PADS offers unparalleled price-performance for the layout and design of complex circuit boards, including high-speed applications and RF
circuits. PADS offers advanced design rules with real-time design rule checking, bi-directional cross-probing, RF design functionality, split-plane generation, auto-dimensioning, direct DXF import into both the board and part library editors, advanced fabrication verification tools, and 3D viewing. Also available are assembly variantfunctions, test coverage auditing, physical design reuse module, chip-on-board /advanced packaging, and an IDF link to third-party CAD/CAM tools. 

Interactive / Autorouting 

Many designers of highspeed and/or dense designs require exacting manual control of critical signal traces, but could also use the speed and built-in intelligence of an auto router.  The router provides both advanced interactive routing and sophisticated autorouting for highspeed applications. 

Whether interactively routing with orthogonal, diagonal, or any-angle styles, or differential pair routing with unique rule assignment or trace length requirements, the router provides exacting control. Intuitive graphical monitoring tools provide real-time feedback for correct-by-construction methodology. Proven routing algorithms enable robust design rules and advanced design constraints to be applied between objects or groups of objects such as components, layers, nets, and vias. 

The advanced autorouter simplifies routing operations most suited for an autorouter, including fanout and routing, by individual components or groups of components.

Design for Manufacturing Analysis

DFM Analysis enables PCB design teams to validate that a design is prepared for manufacturing directly within the PADS environment. Regardless of the complexity of their designs, design teams are continuously challenged with getting products into volume production to reach the market quickly.

Manufacturers alone cannot identify all production obstacles; PCB designers must play an earlier role in validating the layout of a design by considering key aspects of fabrication and assembly that directly impact manufacturability.

The DFM Analysis incorporates more than 100 of the most valuable fabrication and assembly related analyses. Examples of issues identified by DFM Analysis include resist slivers, unintended copper exposed by soldermask, and testpoint-to-testpoint spacing, all of which delay production. Identifying and solving these issues early in layout, and long before manufacturing, saves costs and brings the product to market much quicker. Catching DFM issues at the design stage is critical because at each successive step of the production process, the cost of rectifying a problem increases tenfold over the previous step. DFM Analysis identifies these manufacturing issues and works seamlessly to take you directly to the design location within PADS Layout.