Whats New in P-CAD 2006 Page 1 6/1/2006

Whats New in P-CAD 2006 Welcome to Altiums P-CAD 2006 release, a complete PCB design system for capture, layout, simulation, verification and implementation of electronic designs. As part of Altium's commitment to bringing you the best and latest technology, we are pleased to offer this exciting new release for board layout specialists.

Whether you are migrating to P-CAD for the first time or upgrading from a prior release, the new features of P-CAD 2006 will keep you up to date with a range of enhancements and productivity improvements designed to help professional PCB designers develop real-world electronic products. The release includes powerful new features such as differential pair and multi-route capabilities that are fully integrated within the industry-proven, rules driven PCB design environment and let you multiply your productivity by routing collections of traces in one operation. Other productivity enhancements include orthogonal trace dragging and updated Bonus Technologies that further strengthen P-CAD's performance and give you the power to tackle the most demanding designs.

P-CADs intuitive schematic editor retains its familiar environment, which has been designed especially for layout specialists and allows you to create detailed multi-sheet schematics. This combines with extensive error checking and proven mixed-signal circuit simulation capabilities to ensure your circuit will work the way you expect.

Whether its developing high-speed board solutions, integrating large BGA devices into your design flows or dealing with complex signal integrity issues and high density PCB layouts, P-CAD 2006 continues the tradition of proven power and stability and keeps you in control from design capture through to output generation.

P-CAD specialized design tools for PCB layout professionals.

1 Differential pair interactive routing A differential signaling system is one where a signal is transmitted down a pair of tightly coupled carriers, one of these carrying the signal, the other carrying an equal but opposite image of the signal. Differential signaling was developed to cater for situations where the logic reference ground of the signal source could not be well connected to the logic reference ground of the load.

Differential signaling is inherently immune to common-mode electrical noise, the most prevalent interference artifact in an electronic product. Another major advantage of differential signaling is that it minimizes electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated from the signal pair.

Differential pair routing is a design technique employed to create a balanced transmission system able to carry differential (equal and opposite) signals across a printed circuit board. Typically this differential routing will interface to an external differential transmission system, such as a connector and cable.

Differential signaling is being increasingly used in mainstream board design particularly where programmable devices are used, such as FPGAs. FPGA vendors are including extensive LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) capabilities in even their lower-cost device ranges, delivering reductions in reflection noise, electromagnetic interference and power consumption. P-CAD 2006 provides support for differential signaling, and lets you take full advantage offered by the LVDS capabilities of todays electronic components.

In P-CAD 2006 you can define differential signal pairs as part of your board design. P-CAD 2006 PCB editor also includes interactive routing support for differential signals, allowing you to simultaneously route both nets of a pair, under full design rule compliance.

Defining a differential pair Differential pairs are defined in the PCB editor through Options Net Classes. In this dialog, you define a net class as a differential pair by selecting the net class and enabling the Differential Pair checkbox.

Differential pairs, by their definition, dictate that there must be two nets assigned as a differential pair to create a balanced transmission system able to carry differential (equal and opposite) signals across the

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printed circuit board. This means that if you have not assigned exactly two nets to your differential pair net class the Options Net Classes dialog will not allow you to exit until you do so.

Special attributes are automatically added to the differential pairs once they are created. DiffPairGap attribute defines the desired gap (clearance) between the two nets in the differential pair. A specific DiffPairGap can be set for individual layers in the PCB if a different value is desired on specific layers. Another added attribute, IsDifferentialPair, is used to identify the net class as differential pair.

Routing a differential pair Differential pairs are routed as a pair that is you route the two nets simultaneously. To start routing a differential pair, select Diff Pair Tool from either Route Differential Pair or the Route toolbar to make it active. Select either a start pad, connection line, via, or line of one net of the differential pair to start routing. The other net of the differential pair will automatically be selected and the routes of the pair will come together.

Generally the starting location for each net in the differential pair is close together. If it is not, you can use Advanced Route to route each net individually to bring them together for use with the Diff Pair tool.

Differential pair routing has built-in intelligence. For example, if the DiffPairGap is not a multiple of the current grid, one of the routes in the pair will most likely be off-grid to maintain the desired DiffPairGap value. Moveable obstacles can be pushed with the Diff Pair tool, and fixed obstacles are avoided by hugging around them.

The same commands that are used in Advanced Route are also applicable during Diff Pair route. Standard P-CAD shortcuts remain, such as pressing the L key to switch to the next routing layer.

Figure 1 Routing a differential pair in compliance with the specified DiffPairGap.

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2 Routing multiple nets simultaneously A large portion of the board design effort is spent on routing multiple-net connections, that is, sets of nets that start and end in similar locations. As board real estate shrinks and component and pin densities increase, the routing challenges become tougher. You need to be able to squeeze the most from every square millimeter of routing space. P-CAD 2006 offers more versatile routing modes to allow you to tackle any board routing challenge.

The new Multi-Route tool in P-CAD 2006 allows you to simultaneously route two or more nets at a time. The trace widths and the clearance between them will be in accordance to the applicable design rules.

After choosing Multi-Route from the Route menu or toolbar, the nets to route are chosen by selecting any net objects (pads, vias, connection lines, etc) using the mouse. As you select the objects they are highlighted. Once all the required net objects are highlighted, press Enter (or right-click popup menu, Start Route) and the chosen nets to route will converge together for routing, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Multiple nets gathering together automatically as you route, and hugging obstacles.

As you move the cursor to route the set of nets, the sophisticated multi-route algorithm will automatically seek out the best path between the starting point and the current cursor location, avoiding existing obstacles and flowing around them where possible.

There are a number of options that influence the multi-route behavior, configure these in the Options Configure dialog. These include Glossing, which instructs the software as to how much effort you want applied to the neatness of the routing.

The new Multi-route tool replaces the Bus-Route tool.

Figure 3. Configure the routing behavior in the Options Configure dialog

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3 Orthogonal dragging of routes A common task during the board design process is adjusting exiting routing and component positioning to make more room. You might want to slide a number of traces to free up another routing channel, or perhaps you need to move a component and its routing to cater for an extra component. This process has been greatly enhanced in P-CAD 2006 with the introduction of orthogonal dragging no more odd-angled traces when you move an existing trace, or ratsnests appearing when you move a routed component.

Orthogonal dragging has been added to the PCB editor, making it much easier to move routing, or a routed component. Previously, moving such an object would cause connecting traces to stretch like rubber bands between the moving object and the attached non-moving objects, giving an undesirable result. With orthogonal dragging, traces will maintain 90 or 45 angles to connected segments. Orthogonal dragging supports multiple segments, ideal when you need to slightly reposition a component and want to maintain the connected routing.

Figure 4. Here we see a group of traces before and after orthogonal dragging, with the route angles preserved.

Configure for the orthogonal mode that you desire in Options Configure Route. You can also cycle through the modes while dragging an object by pressing the O and the T keys (the O key cycles through the modes, and the T key reverses the vertical/horizontal and 45/90 segments). Note that the 90/90 Arc-Line and Tangent Arc mode are not used during moving and dragging.

4 Improved selection capability PCB selection of sub-objects is now much easier. Under Options Selection Mask there is a new set of Component Sub Object Selection options: Exclude Sub Objects this

prevents the selection of component pads, attributes, lines, etc, selecting only the parent component(s).

Include Sub Objects allows selection of component sub-objects as well as the component(s)

Sub Objects Only only allow selection of sub-objects, components cannot be selected.

With these three options, used in conjunction with the Items list from Options Selection Mask dialog, you can now select a wide variety of objects to sub-select that was previously not possible to do, such as selecting only the reference designators of all the components in a design. Its worth noting that component sub-object selection controls are available for both block and single selection.

Figure 5. Improved selection of sub-objects being used to select component reference designators.

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5 New Board Outline object with Board Cutouts A board outline defines the physical boundary or outline of the board in the PCB editor while board cutouts are used to define physical holes in the board. P-CAD 2006 PCB has been improved by the addition of a board object that is a closed poly-line and can include arcs. Instead of placing a collection of separate lines and arcs to create a board outline with the chance of not lining up the endpoints correctly, a Board Outline object can be placed that properly maintains the outline connectivity. There are two new commands to support this: Place Place Board Outline and Place Place Board Cutout. These commands work exactly the same way for placing either object: select the command and click in the workspace at the first vertex for the outline/cutout. There is no need to hold down the mouse button to drag, simply click, release and move to the next vertex, just click, release, and move to the next vertex.

Figure 6. New Board Outline and Board Cutout buttons on the Placement Toolbar.

Right-clicking while in either command mode will display a menu with the following commands: Complete select this to complete a board

outline. The Complete option will be enabled only when the resulting outline is considered valid as complex or degenerate polygons are not allowed.

Cancel halts placement and removes the partially-placed outline.

Unwind removes the last segment (line or arc) that was placed.

Add Arc specifies the next segment to be an arc. When selecting this command, a dialog will appear prompting you for the angle of the new arc. Valid angles are considered 1 through 359.

Reverse Arc similar to the Unwind command, this command allows you to reverse the angle of an arc while placing it.

Create Circle allows you to place a circle for the board outline, this command is only available before placing any portion of the outline. From the right-click menu, select Create Circle, now click where you wish to place the center point of the board outline. Start moving the cursor then until a circle of the desired radius is formed. You can complete the outline by using the right-mouse menu to choose Complete or you can cancel out of it by selecting Cancel.

Both the Board Outline and Board Cutouts can be resized or redefined after placement. If you select an outline/cutout and the cursor is over an edge, the right-mouse menu will display some additional commands (in addition to Properties, Copy, Cut, Delete, Highlight, Unhighlight, Fix and Unfix). Add Vertex splits the line segment into two. Delete Edge removes an edge from the outline. The command will fail if removing the edge will

cause the outline to become degenerate or complex. Change Edge to Arc and Change Edge to Line will be available depending on the edge type the

cursor is over. They allow you to change an edge from one to the other. Delete Vertex when the selection is done over a vertex the right-mouse menu will display this

command. You should note that Delete Vertex will correctly fail if the removal of the vertex causes the outline to become degenerate or complex.

Figure 7. Board Outline and Board Cutouts allow you to more accurately define the board shape and cutouts, and include arcs if required.

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6 Increased control over drawing and printing You have increased control over the order of drawing and printing objects in the P-CAD PCB editor. Launch the command Options Display Drawing Order where you can configure the Custom Draw Order option to specify the order of layers and the order of objects within each layer of the current design. The Default Draw Order option will otherwise display the traditional drawing order of previous versions of P-CAD PCB.

Additionally you have increased control over printing as well. Launch File Print and note that this dialog has been expanded with tabs to accommodate new drawing order options. Using the new Print Job Drawing Order tab, you can use the Custom Draw Order option to explicitly specify the order of layers and the order of objects within each design layer for printing. The Default Draw Order option provides legacy printing draw order behavior. Each defined print job has its own independent draw order, allowing you to specify the default order or to customize the order of each print job individually.

7 Enhanced copper pour capabilities A standard design technique on todays dense, high-speed boards is to use all spare board space as reference planes, filling them with regions of solid copper. These regions of copper are created by placing copper pours, and it is not uncommon for a complex multilayer board to have 30 or more pours on it.

P-CAD 2006 includes a completely new copper pour algorithm, able to cater for the most complex pour shape and conditions. The new pour algorithm is invoked automatically when you select the Copper Pour command. The old pour algorithm has been retained, to ensure that older designs can be maintained without impact on their pours. If you need the older pour algorithm it can be enabled in the Options Configure Manufacturing dialog. This setting is stored with the design, ensuring that you will always get the correct pour for that design. Figure 9. Support for the older copper pour algorithm is

available, if required.

Figure 8. Control the drawing order in the Options Display dialog.

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8 Enhanced P-CAD 2006 Bonus Technologies P-CAD 2006 Bonus Technologies include: Situs topological autorouter Situs uses topological mapping to provide greater flexibility in route

path determination and unrestricted routing direction, as it routes in compliance with specified design rules and via requirements, including blind and buried vias. The router also includes powerful component-oriented fanout and escape routing algorithms as well, supporting all current packaging technologies.

CAMtastic the CAMtastic editor is fully featured for CAM file review and editing. As well as the traditional Gerber support it includes full ODB++ import and export, ideal for interfacing to your preferred board fabricator. It also has powerful panelization support, use this to create a panel that includes test coupons, or a panel of different boards. CAMtastic also includes a broad range of Numerically Controlled (NC) rout capabilities, including autorouting, rout tabs and automatic mill path definition. NC rout paths can be defined manually or automatically (by edge tracing existing objects), with full control over tool parameters, plunge/retraction points and rout direction.

Mixed-signal circuit simulation the mixed-signal circuit simulator offers true Spice 3f5 analog and XSpice digital simulation. Updated for the P-CAD 2006 release, the bonus technology circuit simulator now supports PSpice models and functions, giving you maximum flexibility when sourcing simulation models.

Improved circuit simulation, with PSpice support The circuit simulator has direct support for PSpice models, attach them to the schematic component in the same way that Spice 3f5 models are associated. Your circuit can even include a mix of PSpice and Spice 3f5 models.

The circuit simulator also has support for global parameters ideal when you want to tune component values as you run the simulator, or control a variable in an equation that is determining a component value. Figure 10 shows the Analyses Setup dialog for an example circuit that uses global parameters, here you can quickly adjust these values between simulation runs.

Figure 10. Include global parameters in your design, and tune them during simulation.

The simulation waveform viewer has also been enhanced. You can now create user-defined equations based on the X-axis, giving you complete flexibility in interpreting your simulation results.