Software unites mechanical and electrical design

Improvements to the latest version of FLO/PCB significantly improve usability and tighten integration between electrical and mechanical design of printed circuit boards.

FLO/PCB v2.2 features more than 25 improvements and enhancements that significantly improve usability and tighten integration between electrical and mechanical design of printed circuit boards.

These enhancements demonstrate Flomerics' commitment to streamline physical design of electronics by improving design collaboration between electrical and mechanical engineers.

Highlights of the new release include automatic "Manhattan distance" calculation and constraint management.

This feature enables first-order signal integrity requirements to be introduced early in the design process where component placement and thermal performance scenarios are studied as a function of functional definition.

Full integration with Flopack provides on-the-fly IC model generation based on standard package outlines.

Display of interconnects that are styled according to signal speed and quantity promotes fast creation of functional block diagrams and quick visual identification of critical interconnections.

Support of IDF-defined placement keep-out regions minimises rework associated with placement of components in locations reserved for connectors, heatsinks, manufacturing attachments or other mechanical features.

And annotation auto-sizing improves readability of functional block and component placement diagrams FLO/PCB promotes a conceptual design process that integrates electrical and mechanical design for printed circuit boards, enabling early resolution of component placement and thermal issues - a capability that is proving critical for design of high-performance electronics.

FLO/PCB combines functional, component placement and thermal views of the design into a single virtual model, enabling systems, hardware, mechanical and thermal engineers to design collaboratively and resolve design conflicts quickly and effectively.

FLO/PCB has received enthusiastic responses from many of Flomerics' existing customers including Agilent, BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, Rockwell International, Tellabs and Thales.

Other key features of FLO/PCB include: specialised menus for rapid creation of functional block diagrams; automatic creation of physical layout and thermal model from the functional block diagram; 3D airflow and temperature prediction, for both sides of the board, in minutes; fully-integrated library capability supporting JEDEC standards for component thermal models; export/import of board design information to and from EDA and CAD software via IDF file format; native, bidirectional interoperability with Flotherm; automatic report generation via HTML; and compatibility with Windows XP, Windows NT and Windows 2000 operating systems.

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