System speeds verification for high-speed PCBs

Innoveda is set to release a complete, integrated, front-to-back system it claims dramatically reduces the time, cost and risk associated with high-speed board-level design.

Innoveda is set to release a complete, integrated, front-to-back system it claims dramatically reduces the time, cost and risk associated with high-speed board-level design.

This system is the first electrical engineer (EE)-centric approach for addressing high-speed design and signal integrity issues.

It is also the first to enable mainstream engineers to conduct exhaustive verification in a reasonable timeframe, ensuring the performance and reliability of products.

The company will showcase the high-speed design system from 10th to 12th June at the Design Automation Conference in New Orleans.

Innoveda's new high-speed design system covers all phases of board-level design: design definition, physical design and design verification.

The system comprises two complementary tool suites - DxDesigner HSD and PowerPCB HSD - designed specifically for EEs and PCB designers, respectively.

"This is a natural progression of our tool set", said Brad Griffin, Innoveda's high-speed product manager, solutions marketing.

"It marks a major milestone in the integration and enhancement of Innoveda's well-known solutions for design definition, PCB design and high-speed analysis.

Our unique approach puts EEs in the driver's seat, with tools that deal with signal integrity issues at all stages of board-level design.

It also gives PCB designers a more complete understanding of what EEs intended, promoting tighter collaboration between the two groups.

Using this system eliminates error-prone data passing, increases product reliability, promotes efficiency through concurrent design, and frees up resources to do other things.

By combining the industry's best high-speed technology with an easy-to-use environment, Innoveda's high-speed design system offers a great return on investment.

We believe it can save companies millions of dollars over time".

This is the first board-level system to close the gaps between design phases, enabling both EEs and PCB designers to work within their own familiar environment, without having to learn additional tools.

For EEs, it simplifies all aspects of revision control by eliminating manual, error-prone passing of data.

It also ensures accurate transmittal of engineering change orders (ECOs) and netlists, thus enabling PCB designers to route directly to an EE's rules with no interpretation required.

The net constraints defined up front can be adjusted and used at every point in the board design process.

In addition, EEs can perform their own preplanning and preroute analysis without waiting for a physical database to be built.

They can minimise reliance on signal integrity experts by exploring topologies, conducting rapid 'what-if' analysis and running exhaustive post-route verification.

Running at speeds up to 100 times faster than tools based on general-purpose Spice simulators, DxDesigner HSD is the only tool suite that quickly can verify the post-route behaviour of every net under every operating condition for an entire multiple-board system.

In addition, data flows seamlessly between tool suites.

By identifying potential problems and resolving them early in the design process - prior to layout - the design team avoids the time and expense of board respins.

Complete verification also gives the EE complete "closed-loop" control of the design process, ensuring that final products meet expected tolerances when manufactured.

PCB designers benefit as well.

By using the PowerPCB HSD tool suite, they can manage high-speed constraints automatically, place and route the design in interactive or batch mode, and generate all artwork necessary for fabrication.

In addition, they can begin placing components while the EE is still building the constraints, thus increasing productivity.

During routing, graphical feedback helps designers identify the impact of changes, explore various scenarios and route more quickly.

Innoveda's new high-speed design system will be available this summer.

Configurations will vary depending on customer need.

Options include products for package design, analogue and mixed-signal simulation, and links to the enterprise.

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