Constraints manager boosts desktop PCB design

The latest version of Cadstar incorporates an innovative constraints manager to reduce design iterations and significantly improve productivity in high-speed designs.

Zuken has released a major upgrade to its Cadstar front-to-back PCB design solution.

For the first time, the toolset is delivered with an innovative constraints manager to reduce design iterations and significantly improve productivity in high-speed designs.

Other major improvements include enhanced 45-degree routing, mixed width route constraints, enhanced interactive placement, faster drawing tools and more effective library management.

Cadstar 6.0 is a Windows compliant solution for PCB design that spans schematic capture, placement, routing, library creation and management, signal integrity and EMC analysis, and production of manufacturing data.

The addition of a constraints manager, functionality that is normally only available in high-cost design tools, allows engineers to set design constraints in a simple, spreadsheet-like table and these constraints are then maintained throughout the PCB design flow.

This cuts product time-to-market by reducing design rework.

Both electrical and physical constraints can be set.

Activ45 is a revolutionary set of algorithms that enables fast and accurate, interactive 45-degree routing.

Users simply click on the start point then move the mouse along the desired route to the next connection point.

The tool automatically completes error-free routing with true 45-degree angles and will push aside routes to achieve this where necessary.

As the maximum and minimum limits of acceptable route widths can be set, layout engineers can input individual route widths as they go along and do not have to pre-define these in advance of layout.

This gives greater routing flexibility whilst ensuring that constraints are not violated.

In Cadstar 6.0, component placement includes interactive push-aside and spring-back functions for the first time.

These make it easier to place components on densely populated boards.

In addition, drawing tools have been enhanced to provide faster and more accurate shape creation and copying.

Two aspects of the component library have also been improved in Cadstar 6.0.

Firstly, it is now possible to create an HTML-based data sheet for every part in the library so that anyone with a browser can share this data and extract attributes over an intranet or Internet connection.

This is particularly valuable where concurrent or partitioned design work takes place.

Secondly, read-only attributes can be set in the library to provide greater control and security by preventing unauthorised users from changing component values.

Commenting on the upgrade, Mark Thompson, Zuken's Cadstar Business Unit Manager said: "The latest enhancements make Cadstar even easier to use whilst bringing functionality up to that of the higher end and more expensive products from competitors.

It's a clear demonstration of our commitment to maintaining Cadstar's position as the most cost-effective and capable Windows-based PCB design solution".

Cadstar 6.0 will be available as an FTP download at the end of October and will be shipping on CD in November.

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