Advanced PCB Layout Automation

Layout Complexity Challenges

Biggest board: 14.3x14.7

Smallest board: 0.5x0.5

Most layers: 24

Average trace/space: 4/4th

Most vias: 44,500

Most nets: 13,000

Most connections: 24,000

Most components: 10,500

Most FPGAs: 19

Largest % high-speed nets: 97%

Longest trace distance: 2.8mi (4.6km)

Highest passive/active ratio: 55:1

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Layout Complexity Challenges

Use of advanced technologies

(% of entries)

HDI: 40%
RF/microwave: 26%
Flex/rigid flex: 9%
Chip on board: 11%

Design for (% of entries)

Signal integrity: 86%

Manufacturability: 89%
Power integrity: 74%
Reliability: 80%
Cost: 77%
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Advanced Layout with Xpedition

Xpedition delivers game-changing technology for competitive advantage

Easy-to-use layout tools enable collaborative design of highly

complex PCBs

Fast, high-quality placement & routing under user control

Single, intuitive environment
Dynamic (WYSIWYG) plane editing
Multi-user simultaneous layout & designerdriven automation
Optimized signal & power quality
Correct-by-construction design methodology
Integrated manufacturing optimization
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Advanced Layout with Xpedition

Key Technologies

Sketch routing

2D/3D design

Hierarchical group planning & placement

Common constraint environment

Concurrent design
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Differentiated Value

Intuitive, efficient design environment

Easy to use; simplified management of complex designs

Routing automation
User control; hand-routed quality; shorter design time

Hierarchical group planning & placement

Minimize placement time; manage engineering intent

3D design & validation

Minimize MCAD re-spins with optimized layout

Concurrent design
Reduce design cycles by 50%+
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Agenda

GUI & toolbox

Placement & planning

Routing automation

Break (15 minutes)

3D design

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GUI & Toolbox Features

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Tool Adoption/Learning Challenges

Increasing design complexity drives need to touch more tools

Designers can no longer specialize in one tool
Need for greater consistency, integration across flow
Need design environment that is easy to learn and re-learn
Need environment that maximizes individual efficiency
Fewer mouse clicks; less screen clutter; more customization

Focus on time to productivity

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Easy To Use Design Environment

Intuitive user interface

Consistent, logical

Personalized productivity
Layout of toolbars, dialogs;
reusable schemes

Easy to learn
Video tooltips; startup guide

Efficient
Maximize work area
Organize & access design data
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Most recent PCBs

Create &
open PCBs

Help &
Tutorials

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Window Docking Controls

Users can customize UI for more

efficient workspace depending on
their tasks:
Move windows to
desired location on screen
Combine windows into a
single, tabbed window
Automatically collapse
window when not in use

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Extended Tooltips

Tooltips with animated video

demos for ease-of-use
Help at the designers fingertips
Long descriptions or (VIDEO)
Minimize learning curve
No need to open documentation

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Updated Toolbars & Menus

Improved graphics & icons

Toolbars
Grouped by activity
Easily add/remove commands
Can be saved with scheme
New Edit toolbar for six universal
commands

Menus
Reorganized for simplicity
Removed unlicensed commands

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Display Control Customizability

Favorites
Quick access to your
most used commands

Hide Row
Remove less used features to
streamline the window

Search Bar
Find infrequently used controls

Sections
Expand, collapse, and reorganize
for personalized view
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Display Control Enhanced Graphics

Global Transparency

Dim Mode

Individual Trace, Pad, Plane controls

per layer

Fixed, Semi-Fixed, Locked patterns

Net Names on Traces

Dynamic Highlight

Color by Net: Add Selected

Screen Cursors
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Select Mode

Place, Route and Draw without

entering specialized modes

Driven by Global View & Interactive

Selection

Context sensitive RMB, Action Key,

and default commands

Unified Copy, Paste, Move, Rotate,

Fix, Lock on objects
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Context Sensitive Menus

Menu actions will update based

on the designers current
selection

Grouped by Place, Route and

Drawing commands

Traces: easily switch layers &

width (Minimal, Expansion)
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Selection List

Provides a way to view and manage the selected design objects

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Keyin Commands

Activates when you start typing

Provides list of potential
commands
Displays syntax and recently used
commands
Type ? or help for
documentation

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Planning & Placement

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Placement Challenges
With ever increasing design complexity you need to achieve increased
productivity during the design planning and placement phase

Circuitry with complex topologies

requires more in depth planning

Efficient communication of
engineering intent

Organization for the placement of

thousands of parts

Time to market pressures make

reuse a priority!
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Planning & Placement

Improve collaboration with engineering

Visualize engineering intent

Increase designer efficiency

Persistent, hierarchical planning groups
Easily manage and adjust individual parts or groups
User managed netline visualization

Organize, protect and reuse circuit groups

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Hierarchical Planning Overview

Planning Groups are the heart of the new placement & planning
Persistent organization of parts that can be used in all phases of layout

Groups can be defined from schematic or within xPCB

Groups can be used early to optimize connectivity

Group Outlines are available to manipulate all parts in a group

Groups are hierarchical

Parent-child relationships can be defined through drag & drop
Top-down management of the circuitry
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Planning Groups

New objects that represent

groups of related parts

Visualized with symbolic

bubbles that indicate
combined area of parts
Larger circle more space
needed to place group

Parts and sub-groups can be

placed using the RMB

Group name

Component
Sub-Group

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Floorplanning

Connectivity between Planning Groups is visualized by netlines

Widths signify the amount of connections between groups

Thicker line more connections

Reorganize circuit groups by minimizing connection length

Simple & effective way to drastically improve placement

Compared to previous methods, this is a ground-breaking process

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Placed Groups

Placed circuits have persistent grouping

Group Outline around all objects
Outline dynamically updates as objects are
manipulated

Manipulate the entire group by selecting

the Group Outline
Move, Rotate, Copy, Push, Fix Lock actions
Freeze Group: allows circuit to be moved
but not individual objects

Each object now has a Part Ref Des

Always fitted within part outline
Used as a handle to select parts

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Component Explorer

New interface that drives all

placement and planning
Replaces existing Place Parts & Cells
dialog
Supports all previous functionality

Navigator View allows creation

& editing of Groups
Placement status icons for Groups

List View displays all components

within board
Extensive filtering capabilities

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Component Explorer

Advanced graphical features

Cross-probing
Component Marking
Component Preview
Connection Options
Place by Schematic

Quick access to Spares, Mechanical

Cells & Drawing Cells
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Clusters & Rooms

Front-end designers can pass design intent onto back-end

Add Cluster property to schematic parts
User Group will appear in xPCB, including sub-groups

Works for Room property too

Designate areas of the board where parts should be placed

Layout designers can also create their own Groups

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Marking Components

User-managed netline visibility in Display Control

Between Marked Comps
From Marked Comps

Allows user to focus on one block of circuitry at a time

Mark Groups or specific parts

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Routing Automation

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Routing Challenges

Tight design density & exploding

design constraints require
automation to manage

Auto routing can produce low

quality results forcing heavy rework

Poor support for advanced mfg.

technologies demands workarounds

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User-Controlled Automation

Routing environment
User control
Quality (mfg, performance)
Complete
Digital, analog, flex, rigid-flex
High-speed, HDI, embedded

Intuitive methods
Easy to learn, fast to execute
Apply powerful routines
with little effort
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Customer Feedback on Routing Performance

How much faster do you estimate for the overall routing task?
Depending on the design, with many BGAs and large groups of nets,
somewhere between 50-60%.
I think I personally can get 35-40%.
Focusing on routing DDR that previously took 2.5-3 days just to route. I
was able to complete it in about 4 hours!

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Fanout Patterns

Works on multiple components

& high-pin count devices

Supports SOIC & BGA

component types

Apply from Fanout Selected

button or RMB menu

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Net Explorer

Provides quick access to grouping to

help organize routing strategies
Navigator View displays constraint
grouping (read-only) and allows
creation & editing of User Groups
List View displays nets in the selected
group

Additional control through crossprobing & marking

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Netline Visibility

Netlines are now selectable

design objects
Visible within Selection List
Controlled from Global View &
Interactive Selection

Additional graphical options

in Display Control
Dynamic Filtering
From Marked Nets
Transparency

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Sketch Router

Unparalleled speed & efficiency

Two Sketch styles

Freeform: draw artistic doodle
Line: draw straight-line segments

Two routing styles

Packed: keeps traces together
Unpacked: spreads traces out

Powerful, yet simple to use

1. Select target netlines
2. Draw Sketch path
3. Hit Sketch Route
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SR Via Patterns

Use via patterns to let Sketch

Router switch layers
Five pattern styles with five
rotations each
Arbitrary pattern lets software
choose

Experiment with multiple styles

until you receive best results
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Hug Router

Supplements Sketch Router

use as a post-processor

Hugs existing routing when

creating a new trace
Push & shove traces and vias
Free to use any allowable
layers and vias

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Real Trace Plow

Dynamic
Push & shove traces as soon as
the clearance gets too small

Delayed
Waits until cursor hits point
where there is no violation
performs a single push & shove
to insert the trace

Both modes available off RMB

Mouse up style
Mouse drag style
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Active Clearances

Displays clearance information in

real-time during Plow
Adjust circle size and color
from Display Control

Toggle on & off with RMB

Works for Delayed & Dynamic

Real Trace Plow
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Prohibit Violations

Turns off DRC for Plow Mode

temporarily
Toggle on & off with RMB

Creates clearance violations

only when necessary
i.e. push & shove cannot
place trace otherwise

Affects only the area around

plowed trace
Stipple pattern reminder

Use Repair command after

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Phase Tuning

Tuning now supports dynamic

length matching
New CES Phase Tol and Phase Tol
Distance Max constraints
New Online Hazard: Phase Matching
New graphic icon: Diff Pair Phase Match
Automatic & Manual Tuning controls

Sawtooth Pattern parameters in

Editor Control
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3D Design

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Why 3D in PCB Design?

Reduce PCB / MCAD iterations

Eliminate problems typically found late in
design cycle
Avoiding collisions with board(s), components,
enclosures, etc
Ensuring connectivity is correct across all connectors
Ensuring the mounting holes and apertures are aligned

Improve collaboration via

3D visualization

Photorealistic look at the board before it

gets manufactured
Visualize complicated structures
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True 3D Layout

True parametric 3D mechanical kernel in PCB layout

Not just an interface, one environment for 2D & 3D
3D library content included
Models for over 4 million part numbers
Photo-realistic visualization
Component planning, placement & manipulation
Documentation & collaboration via 3D PDF
3D constraints & design rule checks
3D spatial measurement
Integrated ECAD/MCAD collaboration

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3D Mechanical Collaboration
Real-time collaboration between electrical PCB layout and mechanical CAD systems

Visualize and immediately identify issues

within a 3D environment
Evaluate and propose incremental changes
Review and validate proposals before
implementing

Accept/reject proposed changes

Synchronize the final results between MCAD
and ECAD
Trace the decision process

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Integrated 3D Environment

Parametric 3D mechanical kernel

Integrated with the 2D Editor to

improve productivity

3D Constraints to ensure improved

design quality detects collisions in
the X, Y, Z directions

Import custom models and export

models & 3D PDF
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Display Control 3D View Options

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Mentor 3D Library (M3DL)

Over 4.4+ million parts

Over 3,000 unique packages

Electrical information added

to the 3D Model
Pin Numbers
Underside height parameter
Physical and material properties
TH pin size parameters
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Importing 3D Models

Unmodeled parts will have 2.5D

composite model based on height

Import custom models into Xpedition to

validate board:
Enclosures
Heatsinks
Mechanical screws
Secondary PCBs

Supports industry-standard
file formats: .SAT, .STEP, .IGS

Align model & reuse mapping

for other parts on board

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Multi-board 3D Modeling

Import other Xpedition PCBs into

your current design
Auto-saved as .XTDA
Can export as .SAT or .STEP

Import as PCB model type for

unique constraints

Imported boards are view-only

Ability to export multi-board

assembly as a single model

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3D Clearances

3D Constraints
Supports ranges
(minimal & optimal values)
Independent XY & Z rules
3D instance rule override

3D includes three types of DRC:

Dynamic: detects & reports
collisions instantly
Online: violations appear in View
Hazards dialog
Batch: must run full analysis to
view violations

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MCAD Collaborator

Visualize and immediately identify

issues within a 3D environment

Evaluate and Propose incremental

changes

Review and Validate proposals

before implementing

Accept/Reject proposed changes

Synchronize the final results

between MCAD and ECAD

Trace the decision process

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MCAD Collaborator

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VX Feature Summary

Updated Start Page

Placed Groups

Window Docking Controls

Component Explorer

Extended Tooltips

Clusters & Rooms

Updated Toolbars & Menus

Marking Components

Display Control

Net Explorer

Select Mode

Netline Visibility

Context Sensitive Menus

Sketch Router

Selection List

SR Via Patterns

Keyin Commands

Hug Router

3D Designer

Real Trace Plow

Import 3D Models

Active Clearances

3D Clearances

Prohibit Violations

Multi-board Modeling

Planning Groups

and many, many more!

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Find More Information on Xpedition

Xpedition Web Page
http://www.mentor.com/pcb/xpedition/pcb-layout/

Mentor Ideas for Xpedition

https://mentor.brightidea.com/expedition

Mentor Xpedition Enterprise Community

https://communities.mentor.com/community/pcb/xpedition

Mentor PCB on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/user/mentorxpedition

Mentor Graphics Xpedition Enterprise Blog

http://blogs.mentor.com/xpedition/

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Presentation Sources

TechNote 586150: VX releases: Switching releases now that

the Configurator has been discontinued
TechNote MG586218: Understanding the Release Switcher
message: 'The following releases will be
unregistered/registered'

Pat Carrier - Making Analysis More Accessible

Steve Herbstman Innovative Component Planning and

Placement

Charles Pfeil Routing Automation (A Breakthrough in

Productivity)

SupportNet Video Featurettes for xPCB

Minoru Ishikawa Concurrent Design Verification with

HyperLynx DRC

Minoru Ishikawa How to Efficiently Use HyperLynx DRC in

Your Design Flow

Julian Coates Lean NPI Integrated into Xpedition Flow

VX Xpedition Enterprise 64-bit Flow

Jerry Suiter Xpedition xPCB Layout VX.1

Jerry Suiter VX Xpedition Layout Differences

Jerry Suiter Xpedition 3D Designer

Jerry Suiter Xpedition 3D Multi-board

Jerry Suiter Searching Mentor 3D Library

Jerry Suiter Component Model Import

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