Datasheet_CircuitSpace.pdf

Product Overview

Designers reduce board layout and placement time from weeks-to-minutes through CircuitSpace's patented AutoClustering™ technology, intelligent design (IP) reuse, and replication. Reductions in PCB design time have a direct impact on time-to-market for new products, which directly correlates to profitability

CircuitSpace implements a hierarchical approach to printed circuit board design through enhanced Autoclustering™ and replication technologies. CircuitSpace also expedites the design process through the use of template generation for global library usage across divisions, template usage with and without etch, automated layout reference designator propagation and automated change report between layout designs.

CircuitSpace with the Cross-Probing technology allows the user to have bi-directional communication between layout and a (PDF) schematic. The new technology works seamlessly within Cadence’s Allegro and the Allegro Viewer environment, and gives both Designers and Engineers instant selection and verification of design elements such as components, nets, or pins, within Cadence Allegro and the (PDF) schematic.

The combined solution provides PCB Designers, hardware engineers, test engineers and manufacturing engineers a valued mechanism for design, review, verification and test. 

Key Benefits

• Improves communication between EE and Layout Designers
• Shortens design cycle timeline by weeks
• Works seamlessly within existing design methodologies

Featured Capabilities

AutoClustering - View Demo
Creates clusters, functional groups of components, based on the design information:

• By Schematic - Support for CIS, HDL and DxDesigner
• By ROOM - Property previously assigned

New clusters are drawn above the board. Clusters with a FIXED part are placed around the FIXED part. Addenda clusters are children clusters for an existing cluster. Parent property auto-assigned, which identifies the parent cluster. (read more about auto clustering)


Autogenerates clusters based on design information

Cross-Probing
Cross-Probing allows the user to have bi-directional communication between layout and a (PDF) schematic. The new technology works seamlessly within Cadence’s Allegro environment, and gives both Designers and Engineers instant selection and verification of design elements such as components, nets, or pins, within Cadence Allegro and the (PDF) schematic.

Replicate Cluster - View Demo
Creates as many replicas of the source clusters net topology from the available parts in scope.
All resulting instances that exactly match the source are assigned the template tag of the source cluster.
All resulting instances that partially match the source are assigned a synchronization tag.


Creates replicas of a cluster's net topology

Modify Placement and Propagate - View Demo
Instantiates source cluster's placement and cluster shape changes to targets. Placement Changes that may be propagated are:
Component:

• X-Y locations
• Angle of rotation
• Side (Top / Bottom)

• X-Y location
• Angle of rotation
• Size
• Layer:
  • Silkscreen Top / Bottom
  • Assembly Top / Bottom
  • Display Top / Bottom

Reference Designator Propagation - View Demo
CircuitSpace will propagate a source clusters reference designator text locations to target clusters. Text that can be propagated are on the RefDes layers:

• Silkscreen_Top
• Silkscreen_Bottom
• Assembly_Top
• Assembly_Bottom
• Display_Top
• Display_Bottom

Source cluster reference designator locations to target

Checkpoint Compare Report
Save a design checkpoint at anytime and compare it against other checkpoints. (ie. Compare old netlist to new netlist) Compare Summary and Detailed tables for:

• Components - total, added, deleted, modified pkg, dev, cluster, x-y
• Nets - Total, Added, Deleted, Modified; Added and Deleted pins
• Clusters - Total, Added, Deleted, Modified Master, Added Members, Deleted Members, Modified Members

The report format can either be html or .csv

Modify Cluster Membership - View Demo
A way for the user a to change the existing membership of a cluster and if chosen, propagate that change to other clusters.

• Revise and Propagate - The membership and placement changes to specified target clusters
• Edit Membership - Changes the source cluster's component membership. Changes are not propagated
• Edit Etch - Changes the source cluster's etch membership Etch can be added and/or removed.

Changes a cluster's existing membership and propagates the change to selected clusters

Define Cluster/Save Template
Define Cluster creates a cluster from a group of components the user specifies.
When defining a cluster the user can select components in the Allegro Edit Window (Manually), or you can prepare a file listing the cluster members (From File).

Save Template writes a template for the selected cluster.
A template is a file containing a cluster's membership, the net topology, and the components relative placement information. If the selected cluster has etch, vias and/or areafills, it is saved as part of the template.

Apply Template(s) - View Demo
Applies one or more templates to the current design. This command creates as many new clusters for the selected templates as possible from the available components in scope. Clusters instantiated from the same template have the same components, master part, and the same relative placement for each component. The new clusters, both exact and partial matches, are assigned the template’s membership and placement tags. Allowing for future propagation of ECO changes.


Creates replicas from a disk saved source

Apply Template Etch - View Demo
Instantiates etch from a template to the selected cluster. Three levels of etch may be applied:

• Fanout - Etch from a components surface mount pin to the first via.
• In-Cluster - Etch and vias connecting any two cluster components member pins, inclusive of fanout
• All - Etch, vias, and areafills that are on a net connected to at least one pin of a member part in the cluster. Etch that exits the cluster boundary is clipped at its intersection.

Instantiates etch from a template to selected cluster