Are We There Yet? Physical Design Re-Use In the Mentor Graphics Toolset

Andy Green
Qualcomm Inc
agreen@qualcomm.com
619-651-6639

One way to decrease the design cycle time of a PCB is to split the board into sections, assigning a different designer to each, or to create a library of qualified layout sections that can be incorporated into a larger design. This methodology has been successfully used for many years by design engineers; logical hierarchy splits the circuit into "blocks", with one or more engineers responsible for each block. However, physical hierarchy presents it's own, unique, problems; this paper will discuss ways to address these issues and develop a straightforward process for the creation and maintenance of solid, reusable physical hierarchy.

Bio:
Andy Green has been a PCB designer for 17 years. As Senior Applications Engineer at Qualcomm, his role is now focussed on design automation and process development.