A Work Flow Driven Concurrent Board Process

R. D. Friesen, MTS    M. M. Escobar, MTS
Lucent Technologies
friesen@lucent.com
303-538-4147

Concurrent Board Process is a circuit pack design methodology that enables a single electrical designer to enter schematic data concurrently while a PCB designer is working component placement or routing issues on a single data base. The intent of this new process is to 1) simplify data movement between circuit and layout designers, 2) transfer various serial design tasks into a parallel concurrent process and 3) upgrade current production tools to leading edge. As these process advantages are realized, the "Time-To-Market" interval is expected to improve which was the primary goal for introducing this new process originally. This presentation is based on a work effort underway at BCS Lucent Technologies, in Denver. The first portion of this talk will focus on Board Architect and how it was used in production to simplify data movement between schematic and physical designers. In this part of the presentation we'll 1) proved an overview of the process, 2) highlight Board Architect functionality, 3) discuss production experiences and 4) review the user interface integration between Board Architect and Work Flow. The second portion of this presentation will provide details on how Work Flow is used to simplify the user interface, collect real-time data to meet ISO audit requirements, and to provide on-line centralized checklists throughout the process. This portion of the talk will walk the audience through various Concurrent Board Process Work Flow icons to demonstrate how several complex user tasks can be simplified into a single icon that helps reduce the learning curve and proved user feedback on Work Flow usage.

Bio:
Bob Friesen is a Member of Technical Staff for Lucent Technologies, BCS in Denver Colorado. Lucent develops and manufactures various multimedia communication systems and solutions throughout locations around the world. BCS, Business Communications System, has global products in Enterprise Communications Systems (ECS, a.k.a. PBX) and Voice Recognition. Bob has 27 years of circuit pack and printed wiring board experience and recently a Focus Partner with Mentor Graphics in the analysis of new PCB features. In addition to assisting users in day to day tool issues, Bob provides requirements for inhouse tool development, tests new software prior to production introduction and works to improve existing Circuit Pack Tools and Procedures.