Allegro PCB Designer 

What's New in 16.5 Allegro PCB Design

Allegro PCB Editor

• Front-to-back flow support for embedded packaged components
  • Supports traditional direct-attach as well as new indirect-attach methods
  • Provides support for open/closed cavities
  • Enables a constraint-driven embedded component design with constraints coming from design intent as well as from the targeted manufacturing approach (direct/indirect, etc.)
• ECAD-MCAD co-design with ProStep EDMD Schema
  • Incremental design data exchange
  • Accept/reject for each change at object level
  • Notes/history
  • Review changes before accepting
• Interconnect Flow Designer
  • Hierarchical route planning through bundle creation
  • Assign layers to bundles
  • Create “flow” plans for bundles
• Use “rakes” to view rat-crossings easily
  

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• Intelligent PDF output
  • Produces Allegro board data in PDF with intelligent data for components, nets, and test points
  • Users can specify what graphical class/subclass layers may be viewed and what properties are to be extracted (see Allegro Design Publisher below)
• Associative dimensioning
• New differential phase tuning eliminates slow approach of tuning differential pairs to meet static or dynamic phase conditions
• Dynamic trace tapering allows trace width changes across constraint-regions or on simple neck-downs
• Group route via patterns for easy transition to different layers during multi-line routing
  • Differential pair transitions at region boundary provide symmetrical gathering at the boundary when crossed orthogonally or at 45 degrees
  • High-density interconnect (HDI) via-to-via line-fattening control option runs on selected clines
• Delete unnecessary via structures from design database
• Highlighting with stipple patterns
• Separate dynamic and static shape display restored
• Identify fixed elements with stipple pattern overlays
• Data tip setup has been expanded to 17 entries
• Placement using dynamic Design For Assembly (DFA) is now available in Allegro PCB Designer and supports side-end and end-side as distinct rules
• Placement using dynamic DFA allows users to place components easily with minimum DFA clearance
• Design for fabrication (DFF)
  • Minimum metal-to-metal clearance support to ensure minimum metal-to-metal clearance is met
• Duplicate drill check detects duplicate drill holes spanning the same layers
• Duplicate drill holes may be based on the same or different pad stack definitions
• Backdrill capability now supports “any layer”-to-“any layer” configurations
• Cumulative max neck length check
• Database locking
  • Multi-threading DRC update now takes advantage of up to 16 processor cores running on the same machine

Allegro Design Publisher

• Publishes Allegro board data in PDF
• Exports reference designators, component properties, netnames, net properties, and test point data
• Provides document controls such as options to reduce file size, maximize password security, and minimize property output

Allegro Analog / RF PCB Design

• Context-sensitive RF PCB design
• Custom shape import/export from/to Agilent ADS
• Import hierarchical components in schematics from Agilent ADS
• Insert a transmission line between two lines
• Taper a transmission line

Allegro PCB Router

• Performance improvements
• Quality of routs (QoR) improvements for differential pairs
• Alignment of rules with Allegro PCB Editor for HDI rules, inset vias, tangent vias
• Support for embedded packaged components
• Acid trap control for micro-vias that are tangent to a core via (automatic line fattening)
• Via-list prioritization synchronized with setting in Allegro PCB Editor

Allegro Design Planning Option

• Feasibility analysis and feedback for route plans created using Interconnect Flow Designer
• Create “spatial” plans using the route engine
• Convert “spatial” plans to traces (CLINES) quickly