PCB Design Training Module Software, documentation and related materials: Copyright © 2006 Altium Limited. All rights reserved. You are permitted to print this document provided that (1) the use of such is for personal use only and will not be copied or posted on any network computer or broadcast in any media, and (2) no modifications of the document is made. Unauthorized duplication, in whole or part, of this document by any means, mechanical or electronic, including translation into another language, except for brief excerpts in published reviews, is prohibited without the express written permission of Altium Limited. Unauthorized duplication of this work may also be prohibited by local statute. Violators may be subject to both criminal and civil penalties, including fines and/or imprisonment. Altium, Altium Designer, Board Insight, CAMtastic, CircuitStudio, Design Explorer, DXP, LiveDesign, NanoBoard, NanoTalk, Nexar, nVisage, P-CAD, Protel, SimCode, Situs, TASKING, and Topological Autorouting and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Altium Limited or its subsidiaries. Microsoft, Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Access are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. OrCAD, OrCAD Capture, OrCAD Layout and SPECCTRA are registered trademarks of Cadence Design Systems Inc. AutoCAD is a registered trademark of AutoDesk Inc. HP-GL is a registered trademark of Hewlett Packard Corporation. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. All other registered or unregistered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners and no trademark rights to the same are claimed. PCB Design training module ii PCB Design Training Module 1. 1. PCB design process ................................................................................................. 4-1 The PCB Editor workspace ...................................................................................... 4-3 1.1 PCB Panel ...................................................................................................... 4-3 1.2 Using the PCB Editor panel to browse........................................................... 4-4 1.3 PCB Editor Preferences ................................................................................. 4-9 1.4 Board Options dialog.................................................................................... 4-25 1.5 Board Layers and Colors.............................................................................. 4-26 1.6 The PCB coordinate system......................................................................... 4-27 1.7 Grids ............................................................................................................. 4-27 Browsing footprint libraries ................................................................................... 4-29 Creating a new PCB ................................................................................................ 4-30 3.1 Creating the Blank PCB ............................................................................... 4-30 3.2 Defining a sheet template.............................................................................4-30 3.3 Defining the Board Shape, and Placement / Routing Boundary................ 4-31 3.4 Exercise ­ Creating a board outline & placement / routing boundary.......... 4-32 Transferring design information to the PCB............................................................. 4-34 4.1 Design synchronization ................................................................................4-34 4.2 Resolving synchronization errors ................................................................. 4-35 4.3 Design transfer using a netlist ...................................................................... 4-36 4.4 Exercise ­ Transferring the design .............................................................. 4-37 Setting up the PCB layers ...................................................................................... 4-38 5.1 Enabling Layers............................................................................................ 4-38 5.2 Layer definitions ........................................................................................... 4-39 5.3 Defining the Electrical Layer Stackup .......................................................... 4-41 5.4 Defining Mechanical layers .......................................................................... 4-43 5.5 Internal power planes ................................................................................... 4-43 5.6 Exercise ­ Setting up layers......................................................................... 4-45 Design rules and design rule checking ................................................................ 4-46 6.1 Adding design rules...................................................................................... 4-46 6.2 Design rules concepts .................................................................................. 4-47 6.3 How rules are checked.................................................................................4-49 6.4 Where rules apply ........................................................................................ 4-50 6.5 Object classes .............................................................................................. 4-52 6.6 From-tos ....................................................................................................... 4-53 6.7 Exercise ­ Setting up the design rules......................................................... 4-53 6.8 Design Rule Checking..................................................................................4-54 Component Placement tools.................................................................................. 4-56 7.1 Placing components ..................................................................................... 4-56 7.2 Finding components for placement .............................................................. 4-56 7.3 Moving components .....................................................................................4-57 7.4 Interactive Placement commands ................................................................ 4-58 7.5 Auto Placement ............................................................................................ 4-59 7.6 Re-Annotation .............................................................................................. 4-59 7.7 Exercise ­ Component Placement............................................................... 4-60 Routing..................................................................................................................... 4-61 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. PCB Design training module iii 8.1 8.2 9. Interactive routing......................................................................................... 4-61 Automatic routing ......................................................................................... 4-67 Polygons .................................................................................................................. 4-69 9.1 Placing polygons .......................................................................................... 4-69 9.2 Exercise ­ Working with polygons ............................................................... 4-72 Output Generation .................................................................................................. 4-73 10.1 Creating a new Output Job file..................................................................... 4-73 10.2 Setting up Print job options ..........................................................................4-74 10.3 Creating CAM files ....................................................................................... 4-75 10.4 Running the Output Generator ..................................................................... 4-78 10.5 Exercise ­ adding an OutJob file to the project............................................ 4-78 10. PCB Design training module iv 1. PCB design process The PCB Design training day covers how to use the PCB Editor to create a PCB from setup, through component placement, routing, design rule checking and CAM output. This first section looks at the overall PCB design process. The diagram below shows an overview of the PCB design process from schematic entry through to PCB design completion. Figure 1. Overview of the PCB Design Process PCB Design training module 4-1 Once the PCB design is completed and verified, the Create Manufacturing Output process is used to generate the PCB output files. This process is outlined below in Figure 2. Figure 2. Work flow for generating PCB output files PCB Design training module 4-2 2. The PCB Editor workspace This section investigates how to browse through a PCB design and how to set up the workspace preferences and other document options, such as layers and grids. 2.1 PCB Panel The PCB panel provides a powerful method of examining the contents of the PCB workspace. Clicking on an entry in the panel will filter the workspace to highlight that object ­ the highlighting will depend on the settings of the options at the top of the panel. To begin with, enable all the options. 2.1.1 Browse mode selection list The drop down list at the top of the panel allows you to list, locate or edit the following PCB object types in the active PCB document: · Components (and then Component Classes) · Nets (and then Net Classes) · From-Tos · Split Planes · Design Rules & Design Rule Violations. · Differential Pairs When you select an object in the panel, it will be highlighted in the workspace, according to the options at the top of the panel. Each Browse function is described in the following pages. 2.1.2 MiniViewer The MiniViewer is located at the bottom of the panel and provides an overview of the workspace. The double-lined rectangle indicates the current region being displayed in the workspace. The MiniViewer also has the following display control functions: · Click and drag in the rectangle to pan around the workspace. · Click and drag on a corner of the rectangle to change the magnification of the workspace. Figure 3. PCB Editor panel PCB Design training module 4-3 2.2 2.2.1 Using the PCB Editor panel to browse Browsing nets and net classes · To browse nets, select Nets from the dropdown list in the PCB panel. · Click on All Nets in the Net Classes region of the dialog to browse all nets on the PCB. The nets are listed in the region below and they are also highlighted on the PCB. · If the design includes Net Classes these are also listed. Net classes such as D[0..7] have been generated automatically from busses in the design. · Click on a net name in the Nets region to choose it ­ all the objects that belong to that net are listed in the Net Items region. Also, the net is highlighted on the PCB. · Click on an item in the Net Items region and note that it is highlighted on the PCB. Also note that the object that you clicked on is selected. · Multi-select keys are supported. Hold SHIFT or CTRL as you click on entries in the list. · Right-click in the Net Items section and note that you can control which net items are displayed. · Double-click on a net name to open the Edit Net dialog. Here you can change the net name, add or remove nodes from the net and define the color of the connection lines for this net. · The Nets and the Net Items region have multiple columns. Note that you can control the sorting by clicking the heading on a column. · Type-ahead is supported. You can type on the keyboard to jump through the lists. Press Esc to abort the current type-ahead search and start another. Figure 4. Browsing nets from the PCB panel PCB Design training module 4-4 2.2.2 Browsing components and component classes · To browse components, select Components from the drop-down list. · When the panel is being used to filter (highlight) components, you might find it better to have the Select option at the top of the panel switched off. · Click on All Components in the Components Class region to browse all components on the PCB. The components are listed in the Components region, as well as being highlighted on the display. · If the design includes component classes, these are listed too, when you click on a component class only the components in that class are listed and highlighted. · Click on a component name in the Components region to choose it. All the objects that belong to that component are listed in the Component Primitives region. Also, the component is highlighted on the PCB. · Click on an item in the Component Items region, Note that it is highlighted on the PCB. Also note that the object that you clicked on is selected. · Multi-select keys are supported. Hold SHIFT or CTRL as you click on entries in the list. · Right- ...