Constraint-Driven Design Methodology for High-Speed PCB

Nicolai Philatov,

Dr. Sci. (eng.),

Mentor Graphics Corp., Moscow

We describe a constraint-driven design methodology for printed circuit boards (PCB), multi chip modules, system in package etc. We delineate some of Mentor’s tools that support constraint-driven design flow for effective high-speed PCB design. Finally, we conclude with PCB design examples to better illustrate the methodology and its integration with the Mentor Graphics Corporation PCB design and verification tolls.

The constraint-driven design methodology is aimed at reducing substantially the design cycle of complex systems while maintaining or even improving the performance of the final high-speed design. This goal is achieved through the use of new set of verification tools to accurately characterizing board topologies and iteratively tune and validate the routing paths to a specified set of mixed physical and electrical constraints. The powerful PCB board router coupled with an extremely fast and accurate set of advanced embedded simulation engines is served to get the desirable results. The sensitivity based calculations provide the next generation electrical router with effective feedback mechanism to explore the solution space.