Achieving optimal power transfer in RF PCBs hinges on meticulously routed traces that meet specific impedance requirements. Impedance matching is essential to ensure that traces have the same impedance to prevent signal reflection and inefficient pow...(read more)

The OrCAD X and Allegro X 24.1 release is now available at Cadence Downloads. This blog post provides links to access the release and describes some major changes and new features.   OrCAD X /Allegro X 24.1 (SPB241) Here is a representative li...(read more)

Cadence is super excited to announce SPB 23.1 release —Your freedom to design boldly!  

These tools help engineers build better PCBs faster with the new 3D engine and optimized interface.  

We have been hard at work to bring you this release and believe that it will help you take control of the PCB design process with the powerful new features in Allegro X APD like: 

• Packaging Support in 3DX Canvas 

• 3DX Wire DRCs 

• Aligning Components by Offset 

• Text Wizard Enhancements 

• Device File Reuse for Existing Components for Netlist and Logic Import 

Watch this space to know all about What’s New in SPB 23.1.  

Regards 

Team PCBTech 

Cadence Design System 

For individuals, small businesses, or teams, START YOUR FREE TRIAL. 

Starting SPB 23.1, in Allegro X PCB Editor and Allegro X Advanced Package Designer, you can align components by using offset mode. Earlier only spacing mode was available.

Follow these steps to Align Components using Offset Mode:

1. Set Application Mode to Placement Edit.
2. Drag the components that need to be aligned and right-click and choose Align Components.
3. Now, in the Options tab, you will notice Spacing Section with Equal Offset. You can equally and individually offset the components by using the +/- buttons for increment or decrement.

Starting SPB 23.1, Allegro Package Designer Plus (APD+) has been rebranded as Allegro X Advanced Package Designer (Allegro X APD).

The splash screen for Allegro X APD will appear as shown below, instead of showing APD+ 2023:

For the Windows Start menu in 23.1, it will display as Allegro X APD 2023 instead of APD+ 2023, as shown below

23.1 Start menu 

In the Product Choices window for 23.1, you will see Allegro X Advanced Package Designer in the place of Allegro Package Designer +, as shown below: 

23.1 product title

Have you heard that starting SPB 23.1, Allegro Package Designer Plus (APD+) will be renamed as Allegro X Advanced Package Designer (Allegro X APD)? 

Allegro X APD offers multiple new features and enhancements on topics like Via Structures, Wirebond, Etchback, Text Wizards, 3D Canvas, and more. 

This post presents the new 3DX Canvas introduced in SPB 23.1. This can be invoked from Allegro X APD (from the menu item View > 3DX Canvas). 

Some of the key benefits of the new canvas: 

• This canvas addresses the scale and complexity in large modern package designs. It provides highly efficient visual representation and implementation of packages. 
  
• The new architecture enables high-performance 3D incremental updates by utilizing GPU for fast rendering. 
  
  
• Real-time 3D incremental updates are supported, which means that the 3D view is in sync with all changes to the database. 
  
  
• The new canvas provides 3D visualization support for packaging objects such as wire bonds, ball, die bump/pillar geometries, die stacks, etch back, and plating bar. 
  
  
• This release also introduces the interactive measurement tool for a 3D view of packages. Once you open 3DX Canvas, press the Alt key and you can select the objects you want to measure. 
  
• 3DX Canvas provides new 3D DRC Bond Wire Clearances with Real 3D DRC Checks. True 3D DRC in Constraint Manager has been introduced. If you open Constraint Manager, there will be a new worksheet added. Following DRC checks are supported: 

  Wire to Wire 
  Wire to Finger 
  Wire to Shape 
  Wire to Cline 
  Wire to Component

Have you ever thought of a handy utility to specify all necessary transmission line parameters to decide upon the stackup?   

Starting SPB 23.1, a handy feature Transmission Line Calculator, is built into Allegro X Advanced Package Designer (Allegro X APD). This feature will require either an SiP Layout license or can be accessed through SiP Layout Bundle. 

From the Analyze dropdown menu in the 23.1 Allegro X APD toolbar, you can choose Transmission Line Calculator. 

You can use this calculator to help decide constraints and stackup for laminate-based PCB or Packages. You can calculate the correct stackup material and width/spacing to meet any requirements that may be later entered in a constraint. This is truly a calculated number and not a true field solver. 

The different types of calculations that the Transmission Line Calculator can provide are Microstrip, Embedded microstrip, Stripline, CPW (Coplanar), FGCPW (frequency-dependent Coplanar), Asymmetric stripline, Coupled microstrip (Differential Pair), Coupled stripline (Differential Pair), and Dual striplines. 

This feature is important for customers relying on fabricators/spreadsheets to provide this information or need to test a quick spacing/width as per the impedance value. 

Let us know your comments on this new feature in 23.1 Allegro X APD. 

By default, a dielectric must separate each pair of conductor layers in the cross-section of a design. In rare cases, this does not represent the real, manufactured substrate.

If your design requires you to have conductor layers that are not separated by a dielectric (such as, for half-etch designs), there is a variable that needs to be set in Allegro X APD. You must set this by enabling the variable icp_allow_adjacent_conductors. This entry, and its location in the User Preferences Editor, are shown in the following image.

The Objects on adjacent conductor layers do not electrically connect together, automatically. A via must be used to establish the inter-layer connections.

When enabling this option, it is recommended to exercise caution because excluding dielectric layers from your cross-section can lead to inaccurate calculations, including the calculations for signal integrity and via heights. It is important that your cross-section accurately reflect the finished product to ensure the most accurate results possible. Any dielectric layers present in the manufactured part need to be in the cross-section for accurate extraction, 3D viewing, and so on.

Let us know your comments on the various designs that would require adjacent conductor layers.

Power and Ground rings are exposed rings of metal surrounding a die that supply power/ground to the die and create a low-impedance path for the current flow. These rings ensure stable power distribution and reduce noise. Allegro X Package Designer Plus has a utility called Power/Ground Ring Generator which lets you define and place one or more shapes in the form of a ring around a die.

 To run the PWR/GND Generator Wizard, go to Route > Power/Ground Ring Generator or type "pring wizard" in the APD command window to invoke the Wizard.

This Wizard lets you define and place one or more shapes in the form of a ring around a die. The Power/Ground Ring Wizard creates up to 12 rings (shapes) at a time. If you require more rings, you can run the Power/Ground Ring Wizard as many times as needed. This command displays a wizard in which you can specify:

• The number of rings to be generated
• The creation of the first ring as a die flag (Die flag is the boundary of the die like the power ring.)
  • If you create a die flag and the first ring is the same net as the flag, you can enter a negative distance to overlap the ring and the die flag.
• Multiple options for placement of the rings with respect to:
  • Origination point
  • Distance from the edge of the die
  • Distance from the nearest die pin on each die side
• The reference designator of the die with which the rings will be used
• The distance between rings
• The width of each ring
• The corner types on each ring (arc, chamfer, and right-angle)
• An assigned net name for each ring
• A label for each ring

The rings are basic in nature. For other shape geometries or split rings, choose Shape > Polygon or Shape > Compose/Decompose Shape from the menu in the design window.

Depending on the options selected, the Power/Ground Ring Wizard UI changes, representing how the rings will be created. Verify the Wizard settings to ensure that the rings are created as intended.

1. When the Power/Ground Ring Wizard appears, set the number of rings to 2, accept the other defaults, and click Next. You can set Create first ring as die flag to create a basic die flag.

         2. Define Ring 1 and the net associated with it.

              a) Browse and choose Vss in the Net Names dialog box.

            b) Click OK.

            c) Specify the label as VSS.

            d) Click Next.

             The first ring should appear in your design. It is associated with the proper net; in this case, VSS.

2. For the second ring, choose the net as Vdd and specify the label as VDD.
3. Click Next.
4. Click Finish in the Result Verification screen to complete the process.

The completed rings appear as shown below.

Now, when you click on Power and Ground Die Pin and add wirebonds, you will see that the wirebonds are placed directly on the Power and Ground rings.

When working on a complex design, it is common to have very many net ratlines. Quantities like 1000 ratlines are possible. It can result in a cluttered view while routing. Therefore, it is useful to make all other ratlines invisible while routing interactively. You would like to make all ratlines visible again when each route action is completed.

You can easily do this by enabling the Auto-blank other rats option during routing. When enabled, all rats other than the primary ones are suppressed during the Add Connect command.

Allegro X System Capture offers a complete ecosystem for library development. This post introduces the latest DE-HDL Library Development using System Capture course in which you learn how to create different library objects. As a librarian, you often work with numerous libraries. Your tasks include creating or modifying symbols for libraries. To use Allegro X System Capture to create a library, you can follow the steps in the following flowchart: Let’s go through each step in detail. Setting the CDS_SITE Variable Before you start library development for a new project, set the CDS_SITE system environment variable. This step is required to access libraries and other configuration files. Creating a Project in Allegro X System Capture The next step is to create a project in Allegro X System Capture. Adding a Library to the Project Symbol development consists of creating symbol graphics, electrical data, and properties used by different tools in the PCB design flow. To add a library to a project, first create a library in the Libraries pane of the Project e xplorer. Creating Library Symbols The library development process supports the creation of various types of symbols. Creating a Symbol with Multiple Views You can generate multiple views of the same symbol using the Duplicate command. For example, a discrete symbol, such as a resistor, can have multiple views, as shown in the following image: Creating a Split Symbol For advanced designs, you often need to create library symbols and break them into multiple sections to support the design process. When a symbol shows all the logical pins in the physical package, it is called a single-section or flat symbol. Many large ICs have several pins and the symbols need to fit on a single schematic page. One workaround is to use vector pin names on a symbol to reduce its size, although manufacturers prefer schematics that show each pin. You can divide these high-pin count devices into smaller pieces, where each piece is a separate version of the part. Such parts are referred to as split parts or multi-section symbols. For multi-section symbols, you can create two types of split parts—symmetrical and asymmetrical. Symmetrical Split Symbols A symmetrical split symbol has only one symbol graphic, which holds two or more identical logic symbols, each with its own unique physical pin numbers. You can create a symmetrical split symbol using the Duplicate Section icon in the canvas window. Each symbol section contains the same set of pins but different pin numbers, as shown in the following image: Asymmetrical Split Symbols An asymmetrical split symbol is a symbol whose physical package contains one or more unique schematic symbols. You can create an asymmetrical split symbol by clicking the New Section icon in the canvas window. Asymmetrical symbols have a unique set of logical pins, as shown in the following image: Creating Symbols Using the Spreadsheet Interface To simplify the development of large symbols, Allegro X System Capture has a Spreadsheet Interface . You can copy from a spreadsheet into the interface. This saves time and helps minimize errors introduced by manual entry. In conclusion, the DE-HDL library development using Allegro X System Capture course involves several critical steps and supports various symbol creation techniques. This course helps librarians create and modify symbols effortlessly and deepens their understanding of library development within Allegro X System Capture. To learn more about this topic, enroll in the DE-HDL Library Development using Allegro X System Capture course on the Cadence Support portal . Click the training byte link now or visit Cadence Support and search for training bytes under Video Library. If you find the post useful and want to delve deeper into training details, enroll in the following online training course for lab instructions and a downloadable design: DE-HDL Library Development using Allegro X System Capture (Online). You can become Cadence Certified once you complete the course. Cadence Training Services now offers free Digital Badges for all popular online training courses. These badges indicate proficiency in a certain technology or skill and give you a way to validate your expertise to managers and potential employers. You can add the digital badge to your email signature or any social media channels, such as Facebook or LinkedIn, to highlight your expertise. To find out more, see the blog post Take a Cadence Masterclass and Get a Badge . You might also be interested in the training Learning Map that guides you through recommended course flows as well as tool experience and knowledge-level training modules. To find information on how to get an account on the Cadence Learning and Support portal, see here . SUBSCRIBE to the Cadence training newsletter to be updated about upcoming training, webinars, and much more. If you have any questions about courses, schedules, online training, blended/virtual live training, or public, or onsite live training, reach out to us at Cadence Training .