Electronic Information Exchange

By Mouloud Bourbel
Categories: Computer, Design, Industrial
Tags:
CAD/CAE, Electronic Design, IDF, Intermediate Data Format
Electronic data exchange represents a very important lin !or integrating "CB
electrical layout, analysis and mechanical design# It has become, in !act, the
basis !or enhanced economic and industrial gro$th# %he Intermediate Data
Format &IDF' is the most used !ile !ormat !or exchanging printed circuit
assembly &"CA' data bet$een electrical and mechanical CAD/CAE systems and
!or allo$ing users o! these systems to participate concurrently in the design o!
electro(mechanical products# Initially developed in )**+, the IDF has since
become a de !acto industry standard, implemented by most CAD vendors and
$idely used by their customers#
%his article provides,
An introduction to the IDF#
An overvie$ on the general processes o! Integrated "roduct Design(
Analysis &I"D'#
An example o! design iterations bet$een Mechanical Computer(Aided
Design &MCAD' and Electrical Computer(Aided Design &ECAD' systems
$ith tools to simpli!y the data exchange#
A discussion o! ho$ thermal data are currently included during the I"D
processes and $hat the latest IDF version &IDF -#.' brings to provide real
process integration#

The Intermediate Data Format
Excellent data exchange standards exist !or communicating ra$ /D geometric
data such as I0E1, D2F, 1%3 and more rich data !ormats such as 1%E"#
4o$ever, $ith the exception o! 1%E", none o! these standards go much beyond
geometric data and are unsuitable !or the application speci!ic data exchange
re5uired !or "CA design# For example, thermal data and component attributes
are not part o! any o! these data standards# 1%E" A"+). !or "CA data exchange
is an exception to this# %he di!!iculties $ith A"+). is that it is a very complex
and data rich speci!ication and, secondly, it is currently supported by very !e$
MCAD or ECAD vendors# In addition, A"+). does not de!ine a means o!
including compact 6(C thermal models o! components#
%he Intermediate Data Format &IDF' attempts to bridge the gap that exists
bet$een ECAD, MCAD and CAE so!t$are# Mentor 0raphics and 1tructural
Dynamics 6esearch Corporation &7o$ ED1 "3M 1olutions' originally
developed IDF in )**+ to exchange "CA design data bet$een Mentor8s
Boardstation and I(DEA1 CAD/CAE products# %he IDF has since become a de
!acto industry standard !or "CA data exchange and is no$ supported by more
than +9 MCAD and ECAD vendors# In addition, it is also supported by
MA:A8s Electronic 1ystem Cooling thermal simulation so!t$are, Flomerics
F3;%4E6M so!t$are, and Mentor8s "CA level thermal tool, Auto%herm#
Currently, Intermedius Design Integration maintains and develops the IDF
standard# %heir $eb site &$$$#intermedius#com' is an excellent source !or the
data standard speci!ications#
%he !irst public version o! the IDF, version +, $as released in <anuary )**/#
%his is a relatively simple data exchange standard described in a /- page
document =)># It de!ines board geometry, component placement and component
!ootprints as $ell as "CB design attributes such as restriction areas and drilled
holes# Basic /D support is provided by de!ining component height and board
thicness# %he IDF/ speci!ication =+> released in ;ctober )**? expanded on
IDF+ by adding manu!acturing in!ormation and some optional component
thermal data such as @unction(to(case resistance and heat loads#
1igni!icant ne$ capabilities appear in the ne$ version, IDF -#. 6evision A =/>,
released in August )**A, as result o! a pro@ect !unded by leading
MCAD/ECAD/MCAE vendors and end(users, and managed by Intermedius
Design Integration# An important addition !or thermal engineering is the ability
to represent "CB thermal data and component thermal characteriBation data# A
data representation !or component compact thermal models has been proposed
as part o! this speci!ication# %his is an important achievement and represents the
!irst data standard $ith semantic content !or "CA and component thermal data
exchange#
Integrated Product Design
Electronic and mechanical engineers and designers have been using CAD tools
!or more than a decade# Implementing CAD tools, and, in more recent years, /D
part and assembly design tools, have been ey to shortening design(to(
manu!acturing schedules# Interestingly, most o! the time and costs savings do
not necessarily come !rom shortening a particular design tas but rather by
integrating design teams, applying concurrent engineering principles, and
compressing the design(thru(manu!acturing(thru(maintenance process as a
$hole# For example, an electronic product design team may spend considerably
more time per!orming thermal analysis up !ront in the design process in order to
save much more time later $hen designing, prototyping, and testing the !inal
product design# %he more rigorous thermal analysis may also reduce !ield
!ailures# %he additional time spent on analysis or /D design and assembly are
small compared to these savings#
Integrated "roduct Design &I"D' is ey to shortening electronic product design
schedules and getting to the maret !aster than the competition# ;ne o! the
di!!iculties is lining together the di!!erent MCAD, ECAD and CAE &analysis'
so!t$are pacages used by engineers and designers C the in!amous Dislands o!
automationE# At the heart o! most electronic products is copper(clad F6- based
printed circuit board assemblies# %he "CA design touches all aspects o! the
product design processF examples include mechanical and electrical pacaging,
schematic capture, component placement, board routing, thermal engineering
and EMI &1ee Figure )'#
Figure )# 0eneral "CB design integration process#
Design Update: MCAD-ECAD-MCAD
Gsing the IDF !acilitates the design data trans!er process bet$een MCAD and
ECAD# In most cases, the product pacaging constrains the shape, siBe, and
position o! the "CAs used# Based on these pacage constraints, the mechanical
designer determines the board outline and the siBe and locations o! mounting
holes !or the board &i! used'# 7ote that the thicness o! the board is usually a
technology(driven standard C .#.?+H is the most common thicness#
Gsually, the mechanical designer no$s $here to place certain critical
components, such as connectors, 3EDs, displays, and s$itches, because their
locations are determined by the product pacaging itsel!# Components preplaced
by the designer can include mechanical components, such as card extractors,
sti!!eners, and other mechanical supports# Detailed /D component models are
used !or preplacement in the mechanical CAD application# During the trans!er,
these re!erence the +D !ootprints re5uired by the ECAD application# ;!ten, the
mechanical designer indicates areas on the board $here components cannot be
placed, or $here placement is limited by other obstructions in the overall
assembly# %he most common in!ormation trans!erred initially !rom MCAD to
ECAD includes,
Board outline &possibly, $ith cutouts'
Board mounting holes
Component mounting holes &i! used to indicate component placement'
"lacement eepouts
"lacement o! critical components

%he layout designer uses the initial in!ormation !rom MCAD as the basis !or
creating the board part in ECAD# ;!ten the layout designer adds additional
placement and routing restriction areas, tooling holes, and !iducials#
;ccasionally, the designer modi!ies the board outline, but this is not common#
4o$ever, the board outline is usually included in the update in case an MCAD
translator needs it to build an entirely ne$ assembly o! the updated ECAD
design# Iith the preplaced components !rom MCAD as a start, the layout
designer places additional components# %he locations o! the preplaced
components may need to be modi!ied to accommodate routing considerations#
For those components that do not have detailed /D models in MCAD, the
MCAD IDF translators create extrusions o! the ECAD component outlines by
their height# Mounting holes de!ined in the components are trans!erred, resulting
in holes in the board at appropriate locations# %he in!ormation typically
trans!erred bac to MCAD !rom ECAD includes,
Board outline &even i! not modi!ied'
%ooling holes
Fiducials
Additional placement and routing areas
Component shapes
Component placement &modi!ied and additional locations'
Component mounting holes

Figure + sho$s a tool to compare a modi!ied board assembly $ith the initial
MCAD model# %he ne$ model contains additional placement areas, moved and
ne$ components# It sho$s also a selective update tool to add the layout
designer8s changes into the initial MCAD model# %he result is !e$er errors,
!aster turnaround time and elimination o! tedious $or !or mechanical
engineers#
It may tae several revisions bet$een MCAD and ECAD to stabiliBe the design,
or to accommodate product pacaging or !unctional changes# %he in!ormation
exchanged during these revisions can be any or all o! the in!ormation described
above, depending on the magnitude o! the change# %ypically, it8s simply a
modi!ied board outline, a moved mounting hole, or some moved components#
%ypically, !inaliBing the board shape and component placement calls !or /(9
iterations# 4o$ever, many companies re5uire a doBen or more iterations per
board design# A !e$ companies do multiple iterations in a day#
Figure +# An example o! trans!erring the "CB design and managing board and
component revisions#
Component Mapping and Filtering
Another essential part o! the "CB data exchange process is to coordinate
component part in!ormation bet$een ECAD and MCAD systems &Figure /'#
%he data exchange tool must provide simple methods to allo$ matching and
!iltering component data bet$een MCAD and an ECAD system# Component
mapping helps to maintain di!!erent component part names and numbers
bet$een MCAD and ECAD so!t$are# Filtering helps to remove small
components and small board !eatures such as pin holes !or more e!!icient
assembly modeling in MCAD# During the process o! !iltering, the data exchange
tool should interactively previe$ IDF !iles and visualiBe the data exchange
process in order to veri!y content be!ore committing to revisions#
Figure /# An example o! a "CB trans!er !rom ECAD to MCAD using a !ilter on
small components and restricted areas#
Thermal Data
%he main limitation o! IDF +#. and /#. is their non(support or partial support !or
thermal data# %his a!!ects the lin bet$een CAE &analysis' and MCAD and
ECAD# In !act, thermal engineers do not use a standard, direct thermal data
inputF instead their thermal models are hand(made#
%o !acilitate thermal modeling, vendors must extend their tools and add support
!or meshing board and components and !or exchanging thermal data# Mainly !or
the same reason, Mentor 0raphics8 Autotherm introduced an inter!ace based on
the Intermediate Data Format IDF !ile set, called IDF +#9# %he IDF standard $as
modi!ied to include board property and component property in!ormation !or
thermal modeling# 1upporting IDF -#. could also be a good alternative !or
thermal data exchange to avoid the use a variety o! non(standard tools#
Thermal epresentation in IDF !"#
In addition to the ne$ capabilities, IDF -#. provides important addition !or
thermal/pacaging engineers, %he ability to represent "CB thermal data and
component thermal characteriBation data &Figure -'#
Figure -# Example o! a thermal/!lo$ analysis on a "CB build using IDF(based
data exchange#For the board, the thermal properties can be de!ined based on a
stac o! physical layers as $ell as conductors,
Conductor pads and traces
%hermal vias, thru and buried
Conductive !illed areas
"hysical layers, used to represent the physical characteristics and
arrangement &stacup' o! the physical layers that mae up a board part
%hermal material properties C used to de!ine the material characteristics o!
board or physical layersF these can be isotropic and orthotropic

For components, the thermal data can be associated $ith individual component
parts as $ell as component instances# %his $ay, a component can have global
properties, all or some o! $hich can be over$ritten by the component8s instance
in the "CA# %he !ollo$ing component properties to support thermal analysis are
provided,
Material properties !or the componentF isotropic or orthotropic $ith
sur!ace properties such as emissivity and roughness
1peci!ic physical and thermal properties, such as heat dissipation &min,
max, nominal', thermal resistances &6@c, 6@b, 6cb', thermal capacitance,
and the thicness o! the air(gap bet$een the component and board
Mounting type, sur!ace or thru(hole, as $ell as pin 5uantity, siBe &length
and area', locations and pin material

$ummar%
IDF -#. is based on IDF +#. and /#., $hich are supported by all ma@or
MCAD/ECAD vendors, but includes signi!icant changes $ith respect to content,
representation, and !ormat# It is neither up$ard nor bac$ard compatible $ith
IDF +#. or /#.# %his is probably the reason $hy it has not been 5uicly adopted
by MCAD and ECAD community# 4o$ever, it provides an excellent
opportunity !or the thermal engineering community to implement a data
standard !or "CA product thermal representation and allo$s MCAD, ECAD and
thermal analysis vendors to share "CA product models and provide real process
integration#
eferences
)# Intermedius Design Integration, DIntermediate Data Format C Mechanical
Data Exchange 1peci!ication !or the Design and Analysis o! "rinted
Iiring AssembliesE, Jersion +#., 6ev#/, 1an <ose, CA, <an# )**/#
+# Intermedius Design Integration, DIntermediate Data Format C Mechanical
Data Exchange 1peci!ication !or the Design and Analysis o! "rinted
Iiring AssembliesE, Jersion /#., 6ev#), 1an <ose, CA, ;ct# )**?#
/# Intermedius Design Integration, DIntermediate Data Format C Data
Exchange 1peci!ication !or the Mechanical Design, Electrical 3ayout, and
"hysical Analysis o! "rinted Circuit AssembliesE, Jersion -#., 6ev#A,
1an <ose, CA, <uly )**A#
-# Kehmeier, D#, DElectrical(Mechanical Design Integration, An
Introduction to IDF -#. and Ihat It Can Do !or :ouE, "aper "resented at
Mentor Gser 0roup Meeting, Intermedius Design Integration, 1an <ose,
CA, ;ct# )**A#
9# Free, A#, Kehmeier, D#, Agona!er, D#, DDriving "CA %hermal Analysis
Gsing IDF -#. Data ExchangeE, A1ME Inter"ACK Con!erence, 1an <ose,
CA, <une )***#