P-CAD 2006 Feature Highlights PDF

P-CAD 2006 Feature Highlights
Specialized design tools for PCB layout professionals

P-CAD 2006 is a complete PCB design system for capture, layout, simulation, verification and
implementation of electronic designs. Whether its developing high-speed board solutions, integrating
large BGA devices into your design flows or dealing with complex signal integrity issues and highdensity PCB layouts, P-CADs proven power and stability provides the perfect environment for PCB
design.
P-CAD 2006 brings a host of advanced features that build upon P-CAD's proven track record and
delivers the performance and reliability that board layout specialists have come to expect.
P-CAD specialized design tools for PCB layout professionals.
Software, hardware, 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, Design Explorer, DXP, LiveDesign, NanoBoard, NanoTalk, PCAD, Situs, TASKING, and Topological Autorouting and their respective logos are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Altium Limited or its subsidiaries. All other registered or unregistered trademarks referenced herein
are the property of their respective owners and no trademark rights to the same are claimed.
Date
Version No.
Revision
7-Jun-2006
1.0
P-CAD 2006 release
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................................i
Welcome to P-CAD 2006 .......................................................................................................................1
About this manual ................................................................................................................................1
Further reading.................................................................................................................................2
Whats New in P-CAD 2006 ...................................................................................................................3
Differential pair interactive routing........................................................................................................3
Defining a differential pair.................................................................................................................3
Routing a differential pair..................................................................................................................4
Routing multiple nets simultaneously...................................................................................................4
Orthogonal dragging of components and routes ..................................................................................6
Improved selection capability ...............................................................................................................7
New Board Outline object with Board Cutouts .....................................................................................7
Increased control over drawing and printing ........................................................................................9
Enhanced copper pour capabilities ....................................................................................................10
Whats New in P-CAD 2004 .................................................................................................................11
Advanced interactive routing..............................................................................................................11
Getting started with Advanced Route .............................................................................................12
Start routing at any net object .....................................................................................................13
Place traces interactively ............................................................................................................13
Improved trace visibility while routing .........................................................................................13
Automatic active layer switching .................................................................................................13
Fixed objects respected ..............................................................................................................13
Halo for Hugging mode ...............................................................................................................14
Selective unrouting .........................................................................................................................14
Outlined copper pours for faster panning .......................................................................................14
Automatic completion feature when routing....................................................................................14
Board layout improvements ...............................................................................................................14
Definable layer stackup and output report ......................................................................................14
User-defined layer pairs .................................................................................................................15
Automatic increment of designators during paste...........................................................................15
Smart rotation of attributes .............................................................................................................16
Add To Net includes all net objects ................................................................................................16
Place connection enhanced ...........................................................................................................17

Drill Table precision improved ....................................................................................................... 17
Selection by pattern for components ............................................................................................. 17
New rules for high-speed design....................................................................................................... 17
Simulation and impedance rules.................................................................................................... 18
Differential signaling rule ............................................................................................................... 18
More intelligent Design Rule Checking (DRC)............................................................................... 18
Better detection for unrouted nets .............................................................................................. 18
New attribute assignment for nets.............................................................................................. 18
Improved Design Tools ..................................................................................................................... 19
Fully-integrated Variant support..................................................................................................... 19
DTP files include additional styles and settings ............................................................................. 20
Text styles supported ................................................................................................................. 20
Grids settings included............................................................................................................... 20
Automated default design settings applied................................................................................. 20
Efficient Trace Clean-up ................................................................................................................ 21
Quickly locate unrouted connections.......................................................................................... 21
Load Netlist improved for copper pours ......................................................................................... 22
Design environment enhancements.................................................................................................. 22
Large Diagonal Cross cursor style for 45 traces .......................................................................... 22
Select tool more flexible................................................................................................................. 23
Statistics report updated for SMT components.............................................................................. 23
Replacing styles globally ............................................................................................................... 23
Cross referencing printing supported............................................................................................. 23
Updated Importer and Exporters ....................................................................................................... 24
DXF In translates directly............................................................................................................... 24
Support for IPC-D-356A standard.................................................................................................. 24
ODB++ improved for rotated pads and vias................................................................................... 25
NC Drill provides resolution format options.................................................................................... 25
IDF more versatile with user-defined units..................................................................................... 25
Backward compatibility supported ................................................................................................. 25
Updated third-party interfaces ........................................................................................................... 26
Database Exchange Programming Interface (DBX) improved....................................................... 26
Viewlogic/ePD 2004 SP1............................................................................................................... 26
PADS to P-CAD Translator supports non-English characters...................................................... 26
P-CAD 2006 Bonus Technologies ..................................................................................................... 27
Situs Topological Autorouter ............................................................................................................. 27
ii
Table of Contents
Design Rule compliance.................................................................................................................28
Sophisticated fanout and escape routing capabilities.....................................................................28
Routing Setup Report .....................................................................................................................29
Multiple routing strategies...............................................................................................................30
User-definable routing strategies....................................................................................................31
Selective autorouting modes ..........................................................................................................31
Understanding queries ...................................................................................................................32
Fully-featured CAM editor ..................................................................................................................33
Comprehensive data verification features ......................................................................................33
Advanced panelization ...................................................................................................................34
Bi-directional ODB++ import/export ................................................................................................35
Strong import/export capabilities ....................................................................................................35
NC drill and rout .............................................................................................................................35
Mixed-signal circuit simulation ...........................................................................................................36
Analyses types ...............................................................................................................................36
PSpice support models, functions and global variables.............................................................37
Support for global parameters and equations.................................................................................37
X-axis equation support..................................................................................................................37
Learning more about the Bonus Technologies...................................................................................38
Libraries created in accordance with ISO9001:2000 Standard ..........................................................38
P-CAD 2006 Shortcuts ........................................................................................................................39
General PCB shortcuts ......................................................................................................................39
Advanced and interactive routing shortcuts .......................................................................................41
Index .....................................................................................................................................................43
iii
Welcome to P-CAD 2006
Welcome to P-CAD 2006

Welcome to Altiums P-CAD 2006 release, a complete PCB design system for capture, layout,
simulation, verification and implementation of electronic designs. As part of Altium's commitment to
bringing you the best and latest technology, we are pleased to offer this exciting new release for board
layout specialists.
Whether you are migrating to P-CAD for the first time or upgrading from a prior release, the new
features of P-CAD 2006 will keep you up-to-date with a range of enhancements and productivity
improvements designed to help professional PCB designers develop real-world electronic products.
P-CAD 2006 includes powerful new features such as differential pair and multi-route capabilities that
are fully integrated within the industry-proven, rules driven PCB design environment and let you
multiply your productivity by routing collections of traces in one operation. Other productivity
enhancements include orthogonal trace dragging and updated Bonus Technologies that further
strengthen P-CAD's performance and give you the power to tackle the most demanding designs.
P-CADs intuitive schematic editor retains its familiar environment, which has been designed especially
for layout specialists, allowing you to create detailed multi-sheet schematics. This combines with
extensive error checking and proven mixed-signal circuit simulation capabilities to ensure your circuit
will work the way you expect.
Whether its developing high-speed board solutions, integrating large BGA devices into your design
flows or dealing with complex signal integrity issues and high density PCB layouts, P-CAD 2006
continues the tradition of proven power and stability and keeps you in control from design capture
through to output generation.
P-CAD specialized design tools for PCB layout professionals.
About this manual

The first section of this manual gives a focused summary of the exciting new features in P-CAD 2006,
and is designed to help you come up-to-speed and get the most out of the new features.
The next section gives a summary of the new features added in the P-CAD 2004 release, for those
who are upgrading from an earlier version or perhaps have never had time to fully explore the features
in the release, or added in the service packs.
P-CAD Bonus Technologies, including the Situs Autorouter, the fully-featured CAM editor and the
mixed-signal circuit simulator, have also been updated. Read the Bonus Technology section to better
understand how these features can help you deliver your designs correct, complete and on time.
Further reading
As you read this manual you will notice highlight boxes that include references to other P-CAD
documentation, in both PDF format and online help format. The PDF documentation is available via the
Windows Start menu, as shown in Figure 1. Online help information is available from within the
software, accessed via the Help menu, or by pressing F1 when the mouse is over a menu entry or a
dialog.
Figure 1. A full set of manuals is included with the software, available via the Windows Start menu.
Whats New in P-CAD 2006

P-CAD 2006 expands your design power with strengthened high-speed and multiple-net routing
capabilities, designed to improve your design efficiency at the board level.
Differential pair interactive routing

A differential signaling system is one where a signal is transmitted down a pair of tightly coupled
carriers, one of these carrying the signal, the other carrying an equal but opposite image of the signal.
Differential signaling was developed to cater for situations where the logic reference ground of the
signal source could not be well connected to the logic reference ground of the load.
Differential signaling is inherently immune to common-mode electrical noise, the most prevalent
interference artifact in an electronic product. Another major advantage of differential signaling is that it
minimizes electromagnetic interference (EMI) generated from the signal pair.
Differential pair routing is a design technique employed to create a balanced transmission system able
to carry differential (equal and opposite) signals across a printed circuit board. Typically this differential
routing will interface to an external differential transmission system, such as a connector and cable.
Differential signaling is being increasingly used in mainstream board design particularly where
programmable devices are used, such as FPGAs. FPGA vendors are including extensive LVDS (Low
Voltage Differential Signaling) capabilities in even their lower-cost device ranges, delivering reductions
in reflection noise, electromagnetic interference and power consumption. P-CAD 2006 provides
support for differential signaling, and lets you take full advantage offered by the LVDS capabilities of
todays electronic components.
In P-CAD 2006 you can define differential signal pairs as part of your board design. P-CAD 2006 PCB
editor also includes interactive routing support for differential signals, allowing you to simultaneously
route both nets of a pair, under full design rule compliance.
Defining a differential pair

Differential pairs are defined in both the schematic and PCB
editors through Options Net Classes. In this dialog, you define
a net class as a differential pair by selecting the net class and
enabling the Differential Pair checkbox.
For more information on setting up rules

and design verification refer to Chapter 8,
Design Verification in the PCB Design
User's Guide.
Differential pairs, by their definition, dictate that there must be two

nets assigned as a differential pair to create a balanced transmission system able to carry differential
signals across the printed circuit board. This means that if you have not assigned exactly two nets to
your differential pair net class the Options Net Classes dialog will not allow you to exit until you do so.
Special attributes are automatically added to the differential pairs once they are created. DiffPairGap
attribute defines the desired gap (clearance) between the two nets in the differential pair. A specific
DiffPairGap can be set for individual layers in the PCB if a different value is desired on specific layers.
Another added attribute, IsDifferentialPair, is used to identify the net class as differential pair.
Routing a differential pair

Differential pairs are routed as a pair that is
you route the two nets simultaneously. To
start routing a differential pair, select Diff Pair
Tool from either Route Differential Pair or
the Route toolbar to make it active. Select
either a start pad, connection line, via or line
of one net of the differential pair to start
routing. The other net of the differential pair
will automatically be selected and the routes
of the pair will come together.
Generally the starting location for each net in
the differential pair is close together. If it is
not, you can use Advanced Route to route
each net individually to bring them together
for use with the Diff Pair Tool.
Differential pair routing has built-in
intelligence. For example, if the DiffPairGap
is not a multiple of the current grid, one of
the routes in the pair will most likely be offgrid to maintain the desired DiffPairGap
value. Moveable obstacles can be pushed
with the Diff Pair Tool, and fixed obstacles
are avoided by hugging around them.
The same commands that are used in
Advanced Route are also applicable during
Diff Pair route. Standard P-CAD shortcuts
remain, such as pressing the L key to switch
to the next routing layer.
Figure 2 Routing a differential pair in compliance with the

specified DiffPairGap.
Routing multiple nets simultaneously

A large portion of the board design effort is spent on routing multiple net connections, that is, sets of
nets that start and end in similar locations. As board real estate shrinks and component and pin
densities increase, the routing challenges become tougher. You need to be able to squeeze the most
from every square millimeter of routing space. P-CAD 2006 offers more versatile routing modes to
allow you to tackle any board routing challenge.
The new Multi-Route tool in P-CAD 2006 allows you to simultaneously route two or more nets at a
time. The trace widths and the clearance between them will be in accordance to the applicable design
rules.
After choosing Multi-Route from the Route menu or toolbar, the nets to route are chosen by selecting
any net objects (pads, vias, connection lines, etc) using the mouse. As you select the objects they are

highlighted. Once all the required net objects are highlighted, press Enter (or right-click popup menu,
Start Route) and the chosen nets to route will converge together for routing, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Multiple nets gathering together automatically as you route, and hugging obstacles.
As you move the cursor to route the set of nets, the

sophisticated multi-route algorithm will automatically seek
out the best path between the starting point and the current
cursor location, avoiding existing obstacles and flowing
around them where possible.
There are a number of options that influence the multiroute behavior, which can be configured in the Options
Configure dialog. These include Glossing, which instructs
the software as to how much effort you want applied to the
neatness of the routing.
The new Multi-Route tool replaces the Bus-Route tool.
For more information on the multi-route options press F1 when the
dialog is open to access the Advanced Route topic in the online help.
Figure 4. Configure the routing behavior in the
Options Configure dialog.
Orthogonal dragging of components and routes

A common task during the board design process is adjusting existing routing and component
positioning to make more room. You might want to slide a number of traces to free up another routing
channel, or perhaps you need to move a component and its routing to cater for an extra component.
This process has been greatly enhanced in P-CAD 2006 with the introduction of orthogonal dragging
no more odd-angled traces when you move an existing trace, or ratsnests appearing when you move a
routed component.
Orthogonal dragging has been added to the PCB editor, making it much easier to move routing, or a
routed component. Previously, moving such an object would cause connecting traces to stretch like
rubber bands between the moving object and the attached non-moving objects, giving an undesirable
result. With orthogonal dragging, traces will maintain 90 or 45 angles to connected segments.
Orthogonal dragging supports multiple segments, ideal when you need to slightly reposition a
component and want to maintain the connected routing.
Figure 5. Here we see a group of traces before and after orthogonal dragging, with the route angles preserved.
Configure for the orthogonal mode that you desire in Options

Configure Manual Route. You can also cycle through the modes while
dragging an object by pressing the O and the T keys (the O key cycles
through the modes, and the T key reverses the vertical/horizontal and
45/90 segments). Note that the 90/90 Arc-Line and Tangent Arc mode are
not used during moving and dragging.
For more information on the

orthogonal mode options press
F1 when the dialog is open to
access the Manual Route
topic in the online help.
Improved selection capability

PCB selection of sub-objects is done
easily with the new set of Component
Sub-Object Selection options found
under Options Selection Mask:
Exclude Sub-Objects this

prevents the selection of component
pads, attributes, lines, etc, selecting
only the parent component(s).
Include Sub-Objects allows

selection of component sub-objects
as well as the component(s)
Sub-Objects Only only allow

selection of sub-objects,
components cannot be selected.
Figure 6. Improved selection of sub-objects being used to select
component reference designators.

With these three options, used in
conjunction with the Items list from
Options Selection Mask dialog, you can now select a wide
variety of objects to sub-select that was previously not possible For more information on Selection refer to
Chapter 3, PCB Basics in the PCB Design
to do, such as selecting only the reference designators of all
User's Guide and the Selecting Objects
the components in a design. Its worth noting that component
sub-object selection controls are available for both block and
single selection.
New Board Outline object with Board Cutouts

A board outline defines the physical boundary or outline of the board in the PCB editor while board
cutouts are used to define physical holes in the board. P-CAD 2006 PCB has been improved by the
addition of a board object that is a closed poly-line and can include arcs. Instead of placing a collection
of separate lines and arcs to create a board outline with the chance of not lining up the endpoints
correctly, a Board Outline object can be placed that properly maintains the outline connectivity.
There are two new commands to support this: Place Place Board Outline and Place Place Board
Cutout. These commands work exactly the same way for placing either object: select the command
and click in the workspace at the first vertex for the outline/cutout. There is no need to hold down the
mouse button to drag. Simply click, release and move to the next vertex.
Figure 7. New Board Outline and Board Cutout buttons on the Placement Toolbar.

Right-clicking while in either command mode will display a menu with the following commands:
Complete select this to complete a board

outline. The Complete option will be enabled
only when the resulting outline is considered
valid as complex or degenerate polygons are
not allowed.
Cancel halts placement and removes the

partially-placed outline.
Unwind removes the last segment (line or

arc) that was placed.
Add Arc specifies the next segment to be

an arc. When selecting this command, a
dialog will appear prompting you for the angle
of the new arc. Valid angles are considered
1 through 359.
Reverse Arc similar to the Unwind

command, this command allows you to
reverse the angle of an arc while placing it.
Create Circle allows you to place a circle

for the board outline. This command is only
Figure 8. Board Outline and Board Cutouts allow you to
available before placing any portion of the
more accurately define the board shape and cutouts, and
include arcs if required.
outline. From the right-click menu, select
Create Circle, now click where you wish to place the center point of the board outline. Start moving
the cursor until a circle of the desired radius is formed. You can complete the outline by using the
right-mouse menu to choose Complete or you can cancel out of it by selecting Cancel.
Both the Board Outline and Board Cutouts can be resized or redefined after placement. If you select an
outline/cutout and the cursor is over an edge, the right-mouse menu will display some additional
commands (in addition to Properties, Copy, Cut, Delete, Highlight, Unhighlight, Fix and Unfix).
Add Vertex splits the line segment into two.
Delete Edge removes an edge from the outline. The command will fail if removing the edge will
cause the outline to become degenerate or complex.
Change Edge to Arc and Change Edge to Line will be available depending on the edge type
the cursor is over. They allow you to change an edge from one to the other.
Delete Vertex when the selection is done over a vertex

the right-mouse menu will display this command. You
should note that Delete Vertex will correctly fail if the
removal of the vertex causes the outline to become
degenerate or complex.
For more information on the Board Outline

and Board Cutouts, refer to Working with
Board Outlines/Cutouts topic in the online
help.
Increased control over drawing and printing

P-CAD 2006 brings increased control over the order of drawing and printing objects in the PCB editor.
Launch the command Options Display Drawing Order where you can configure the Custom
Draw Order option to specify the order of layers and the order of objects within each layer of the
current design. The Default Draw Order option will otherwise display the traditional drawing order of
previous versions of P-CAD PCB.
Additionally you have increased control over printing as well. Launch File Print and note that this
dialog has been expanded with tabs to accommodate new drawing order options. Using the new Print
Job Drawing Order Tab, you can use the Custom Draw Order option to explicitly specify the order of
layers and the order of objects within each design layer for printing. The Default Draw Order option
provides legacy printing draw order behavior. Each defined print job has its own independent draw
order, allowing you to specify the default order or to customize the order of each print job individually.
For more information on the

Drawing Order options press
F1 when the dialog is open to
access the Drawing Order
Figure 9. Control the drawing order in the Options Display dialog.
Enhanced copper pour capabilities

A standard design technique on todays dense, high-speed boards is to use all spare board space as
reference planes, filling them with regions of solid copper. These regions of copper are created by
placing copper pours, and it is not uncommon for a complex multilayer board to have 30 or more pours
on it.
P-CAD 2006 includes a completely new copper pour algorithm, able to cater for the most complex pour
shape and conditions. The new pour algorithm is invoked automatically when you select the Copper
Pour command. The old pour algorithm has been retained, to ensure that older designs can be
maintained without impact on their pours. If you need the older pour algorithm it can be enabled in the
Manufacturing Tab of the Options Configure dialog. This setting is stored with the design, ensuring that
you will always get the correct pour for that design.
For more information on

Copper Pour legacy options
press F1 when the dialog is
open to access the
Manufacturing topic in the
online help.
Figure 10. Support for the older copper pour algorithm is available, if required.
10

The P-CAD 2004 release expanded on P-CAD's proven board design capabilities with new intelligent
interactive routing tools, along with a host of other enhancements, many based on requests from
designers using it everyday.
Advanced interactive routing

Routing connections is one of the most important stages of the PCB
design process. P-CAD 2004 introduced Advanced Route a powerful
new interactive routing tool that helps you efficiently and accurately route
your board.

setting up rules and design
verification refer to Chapter 8,
Design Verification in the
PCB Design User's Guide.
Routing is a balancing act, placing new routes amongst existing

component pads and design objects can be tricky. Advanced Route
intelligently deals with potential conflicts created between your new route
and existing objects as you route. It plows around board cut-outs, board edges and keep-outs, allowing
you to look ahead as you work. Contouring around vias and pushing of traces is also smartly handled
for improved productivity.
Figure 11. Pushing of traces while interactive routing is easily demonstrated using Advanced Route.
11
Getting started with Advanced Route

Once youve got your design laid out and ready to route, you can launch Advanced Route by selecting
Route Advanced, or by selecting the Advanced Route button from the toolbar (Figure 12).
Figure 12. Selecting the Advanced Route button will launch Advanced Route interactive route tool in the PCB editor.
Advanced Route is fully-interactive and has many powerful capabilities. For example, Plow modes
allow you to see the effect of plowing how routed traces will be pushed before committing the next
trace segment for the current route. You can even control the level of effort for plowing in Advanced
Route.
Gloss Effort the immediate clean-up of routed traces can
be applied interactively. When glossing, Advanced Route will
always try to minimize the amount of committed copper used
(and therefore the total net length). So, for example, if you
place meandering trace segments from a point A to a point B,
Advanced Route will replace the redundant routing with a
single trace segment between the two points where possible.
With strong glossing effort enabled, the time required for
clean-up of traces at a later stage will be greatly reduced.
Hug Obstacles mode enables Advanced Route to hug around
fixed objects (component pads, board outline, fixed traces, and
so on) when plowing is turned off. Fixed objects that are part of
a different net to the one currently being routed are avoided
and in such cases Advanced Route will attempt to contour
around these objects.
The Route Options menu (Figure 13) can be accessed at any
time by right-clicking, it includes numerous options for
controlling Advanced Route. For example, a Width control
sub-menu provides tremendous flexibility in applying line
widths to subsequently-placed trace segments of routes, and
lets you cycle through all constrained line width rules found for
the current design. You can even define additional widths as
you go.
Figure 13. Many options for Advanced

Route can be set through the right-click
menu.
Improvements to the design environment provide better support while interactive routing. The prompt
bar now shows the pin-pair being routed, the routed length between the pin-pair, and the un-routed
length estimate (using Manhattan distance) left to complete your route. Enhanced graphics support
allows for all objects to be redrawn dynamically as you are routing. And short-cut keys are available for
nearly every command, allowing you greater productivity.
12
Advanced Route intelligently handles many aspects of the mechanics of routing so you can focus on
your design.
Start routing at any net object

Routing is an intense and detailed process, one that requires focus and concentration. To simplify the
mechanics of routing in P-CAD 2004 you can now start routing from any net object, regardless of its
grid location or the presence of a connection line (visible or otherwise). You no longer need to start on
a center of point to route, you can begin or end over a trace and it will automatically snap to the trace's
center of line, regardless of the current snap grid. Notice that there are blue lines when a net is being
routed.
Place traces interactively

Trace placement requires less effort and is more intuitive. A simple left-click initiates new rubberbanded routed segments. While placing elbows, use the O key to cycle through the different orthogonal
modes to change the orientation of an elbow. Orientation of the rubber-banded traces can be flipped
using the F key while holding down the Ctrl key
restricts the rubber-banded trace to either
horizontal, vertical, or 45, depending upon the
current orthogonal mode.
Improved trace visibility while routing

With todays dense boards its important to be able
to see your routes clearly. Rubber-banded routed
segments are shown in the highlighted color rather
than ghosted. Rubber-banding by default now
extends from an existing trace in a consistently
forward direction.
Automatic active layer switching

It can be tiresome to remember when you need to
switch layers during routing. Now when the closest Figure 14. Advanced routing with Plow Interactive on
existing trace is on a layer other than the current
and the Plow Effort set on High.
one, the active layer is automatically switched for
you. For example, if the active layer is Bottom and a route starts from a Top layer, then the active layer
will automatically be switched to the Top layer when you start routing. Even traces that start from arcs
and polygons are supported.
Fixed objects respected

You dont need to worry about Advanced Route ignoring fixed objects in your design. Advanced Route
will hug around fixed objects including component pads, board outline and fixed traces. Even when
Plow is turned off, fixed objects are respected and contoured around. Some design objects such as
arcs, odd-angle lines, and polygons cannot be pushed and are treated as fixed obstacles.
13
Halo for Hugging mode

A new Violation Halo indicator while in Hugging mode will let you know when the path to the cursor
location cannot be found. This handy feature also eliminates the annoying flickering of rubber-banded
routes.
Selective unrouting
A complementary set of commands for editing routed connections in your design brings yet more
flexibility when routing. Edit Unroute commands are used for unrouting physical connections for all
nets, specific nets, between pads, or selected physical connections. Unroute commands remove any
appropriate physical connections (traces, arcs and vias) and replaces them with the complete ratsnest
of logical connections, respecting of course any fixed objects in your design.
Outlined copper pours for faster panning

Designs that contain a lot of copper pours can redraw very slowly,
especially during resource-intensive activities such as Advanced Route.
A new option in Options Display Misc allows you to control if the fill
of a copper pour is drawn or not. The default setting is on, uncheck
Draw Copper Pour Fill to dramatically improve scrolling and moving
around in designs that have many copper pours.
If the copper pour fill is not drawn,

the outline of the copper pour can
sometimes look like traces. You can
alleviate this display confusion by
assigning a unique color to
polygons on these layers, providing
a visual distinction between copper
For your convenience, a shortcut setting has been added and can be set pour outlines and real tracks on a
in Options Preferences. With the Shortcuts radio button selected,
layer.
scroll down to see the shortcut command Draw Copper Pour Fill
Toggle. By default this command does not have a hotkey assigned, but you can easily select one here.
Automatic completion feature when routing

Connections for pads and vias are now automatically added whenever possible. When routing or
moving a trace where the endpoint does not fall on the center of point of the destination pad or via, a
trace segment is automatically added to complete the connection for you. This is particularly useful
when routing to an off-grid pad, a common occurrence in todays mixed technology designs.
Board layout improvements

The best results in board layout are achieved through manual effort simply because you, the board
layout specialist, has far better judgment at arranging circuitry than can be achieved by automation.
P-CAD 2004 offers greater control and flexibility over the mechanics of board layout.
Definable layer stackup and output report

Defining and managing your board layers couldnt be easier with new Layer Stackup. Select Options
Layers Stackup to launch this new feature. All of the physical layers of your board and their
properties are viewed here including plating (non-real layers for
For more information on setting up and
specifying plating or coating thickness), copper and substrate
managing layers refer to Chapter 17,
layers. All units (mil, mm, oz) are supported for Thickness
Options Commands in the PCB Design
properties, and older designs default to copper for layers
User's Guide.
without any extra data displayed. Output Layer Stackup reports
14

are easily generated from this dialog, and should your manufacturing requirements change, the layer
properties can be quickly updated here also. The DocTool Layer Stackup diagram has also been
updated to reflect the data in the Stackup Tab.
User-defined layer pairs

Most manufacturers support blind and
buried vias between what are termed
as layer pairs. Using this technology,
a multi-layer board is fabricated as a
set of thin double-sided boards that
are pressed together. This allows
blind and buried vias to connect
between the surfaces of these thin
double-sided boards, which then
become the layer pair.
P-CAD 2004 supports layer pairs that
you can define by launching Options
Layers Pairs. Layers from your
design are listed in layer order under
the first column titled Layers, while
the right column Opposite Layer lists
their partner pairs (Figure 15). To
combine two layers, select the two
layers in question and click on the
Combine button. To remove a layer
pairing, select any one layer and click
on the Separate button.
Figure 15. Predefined layers by default are matched to their

appropriate layer partner.
The Board layer cannot be paired since it is unique in itself and contains some design objects that
reside only on it. So if you have the Board layer selected, the Combine button disables. Additionally,
only layers of the same type (i.e., signal to signal) can be paired.
User-defined layer pairs bring more intelligence to the flipping of pads and vias in your design to assist
you during placement. Where a layer pairing has been specified, pad and via definitions as well as their
hole ranges will flip to the opposite layer when the pad or via is flipped.
Automatic increment of designators during paste

Certain complex or legacy design files can necessitate the need for
manual editing every designers worry since this is a time-consuming
process. P-CAD 2004 is more flexible and has added features to
maximize your productivity even during laborious tasks.
For more information on copy

and paste commands and
behavior refer to Chapter 13,
Edit Commands in the PCB
Design User's Guide.
Increment Refdes, a new option in the Edit Paste Circuit dialog, allows
you to increment a component reference designator by a specified value
when a Paste is done using Edit Paste Circuit. This avoids having to go back later to manually edit the
ASCII or Engineering Change Order (ECO) file, saving you time.
15

After you have copied the circuit that you wish to paste, select Edit Paste Circuit in either the PCB
or the Schematic editor. A new checkbox lets you create a new reference designator by incrementing
the value. You only need to ensure that you use a positive integer greater or equal to 1. This new
setting will be saved with your .INI file for future design updates you may make.
Smart rotation of attributes

You always have to make the most of space in todays complex board layout designs. Often this
means the rotating and flipping of components as you try to find the ideal fit for everything. You now
have an option to choose the Right Reading of text for component attributes such as Reference
Designator (Refdes), Type and Value during the rotation or flipping of components.
This new feature is enabled through Pattern Tab of
the Component Properties dialog for any component.
When you select the Right Reading option,
component attributes will be read right to left, and
bottom to top when rotating or flipping. For example,
in Figure 16, the reference designator C1 is a 180
(or 360) position with the component in the first
picture. After Right Reading is enabled, C1 rotates
automatically 90 (or 270) with the component in the
second picture.
This option is saved with your design and will also be
applied to the following output: Print; Gerber; ODB++
and DXF.
Figure 16. Refdes C1 is rotated with Right

Reading for easier reading of attributes.
Add To Net includes all net objects

Add To Net and Remove From Net have been expanded in P-CAD 2004 to include all net objects
pads, vias, lines, arcs, copper pours, planes and polygons. Select the object you wish to add to a net
and right-click to launch the Add To Net dialog. A connection will automatically be placed, connecting
the object to the desired net. The connection takes the shortest route from the object to the net.
Edit Nets Remove Nodes has also been updated to include support for these objects. In the case
of removal, multiple nodes can be removed at the same time. Any selected objects that are on a nonsignal layer are not included.
Figure 17. Adding multiple free net objects, even of differing type, can be added to the same net with Add To Net
feature from right-click menu.
16
Place connection enhanced

Placing connections during layout is more flexible in P-CAD 2004. A connection can now be placed
from and to any pad or via defined on any signal layer. For collocated pads and vias, an option pops-up
so that you can pick the pad or via that you would like to use.
Drill Table precision improved

Documentation tools in P-CAD 2004 have
been improved for greater precision. Launch
Doctool Place Table to place a Drill Table. A
new option allows you to specify the decimal
precision that you would like to use for hole
diameters in your displayed Drill Tables.
For more information on detailing and documenting
your design refer to Chapter 20, DocTool Commands
in the PCB Design User's Guide.
Selection by pattern for

components
Figure 18. Hole diameters for design documentation show
Block and Single Selection have been

more precision.
enhanced to give you more control during
selection in P-CAD 2004. A new filter mask option added to the Pattern Tab of the Component
Selection Mask dialog allows you to search components by pattern when using the Block or Single
Selection feature in the design workspace.
New rules for high-speed design

PCB board layout design is no longer a
matter of simply placing tracks to create
connections. Todays designs can be a
minefield of conflicting requirements as
high-speed logic combined with smaller
and more complex packaging
technology place many demands on
your design rules. Such designs mean
that you need to apply specific
requirements to individual nets,
components and regions of the board,
as well as considering such issues as
net impedance, signal reflections and
path lengths.
P-CAD 2004 brings new design rules to
help you stay in step with the everchanging demands of electronic design.
Figure 19. Rules for high-speed design are found in the Net
Attribute Category of Options Design Rules.
17
Simulation and impedance rules

New design rules MinWidth and MaxWidth allow you to better
support unrouted nets for simulation and impedance results. For
example, if Net A is unrouted and the user performs a Signal
Integrity analysis, P-CAD creates simulated tracks for that net. If
you wanted to determine what width these simulated tracks
should have, then MinWidth and MaxWidth rule can be used.
For more information on setting up rules

and design verification refer to Chapter 8,
Design Verification in the PCB Design
User's Guide.
Differential signaling rule

Successful differential signaling requires, amongst many things, the benefit of routing two signals sideby-side to help achieve good quality routing of matched lengths (and where required to separate in
order to route around obstacles).
In concert with MinWidth and MaxWidth design rules, P-CAD 2004 also features MatchedLength,
letting you define how much overall routing lengths can differ for the two nets in a differential pair. The
value assigned to this rule specifies its value as a scalar distance. MatchedLength is supported by
DRC and SPECCTRA autorouters.
More intelligent Design Rule Checking (DRC)

Better detection for unrouted nets
DRC no longer utilizes point-to-point connectivity for unrouted nets to determine if a net is routed. It
now considers the physical location of net objects with respect to one another instead a more reliable
way of finding unrouted nets in your design.
New attribute assignment for nets

The BoardEdgeClearance attribute can now be assigned as a
net or net class rule. This will be checked by DRC, giving you
more control over your design when defining rules. Such
assignments, however, are ignored by the Advanced Routing
tool.
18
For more information on setting up rules,

their categories and hierarchy refer to
Chapter 19, Utils Commands in the PCB
Design User's Guide.
Improved Design Tools

Fully-integrated Variant support
Product requirements may warrant the need to produce a variety of smaller printed circuit boards that
all differ slightly from an underlying base design. For example, standard and deluxe versions of a
commercial electronic product may differ in the functionality they offer, with a standard version
incorporating a subset of the components used in the deluxe version.
At the design level, one or more variations of a board design can be defined using the Variants feature.
This functionality, once available only as a separate application, is now seamlessly integrated into PCAD 2004 offering you more power and control when defining and creating assembly variants than
was previously possible.
In some cases, the components used on the variant board may need to be changed in some way. For
example, product requirements might dictate that logic functionality should be faster in an enhancedspeed version. Basic logic components may need to be swapped for higher speed varieties, and the
values of such components may need to be revised in order for the board variant to achieve specific
operating constraints. In P-CAD 2004, when you change the attribute value for included components in
the currently selected variant, you will see a "-modified" string next to the component names from the
Included Component list. This helps you visually identify modified components in your variants easier.

Variants press F1 when the
dialog is open to access the
Defining Board Variants
Figure 20. Variants are now integrated and easily accessed through Tools
Variants.
19
DTP files include additional styles and settings

Design Technology Parameter (*.DTP)
files are templates used for selectively
capturing design data that can then be
transferred easily between designs. In
P-CAD 2004, DTP files have been
expanded to include more design
styles and settings.
For more information on setting up and
working with DTP Files refer to Chapter 12,
File Commands in the PCB Design User's
Guide.
Text styles supported

Text styles are supported in .DTP files
in P-CAD 2004. The Design
Technology Parameters dialog is
accessed through File Design
Technology Parameters.
Once youve loaded your .DTP file,
select New Section to create a section
Figure 21. Text styles and grid settings are easily managed between
that will store the text styles. After this
designs by using Design Technology Parameter (.DTP) files.
is done youre ready to update text
styles from your design to the .DTP file by selecting Update from Design. Managing your stroke font
properties, and copying and transferring of text styles are made fully bi-directional through .DTP files.
Grids settings included

You are also able to copy grid settings to and from designs. Much in the same manner that a new file
section is created for text styles, you can add one for Grid Settings.
The Grid Setting section by default displays the same information normally seen in Options Grids
although you can add different grids and properties. When copying, you should be aware that the grids
will be merged and the other properties will be overwritten for both Copy To Design and Update From
Design.
Automated default design settings applied

Default design settings can be configured automatically for .DTP files through Options Auto
Configure. Enabling this feature applies default design settings that you can specify whenever a new
design file is created or opened so that you dont have to think about your design settings once they
are configured.
Once the source DTP file is chosen, Always update configuration based on settings from selected
Design Technology Parameters File will turn this feature on.
20

Use the Auto Configuration Sections list to choose which settings to auto-update. For a PCB design,
you can choose to update any of the following:
Apertures
Layer Stacks
Global Rules
Layer Sets
Design Rules
Text Styles
Pad Styles
Via Styles
Grid Settings.
All settings for auto configuration are saved in the .INI

file.
Efficient Trace Clean-up
Figure 22. You can now automate many default

design settings through .DTP files
Utils Trace Clean-up has long been a post-route utility

feature of P-CAD designed to remove routing mistakes that always seem to be made and ensure that
connectivity is good, especially in older designs. Now optimized for efficiency, it helps you tackle more
of the unwanted segments that were previously difficult to address. Enhancements for Trace Clean-up
in P-CAD 2004 include the following:
Trace Clean-up will now remove junctions at tees where there are mismatched line widths.
Where a trace segment is added to connect to the center of a pad or via, the segment will be added
with a width no greater than the minimum width of the pad or via, for the routing layer.
Trace segments that reside completely inside a pad or via are removed. If you have a trace that
enters a pad and several segments and connects to the center of pad, those segments will be
removed. A single segment is then added that connects the entering trace to the center of pad.
Quickly locate unrouted connections

Older and legacy designs often require special effort to ensure that there are no connectivity issues. A
new command Tools Complete Route To Pad Center locates unrouted connections in a design.
Where a trace is inside a pad or via, but does not reach to the center of that pad or via this feature will
add one or two line segments to finish the connection.
Newly-added segments will have a width equal to the smaller of either the existing track or the shorter
side of the pad or via. Since the added segments are completely inside the area of the pad or via, the
width is not an issue, except to ensure the added segments do not cause any clearance violations.
Limited to partial routes, this tool looks for where the existing track has an end-point that lies inside a
pads or via's geometry and is on the layer as the trace. End-points that are outside the pads or via's
area are left unfinished.
You can use this command in conjunction with Utils Trace Cleanup to fix most connectivity
problems when loading older designs.
21
Load Netlist improved for copper pours

Loading a netlist can be greatly affected by copper pours in your design. Unpour Copper Pours is a
new option found in Utils Load Netlist and Utils Reconnect Nets. It
allows you to decide whether to un-pour copper pours in your design or not,
during a netlist load, saving you valuable time.
Netlist Loading press F1
when the dialog is open to

Its worth mentioning that while this new option is a timesaver, sometimes
access the Load Netlist
leaving copper pours intact can be a bit tricky because the filled copper pour
back-off from neighboring objects may no longer be valid after loading a new
netlist or reconnecting the nets. Why this happens often because of rule
changes, or even when a net object (for example a component pad) is moved to a different net that has
different rules applied to it. Youll need to check your design by doing a Utils Compare Netlist and
inspect any differences carefully before using this new option to make sure it is okay before proceeding.
Otherwise, it is recommended that you keep this option in its default state (selected).
Design environment enhancements

Even the basic working tools and design environment of P-CAD 2004 have been updated for your
greater productivity with new options for improved placement, style management, and printing.
Figure 23. The Large Diagonal Cross cursor style is useful for manually editing traces and
components placed at 45. Use the X key to cycle through any cursor style you require.
Large Diagonal Cross cursor style for 45 traces

Placing objects at a 45 is easier. In Options Display Misc, a new option for a Large Diagonal
Cross cursor style can be found. When this option is checked and when the cursor is moved into the
workspace, it will display in a similar manner as the Large Cross but with the lines rotated at 45,
helping you to better align and place objects as you are working with them.
22
Select tool more flexible

Select Tool is more flexible now and includes support for the Esc key.
When objects are selected in your design but there is no active
operation (such as drag or paste), the objects will become deselected
when the Esc key is pressed. If objects are selected, but there is an
active operation, then the active operation will be cancelled (this is the
same behavior as a right-click), and any objects that were selected
remain selected.
For more information on using the

Select Tool, placing and editing
objects refer to Chapter 3, PCB
Basics in the PCB Design User's
Guide.
Statistics report updated for SMT components

More design data information is
available in your report output in
P-CAD 2004. The Statistics report
has been updated to output the
number of surface mount pads on
the top and bottom of the board,
separately. It also now specifies the
number of thru-hole pads, as well as
the total number of pads (thru-hole
plus SMT).
Replacing styles globally

Suppose that you would like to
change a specific style of many
component pads in your design en
masse and replace it with a new
style. In Options Pad Style, a
new Replace command has been
added to allow the easy
replacement of one or more existing
pad, via or text styles, with an
alternative pad, via or text style.
Figure 24. The Replace Styles dialog allows you to easily change styles
for design objects en masse.
Cross referencing printing supported

Off-sheet references are now supported when printing cross referencing in your schematics. This
option, which is normally set through File Print Print Options Miscellaneous, does not need to
be toggled for the references to be printed.
23
Updated Importer and Exporters

Updates have significantly improved manufacturing Importers and
Exporters in P-CAD 2004. You can now do direct translations, have a
wider choice of output standards, have more support for non-standard
design objects, and greater flexibility getting your design to
manufacture.
For detailed information on a specific

Import or Export command press F1
when the cursor is over the relevant
Import or Export menu entry.
DXF In translates directly

You once had to 'explode' blocks in AutoCAD prior to loading the file into P-CAD so that your DXF files
could be decomposed into the appropriate P-CAD design objects. This extra step is no longer
necessary as these files can now be translated directly in P-CAD 2004.
There are a couple of translation conditions handled during this process that you should be aware of.
When a scaling value on the DXF side other than 1 is applied, blocks will be scaled, but only on the X
scale value, as non-uniform scaling is not supported. Closed poly-lines are translated as polygons. In
the case where poly-lines would translate into a complex (self-intersecting) polygon, the poly-lines are
converted into lines.
Support for IPC-D-356A standard

You need more ways to
verify your design, and you
need your designs
supported in standards that
are universally accepted at
most fabrication houses.
IPC-D-356A, a standard
data format that provides
net connectivity and hole
locations, is now supported
in P-CAD 2004.
IPC netlist files carry blind
and buried via information
Figure 25. Export options for IPC-D-356A Netlist can be set from this dialog.
as well as differentiating
between through-hole vias and free pads. It can be used along with image and drill data information to
help facilitate the recovery of original net names used in a PCB design. This makes your PCB easier to
understand and manage an important reason why P-CAD 2004 has been updated to stay current
with this standard.
You can launch this command from File Export IPC-D-356A Netlist. After launching this, the
Export IPC-D-356A Netlist dialog will appear. You can then configure your export options.
24
ODB++ improved for rotated pads and vias

You need design automation tools that help you actively manage the transition to board fabrication and
assembly, and ensure that your design can be successfully manufactured. P-CAD supports the
emerging ODB++ manufacturing file format. ODB++ is the most intelligent CAD/CAM format available
today, capturing all CAD/EDA database, assembly and PCB fabrication knowledge in one single,
unified database.
In P-CAD 2004, more effort has gone into ensuring that you can efficiently work with multiple
manufacturers. Hence ODB++ output of rotated pads and vias is enhanced as well as the Matrix file
output path to ensure the trouble-free loading for fabrication and assembly files.
NC Drill provides resolution format options

Some NC Drill machines require default
resolutions that were not previously supported by
P-CAD, and limiting your options. This is now
changed for greater versatility moving your
design to manufacture. P-CAD 2004's NC Drill
Export mechanism is improved to allow you to
select from several resolution format options for
output of holes locations.
IDF more versatile with userdefined units

You can now export your IDF files in units other
than what P-CAD normally supports. P-CAD
2004s IDF Exporter has been expanded to
support customer-specified units; both .BRD
and .PRO files will now be generated using the
same units that the user specifies from the File
Export IDF dialog.
Backward compatibility supported

Design files can be exported in an ASCII format
that is compatible with P-CAD 2002. Choose the
File Export P-CAD 2002 ASCII command to
export the current PCB design file in P-CAD
2002 ASCII format. Any design data that is
specific to versions newer than P-CAD 2002 will
not be exported.
Figure 26. Export options for IDF now include IDF units.
25
Updated third-party interfaces

Database Exchange Programming Interface (DBX) improved
New functionality has been added to the DBX interface to keep on
par with the new features and enhancements that have been added
to P-CAD 2004. These include the ability to add either layers or
sheets to a design, and the retrieval of layer stackup data.
For a guide on working with the PCAD DBX Application Programming

Interface, refer to the P-CAD DBX
Programmers Interface User Guide
and Reference.
Viewlogic/ePD 2004 SP1

P-CAD Ties has been upgraded to provide an interface and data exchange between P-CAD 2004 SP3
and ePD 2004 SP1.
PADS to P-CAD Translator supports non-English characters

P-CAD 2004 Importer interface has been updated to allow a wider variety of design data when
importing. Subsequently, the PADS to P-CAD Translator will now handle non-English characters
(such as ) during translation. These characters will be replaced with an underscore '_', and will
continue loading. A record of the replacement will be logged in the log file.
Additionally, version PADS Layout v2005 is supported.
26
P-CAD 2006 Bonus Technologies

As an engineer or PCB layout professional you appreciate the importance of having the right tool on
hand, ready when you need it. While the design you are developing today can be routed manually, the
one you are starting next week could be helped by a powerful autorouter, such as the Situs
Topological Autorouter. Or perhaps your board assembly house has offered faster and cheaper
delivery if you can supply the three boards in your product as a single assembly panel a straight
forward task if you have access to a fully-featured CAM editor.
While P-CAD 2006 continues to deliver a powerful and proven PCB design environment, capable of
meeting todays demanding PCB design requirements, Altium recognizes that at some stage you will
need access to complimentary design tools. These are delivered in P-CAD 2006 as Bonus
Technologies, which are enabled through Altium Designer 6, and are included to ensure that you are
fully equipped to tackle all of your design challenges.
The P-CAD 2006 Bonus Technologies include:
Situs Topological Autorouter Situs uses topological mapping to provide greater flexibility in
route path determination and unrestricted routing direction, as it routes in compliance with specified
design rules and via requirements. The router also includes powerful component-oriented fanout
and escape routing algorithms, supporting all current packaging technologies.
Fully-featured CAM editor the CAM editor is fully featured for CAM file review and editing. As
well as the traditional Gerber support it includes full ODB++ import and export. It also has powerful
panelization support and a broad range of Numerically Controlled (NC) rout capabilities, including
autorouting, rout tabs and automatic mill path definition.
Mixed-signal circuit simulation the mixed-signal circuit simulator offers true Spice 3f5 analog
and XSPICE digital simulation. Updated for the P-CAD 2006 release, the Bonus Technology circuit
simulator now supports PSpice models and functions, giving you maximum flexibility when
sourcing simulation models.
Situs Topological Autorouter

Routing the connections on a printed circuit board is a complex and time-consuming activity. On large
or dense boards, the process of routing can take a designer considerable time time that is becoming
increasingly sparse as product life-cycles shorten. Autorouters aid a designer in the routing process by
automatically placing tracks and vias on the board to make the connections. Autorouting is a
numerically intensive and complex process that, to be truly useful, must combine adherence to relevant
design rules, achieve high or 100% routing completion, and provide good routing quality.
While many current-generation autorouters deliver on each of these requirements to some degree, the
grid-based, shape-based or geometrical approaches that they take in mapping the routing space
present serious limitations with denser, non-orthogonal and geometrically irregular component
packaging technologies technologies that are becoming more common in modern board design.
Current-generation autorouters, because of their geometric limitations, also tend to produce results that
27

look autorouted, leading to extensive manual rework. Indeed many designers shy away from using
autorouters because of this limitation alone.
The Situs autorouter does not suffer from the limitations of current-generation autorouters. It uses a
topological-analysis technique to map the board space, which, unlike geometric or shape-based
mapping, is not dependent on obstacle shape or coordinates. Topological mapping provides greater
flexibility in route path determination and unrestricted routing direction.
The name Situs comes from Situs Analysis, a branch of mathematics that studies the properties of
geometric figures or solids that are not normally affected by changes in size or shape, commonly
known today as topology.
Design Rule compliance

Situs complies with all the appropriate electrical and routing design rules, including net-specific routing
widths, net-specific via styles and blind and buried vias. Since it uses a topological approach, which
results in more natural, diagonal routing, it does not comply with the routing corner-style rule.
Sophisticated fanout and escape routing capabilities

Situs includes a number of sophisticated fanout strategies, supporting all surface mount packaging
technologies including BGA, QFP and LCC fine pitch components. These can be run during
autorouting, or used interactively to pre-fanout components, nets, connections and so on. Select the
required fanout option in the Tools Autoroute Fanout sub-menu.
Figure 27. Situs includes sophisticated fanout algorithms (supporting staggered rows of fanout vias) that tackle the
fanout task at the component level rather than the individual net level.
28

The fanout behavior is controlled by the Fanout Control design rules, to configure select Options
Rules. Default fanout rules are created for the various package kinds, the settings of these can be
adjusted in Situs if required.
Figure 28. Escape routing systematically routes from each fanout via to the edge of the component, ready for
component-to-component routing (displayed using transparency to reveal routing on lower layers).
Routing Setup Report

When you launch Situs you will be presented with the Situs Routing Strategies dialog. The top section
of this dialog includes a Routing Setup Report. The Routing Setup Report is performed automatically,
giving you immediate feedback in the form of error, warning and hint reports. The report will identify
rules or setup conditions that could prevent the board from being fully routed. Use the hyperlinks in the
report to control the rules and fix the problems on the fly, prior to routing. You dont need to wait until it
is routed to find that your design contains rules that negatively affect completion.
29
Figure 29. Use the Routing Setup Report to identify potential routing problems before starting Situs.
Multiple routing strategies

Situs comes with a number of default routing strategies, each focused to route well in a specific
situation. Situs will automatically select either the default two layer or the default multilayer strategy
automatically, but you are free to select a different strategy. The main difference between the two
default strategies is that the default multilayer strategy includes a signal fanout pass. Select the
preferred routing strategy before launching the router.
Figure 30. Choose one of the default strategies, or create your own.
30
User-definable routing strategies
Refer to the articles and

tutorials in the Board Layout
> PCB Routing section of the
Altium Designer Knowledge
Center panel for more
information on the Situs
autorouter.
Figure 31. Include the required passes in your custom routing strategy.
The Situs autorouter allows you to customize the routing strategies to include those passes suitable for
your board. Situs comes with a set of in-built strategies for common board configurations, but allows
you to add your own strategies, configure the included passes, set the order of passes and trade speed
for via minimization.
Choosing the optimal combination of strategies is highly dependant on the
characteristics of the board being routed. It is recommended that you start by
duplicating one of the default strategies, then experiment by adding, removing
and reordering routing passes.
If you prefer a more grid-like routing result, enable the Orthogonal checkbox in the
Situs Strategy Editor dialog. The Orthogonal option will force the routing to follow
a horizontal/vertical orientation. If you use this option then it is recommended to
add Straighten and Recorner passes.
Selective autorouting modes

The autorouter also features a range of commands that allow the selective routing
of portions of your board. You can route a single net or connection, a component,
a net or component class, an area of the board, all connections in a room,
connections on selected components and connections between selected
components.
31
Understanding queries
Typically you will send your board to Situs for routing, and when it is finished use the Save and Return
command to pass the routing results back to the P-CAD PCB editor. However, there might be a
situation where you would like to explore routing the board with different design rules, particularly if the
board is dense and difficult to route. In this situation it is valuable to have an understanding of how
design rules are handled in Situs.
Like the P-CAD PCB editor, Situs is a rule-compliant design tool. The difference with Situs is how each
rule targets the objects that it applies to. In the P-CAD PCB editor you either define the routing
requirements as general object-to-object settings, or you define a design requirement that is applied by
layer, room, net, or net class. In Situs the rule targets the objects by writing a query.
A query is essentially an instruction to the software. A query is a combination of symbols keywords,
object identifiers, operators and values that are analyzed and then applied to every object in the
workspace to see if the object complies with that query. The result set returned by the query is the set
of objects that the rule will apply to.
In Situs the rules are defined in the PCB Rules and Constraints Editor dialog (select Options Rules
in the menus). Each rule definition will have a query, defining what objects that rule targets. Figure 32
shows a rule that defines the width that the VCC net must be routed at. You can either use the dialog
controls to create the query, such as choosing the Net option, and then selecting the required net in the
dropdown, or you can type the query in directly, which in this example is InNet(VCC).
Figure 32. Routing requirements are specified as rules, in the PCB Rules and Constraint Editor.
32

Some tips on becoming familiar with queries include:
Use the Query Helper When you know what sort of keyword you are looking for, but are not sure
what the exact syntax is. Try typing it; the type-ahead prompts will help. Also, use the Mask field,
for example, if you are looking for footprint related keywords, type *footprint in the Mask field,
then click on each of the categories to list only those keywords that include the string footprint in
the keyword or description.
Use the PCB Filter panel to test a query Type the query in
the PCB Filter panel and click Apply to visually check to see if
it is targeting the correct objects. You can also review the
current rule scopes at any time by setting the PCB panel to
Rules, so when you click on an individual rule in the panel, it
will filter the workspace to show only the objects to which the
rule will apply.
Refer to the articles and tutorials in the

Board Layout > Working with the
Query System section of the Altium
Designer Knowledge Center panel for
more information on queries.
Fully-featured CAM editor

Included in the P-CAD Bonus Technologies is a fully-featured CAM editor, allowing both board
designers and fabrication engineers to verify critical manufacturing information quickly and easily.
The CAM editor comes with a complete range of import/export options, a host of PCB design check/fix
analyses and all the graphical and geometrical tools you need to edit and modify any design for
fabrication and assembly. With a single mouse click, the program will analyze your entire design,
locating and automatically repairing 18 of the most common manufacturing design flaws such as solder
bridging, power/ground shorts, netlist shorts and silkscreen over soldermask.
Comprehensive data verification features

The CAM editor includes strong data verification
Design Rule Checks (DRCs) as well as sophisticated
netlist extraction capabilities. There is an extensive
range of data verification checks for potential
fabrication problems, such as silkscreen over mask,
solder bridging, net antennas or starved thermals. Its
netlist extraction supports any board configuration,
including blind and buried vias, as well as split power
planes using both thermal relief and direct power plane
connections.
Figure 33. The CAM editor includes comprehensive

DRC checks.
33
Advanced panelization
Board designers and CAM engineers alike will benefit from the advanced panelization tools provided in
the CAM editor. A straightforward process allows a single board to fill a panel according to the border
and spacing information you provide. Additional data such as drill coupons and tooling holes can be
defined as individual steps and inserted into the panel alongside the array of board data. As well as an
array of the same board, CAM data from different boards can be loaded as steps into the same panel,
meaning that you can fill your panel with any boards you want. Combined with powerful commands that
support rotating and flipping of steps, the CAM editors panelization features allow panels to be
optimized for both cost and assembly techniques.
Figure 34. Build panels of different boards, flipping and rotating them as required to suit your panel assembly
process.
34
Bi-directional ODB++ import/export

While Gerber and NC drill files continue to satisfy the needs of many companies, the increased
complexity of PCBs, combined with the need for faster design turn-around has resulted in the
emergence of new CAD/CAM data formats. The most popular of these, ODB++, captures all PCB
fabrication and assembly data in a single, unified database.
You can take advantage of ODB++ functionality even if you have assembled your CAM data from other
image/drill data, such as Gerber, NC Drill, IPC netlists, or HPGL files. In fact, the CAM editor will
automatically create imported layer names in an ODB-compliant format, in case you want to export to
ODB++. The ODB++ support is truly bi-directional you can also export to any of the traditional
formats from data you imported from an ODB++ source.
Strong import/export capabilities

The CAM editor is not limited to P-CAD CAM files, it supports import and export of all major CAM file
formats used in the board fabrication industry.
Supported import formats include: Gerber, ODB++, Netlist (including IPC-D356), Drill, Mill/Rout,
DXF/DWG and HPGL/HPGL2.
The following export options are available in the CAM editor: Gerber; Netlist; IPC-D-350, Save Drill,
Mill/Rout, DXF, Part Centroids, Aperture List and Bitmap (*.bmp). Switch to the NC Editor mode to
access the Drill Export option.
There is also a QuickLoad feature that allows you to load all supported file types simultaneously.
NC drill and rout

Core to any effective CAD/CAM software is the ability to create both
regular (drilled) and irregular (routed) holes in the PCB panel. The
Generating Manufacturing Output
CAM editor includes a broad range of Numerically Controlled (NC)
section of the Altium Designer
rout capabilities, including autorouting, rout tabs and automatic mill
Knowledge Center panel for more
information on the CAM editor.
path definition. NC rout paths can be defined manually or
automatically (by edge tracing existing objects), with full control over
tool parameters, plunge/retraction points and rout direction. Add breakout tabs along the path using the
Add Tabs command.
Figure 35. Use the Auto Rout PCB feature to automatically trace the board outline and define the rout path.
35
Mixed-signal circuit simulation

The circuit simulator uses an enhanced version of Berkeley Spice 3f5/XSPICE, allowing you to
accurately simulate any combination of analog and digital devices, without manually inserting D/A or
A/D converters.
This mixed-signal simulation is possible because the simulator includes accurate, event-driven
behavioral models for its digital devices, including TTL and CMOS digital devices. All Spice compliant
analog simulation models are supported.
Analyses types
The circuit simulator includes the standard analyses operating point, transient and ac small signal
as well as a number of advanced analyses including DC sweep, temperature sweep, parameter sweep,
noise, pole zero and Monte Carlo analysis.
Figure 36. There are over 40 circuit simulation examples, covering a wide range of circuit examples and analysis
types.
36
PSpice support models, functions and global variables

The PSpice simulation model format is the format of choice for many device manufacturers. The
Bonus Technology circuit simulator now has strong support for PSpice models, giving you maximum
flexibility when sourcing simulation models. PSpice models are used in exactly the same way as Spice
3f5 models, in fact your circuit can even include a mix of PSpice and Spice 3f5 models. There is also
excellent support for PSpice functions. A number of new examples have been added, demonstrating
PSpice model support.
Support for global parameters and equations

Global parameter and equation support has also been added to the circuit simulator. Use a global
parameter in an equation, and use that equation in a component value on your schematic. Alternatively,
define the equation as a global parameter, and then reference the global parameter from a component
value. Use global parameters to tune component values as you run the simulator, or control a variable
in an equation that is determining a component value.
To use global parameters simply include the expression or parameter name within curly braces {}.
When the simulator detects this it will attempt to evaluate it, checking the Global Parameters page of
the simulators Analyses Setup dialog for the definition of any part of the expression that cannot be
immediately resolved. The new Global Parameters example has been added to the circuit simulation
examples folder to demonstrate global parameter and equation support.
Figure 37 shows the Analyses Setup dialog for an example circuit that uses global parameters, where
you can quickly adjust values between simulation runs.
Figure 37. Include global parameters in your design and use them to tune values during simulation.
X-axis equation support

The simulation waveform viewer has also been enhanced. You
can now create user-defined equations based on the X-axis,
giving you complete flexibility in interpreting your simulation
results.

Design Verification > Circuit Simulation
section of the Altium Designer Knowledge
Center panel for more information on the
circuit simulator.
37
Learning more about the Bonus Technologies

The P-CAD 2006 Bonus Technologies are features of
the Altium Designer environment. Information about
Altium Designer and the Bonus Technologies is
available in the Knowledge Center panel use the
Knowledge Center command in the Help menu to
display it.
The Knowledge Center panel presents help
information while you work. It tracks the command,
dialog, object, or panel that is currently under the
cursor and loads help about it hover for a second or
so for the content to appear, or press F1. If you want
to keep the current content that is displayed, click the
Autoupdate button to disable auto-loading.
The Knowledge Center is a portal from the concise
help summary displayed in the top of the panel there
are links to PDF-based reference and applied
documents.
The lower section in the panel has a navigation tree,
use this to browse through the PDF-based
documentation, and open a document of interest.
The Knowledge Center includes a powerful PDF
searching feature, available at the bottom of the panel.
Pages that include all words in the search string are
returned (except common words such as and, or, etc).
The search scope is determined by your current
location in the navigation structure.
Figure 38. Use the Knowledge Center panel to learn

more about the Bonus Technologies.
Libraries created in accordance with ISO9001:2000 Standard

P-CAD 2006 board-level design libraries have been updated and developed according to the
ISO9001:2000 standard. For this release, many of the libraries were re-worked, particularly the PCB
footprints, increasing the reliability and consistency of the component libraries.
The libraries include over 60,000 components, with more than 1700
connectors and 7,000 passives. There are components libraries from over 65
manufacturers, including Agilent, AMP, Cypress, Maxim, Molex, ON
Semiconductor, Panasonic, Philips, Xilinx and Zilog.
The library suite features many popular microcontrollers; a comprehensive
coverage of FPGAs and PLDs; a wide range of amplifiers, discretes and
numerous other devices commonly found in a wide range of PCB projects.
38
P-CAD 2006 Shortcuts

General PCB shortcuts
U
Undo
Shift + U
Redo
Ctrl + S
Save current document
Ctrl + X
Cut
Ctrl + C
Copy
Ctrl + V
Paste from Clipboard
Shift + T
Move to Layer
Delete
Delete
Enable Select tool
Left-Click
Select/deselect object under cursor
Right-Click
Popup floating menu, or escape from current operation
Left-Click, Hold & Drag
Create area for block selection
Left-Click & Hold
Move object/selection under cursor
Left Double-Click
Edit object
Ctrl + Left-Click
Add/remove object from selection set. Ctrl key is used by default but
can be changed to use Shift key by enabling the relevant option in the
Options Preferences dialog
Access Options Layers dialog
Toggle cursor style
Toggle Draft Mode
Jump to X coordinate field in Status Line
Toggle grid between relative and absolute
Cycle to next (larger) grid defined for the design
Shift + G
Cycle to previous (smaller) grid defined for the design
Cycle to next layer in the design
Shift + L
Cycle to previous layer in the design
Ctrl + 1
Enable Layer Set 1
Ctrl + 2
Enable Layer Set 2
39

Ctrl + 3
Enable Layer Set 3
Ctrl + 4
Enable Layer Set 4
Ctrl + 5
Enable Layer Set 5
Ctrl + 6
Enable Layer Set 6
Ctrl + 7
Enable Layer Set 7
Ctrl + 8
Enable Layer Set 8
Ctrl + 9
Enable Layer Set 9
Ctrl + 0
Enable Layer Set 10
Record temporary macro
Execute temporary macro
Space
Emulate mouse left-click
Esc
Cancel selection
Ctrl + L
Toggle Current Layer Only option on the Single Selection Tab of the
Options Selection Mask dialog
PgUp
Scroll Up
PgDn
Scroll Down
Ctrl + PgUp
Scroll Left
Ctrl + PgDn
Scroll Right
Mouse Wheel
Pan Up/Down
Shift + Mouse Wheel
Pan Left/Right
Move cursor one grid increment in direction of arrow key
Ctrl +
Move cursor ten grid increments in direction of arrow key
Shift + F
Toggle Use Fixed Color option, on Miscellaneous Tab of Options

Display dialog
Shift + N
Toggle Use Net Color option, on Miscellaneous Tab of Options

Display dialog
Cycle to next (larger) line width defined for the design
Shift + W
Cycle to previous (smaller) line width defined for the design
+ (Numeric Keypad)
Zoom in
- (Numeric Keypad)
Zoom out
Zoom Center
Zoom Window
Ctrl + Mouse Wheel
Zoom in/out
40

R
Rotate object by 90 anti-clockwise
Shift + R
Rotate object anti-clockwise by value defined for Rotation Increment,

on the General Tab of the Options Configure dialog
Flip Object
Advanced and interactive routing shortcuts

Enter
Complete route
Suspend
Shift + Click
Suspend w/Via
Ctrl + A
Add Arc
Tab
Swap End Point
Backspace
Unwind
Select Min Width from rules for net currently being routed
Select Nominal Width from rules for net currently being routed
Ctrl + M
Select Max Width from rules for net currently being routed
Cycle to next constrained line width
Shift + W
Cycle to previous constrained line width
Ctrl + W
Cycle to next unconstrained line width
Ctrl + Shift + W
Cycle to previous unconstrained line width
Esc
Cancel route
Cycle to next Routing Angle mode
Toggle style for current orthogonal-based Routing Angle mode.
41
Index
Index
B
signaling rule .............................................18
board cutout.................................................... 7
drag orthogonal...............................................6
board outline................................................... 7
drawing order
Bonus Technologies ..................................... 27
display .........................................................9
learning about ........................................... 38
printing ........................................................9
drill table, precision .......................................17
CAM editor
DXF, import...................................................24
Bonus Technologies ................................. 33
import/export ............................................. 35
export
NC drill and rout ........................................ 35
Bonus Technologies CAM editor ...............35
ODB++ import/export ................................ 35
IDF ............................................................25
panelization............................................... 34
IPC-D-356A...............................................24
connection
NC drill ......................................................25
locating unrouted ...................................... 21
ODB++ ......................................................25
placing ...................................................... 17
P-CAD 2002 ASCII....................................25
copper pour
algorithm selection .................................... 10
high-speed design rules................................17
backoff algorithm....................................... 10
netlist load................................................. 22
IDF, export ....................................................25
outline display ........................................... 14
import
cross references, printing ............................. 23
Bonus Technologies CAM editor ...............35
cursor style, 45............................................ 22
DXF ...........................................................24
PADS support ...........................................26
DBX improvements....................................... 26
interactive routing
Design Technology Parameter file................ 20
Advanced ..................................................11
designator
differential pair.............................................3
increment during paste ............................. 15
multiple nets ................................................4
right reading .............................................. 16
IPC-D-356A, export.......................................24
differential
defining a pair ............................................. 3
layer pairs, defining.......................................15
pair routing, background ............................. 3
layer stackup
pair routing, how to ..................................... 4
configuring.................................................14
pair signaling............................................... 3
displaying ..................................................15
43

M
objects simulated from for analysis........... 18
mixed-signal circuit simulator........................36
selection
NC drill, export ..............................................25
by pattern ................................................. 17
escaping from ........................................... 23
ODB++, export..............................................25
sub-objects ................................................. 7
orthogonal dragging ........................................6
shortcut keys ................................................ 39
simulator
PADS import .................................................26
analyses types.......................................... 36
P-CAD 2002, export......................................25
global parameters and equations ............. 37
P-CAD 2004, whats new ..............................11
mixed-signal circuit ................................... 36
P-CAD 2006
PSpice support ....................................... 37
shortcuts....................................................39
whats new ..................................................3
X-axis equations ....................................... 37

Situs
print
fanout and escape routing ........................ 28
cross references........................................23
queries, understanding ............................. 32
PSpice support............................................37
rule compliance ........................................ 28
selective routing........................................ 31
routing
setup report .............................................. 29
differential pair interactive ...........................3
strategy creation ....................................... 31
dragging existing routes ..............................6
strategy selection...................................... 30
gloss effort.................................................12
Topological Autorouter ............................. 27
Hug Obstacles...........................................12
statistics report, SMT support ...................... 23
interactive, advanced ................................11
styles, replacing globally .............................. 23
interactive, configuring ..............................12
sub-object selection ....................................... 7
locate unrouted connections .....................21
multiple nets interactive...............................4
text, component right reading....................... 16
Situs Topological Autorouter .....................27
trace clean-up .............................................. 21
trace clean-up ...........................................21
unrouting selectively..................................14
unrouting
rules
selective ................................................... 14
board edge clearance................................18
checking unrouted nets .............................18
variants, creating.......................................... 19
differential signaling ..................................18
Viewlogic/ePD support ................................. 26
high-speed design .....................................17
44

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Specialized design tools for PCB layout professionals