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There have been some major changes taking place in the world of PC-based electronic circuit board design software recently, and one of the most significant results is that a whole new complementary suite of programs with a proven track record are now available from one developer.
Interactive Image Technologies, maker of Electronics Workbench Professional (the biggest-selling EDA tool in the world) has acquired Ultimate Technology, the developer of the ultiBOARD and ultiROUTE layout and routing programs. Electronics Workbench Professional is being significantly upgraded and will now be known as multiSIM.
All three products are now being presented as an integrated product line, and indeed the company will also now be known under the name of Electronics Workbench. What this means for users is that the best selection of PC-based electronics design programs are now available from a single developer and in the UK, the complete range is available from a single source: Adept Scientific.
ultiBOARD is the standard layout program in the Electronics Workbench line, and succeeds the previous 'Layout' product. A new version 5.6 is being introduced which is notable for how easy it is to use, with features such as clearer toolbar icons and intuitive double-clicking on components. Database units go down to 1nm, an extremely important capability as it reduces the errors which can creep in caused by imperial to metric conversion, something only too problematic for many PCB designers.
ultiBOARD has on-line design rule checking and interactive guarding against connectivity errors and design violations. Its two built-in autorouters (single pass, and 'rip-up-and-retry') are effective and efficient. And the 'Force Vectors' feature indicates the optimal positions for part placement to minimise trace lengths and board sizes.
Perhaps most useful of all however is the complete integration with the schematic capture and simulation tools in multiSIM (Electronics Workbench Professional). Every component from the simulation libraries will transfer to ultiBOARD without 'Footprint not Recognised' errors, so if time and accuracy are important, the Electronics Workbench product line offers some major advantages.
ultiBOARD's even more sophisticated compatriot is ultiROUTE. This innovative routing program combines gridded and gridless ("shape-based") routing in a new way. The routing engine will first attempt to route using a grid, which is faster than a gridless approach. But if needed, for density reasons, it can switch to a gridless approach, reflecting real-life situations more accurately and providing a tool which is even more likely to achieve 100% routing optimised for size and cost. Indeed, many users have remarked on the efficiency (especially minimisation of vias) provided by ultiROUTE, in comparison with systems which seem to concentrate on speed.
Autoplacement is another particularly impressive feature of ultiROUTE. Whereas ultiBOARD can optimise a design well, ultiROUTE can take over the initial layout stage too. Components can of course be pre-placed, and rules can be established to ensure components remain together, but autoplacement can take over to any extent required after this.
One of the most exciting future features of ultiROUTE has already been announced, which is the introduction of Design Rules. These can be set to control or influence the way in which a trace is routed, for example to handle EMI issues, using the results from the previous simulations. With this feature, the Electronics Workbench product line becomes perhaps the most comprehensive suite available on the PC for electronics designers, and indeed, provides an easy to use alternative to workstation-based systems which run on far more affordable hardware. |
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