Date: 26/10/2012

DRC tool from Mentor allows creation of best-practice rules using VBScript/Javascript

The HyperLynx DRC product from Mentor Graphics performs best practice design rule checking (DRC) on printed circuit board (PCB) layout databases. Driven by customizable rules, the HyperLynx DRC product can be executed by engineers and designers during the PCB layout process to quickly highlight potential high-speed design issues pertaining to signal integrity, power integrity, and electromagnetic interference (EMI), without running detailed, time-consuming analysis.

One example quoted by Mentor Graphics: Sony Mobile, based in Lund, Sweden, is faced with very compressed engineering schedules to reach time-to-market windows in the mobile phone market. To ensure design quality, Sony Mobile performs design reviews to identify electrical issues related to signal integrity, EMC, and power integrity prior to building a board; however, these review meetings can be very time consuming. “By using HyperLynx DRC we get a structured approach where all nets are equally checked by the tool. We can then focus the review meeting on the critical nets where the tool finds the violations,” stated Anders Olsson, senior manager, Lund Development–Electronics System Design at Sony Mobile. “Valuable time can thus be spent on problem solving instead of problem finding. This makes us more efficient in our design process, extending our review coverage, and ensures higher design quality for our customers.”

The new HyperLynx DRC product comes with a standard set of coded rules targeted at PCB layout practices that have the potential to cause issues common in high-speed design. These standard rules are parametrically driven so users can customize them to meet specific best practices of their company. Samples of such issues include the following:
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) examples:
Traces crossing plane splits, reference plane changes, nets near board edges, coupling to I/O net
Signal integrity (SI) examples:
Long interconnects, termination checks, impedance variations, crosstalk coupling
Power distribution network examples:
Power net width, decoupling cap proximity

Unlike other DRC products currently on the market, the HyperLynx DRC tool is specifically designed to allow customers to create their own best-practice rules using VBScript and/or Javascript, claims Mentor Graphics.

“Sometimes simulation is not the optimum approach to look for problems, and HyperLynx DRC is targeted exactly for those situations,” stated Dave Kohlmeier, director of analysis products, Systems Design Division, Mentor Graphics. “Our HyperLynx family of products addresses the needs of PCB designers at any stage of development, unmatched by any other toolset on the market today, with the flexibility, ease of use, and immediate, accurate analysis needed for today’s design complexity.”

HyperLynx DRC is interfaced with all major PCB layout tools including Mentor’s Expedition Enterprise, Board Station and PADS, Cadence Allegro and Zuken CR.

The HyperLynx DRC product is available now. For more information, attend the webinar on the new HyperLynx DRC technology on Thursday, November 1, 2012.

For more details visit www.mentorgraphics.com