CMPE310 LayoutEditorTutorialJordanBisasky

AllegroPCBDesign
AllegroPCBDesignisacircuitboardlayouttoolthatacceptsalayoutcompatiblecircuitnetlist(ex.from
CaptureCIS)andgeneratesoutputlayoutfilesthataresuitableforPCBfabrication.Thistutorialisthe
secondpartofthePCBprojecttutorial.BeforestartingwithPCBDesign,youmusthaveacompleted
schematicwithnoerrors.Thebeginningofthistutorialrunsthroughhowtocreateanetlistfromyour
schematic.SimplestepsinproducingPCBlayoutinvolveimportingthenetlist,placingcomponents,
routingandgeneratingoutputfilesandreports.

CaptureCISTutorial(Continued)
InsertingFootprints

ForeverypartusedintheschematicinDesignEntryCIS,theremustbeanaccompanyingfootprint.The
footprintsareprovidedinazippedfolderontheCMPE310homepage.Thefootprintsshouldbeina
folderinthesamedirectoryastheschematicDSNfile.ThereisalsoaPCBFootprintsPDFwiththe
footprintnamescorrespondingtotheparts.Foreachpart,leftclickandthenrightclickonthepart.
SelectEditProperties.UnderPCBFootprint,insertthefootprintnamefromthePDFandthenhitApply
tosave.

Figure1:InsertingfootprintsfromDesignEntryCIS

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CreatingtheNetlist

ThenextstepistogeneratethenetlistfromtheschematiccreatedinDesignEntryCISandthenimport
thenetlisttothePCBEditor.WearegeneratingthenetlistusingthecommandlineinWindowsXP.

First,gotothefoldercontainingyourschematic.CreateafoldertitledAllegro.Additionally,verifythat
yourfootprintsareinafoldertitledFootprint.

Openthecommandprompt:Start>AllPrograms>Accessories>CommandPrompt

TypeS:intothecommandprompttomovetotheSdrive.

Figure2:ChangedirectorytoS:\drive

Movetothefoldercontainingyourschematic:i.e.cd310/finalproj/

Nowatyourprojectsdirectory,typethefollowingcommand(oneline):

C:\Cadence\SPB_16.01\tools\capture\pstswp -pst -d "demo.DSN" -n "allegro" -c

"C:\Cadence\SPB_16.01\tools\capture\allegro.cfg"

Figure3:Runningnetlist
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AllegroPCBEditor
Creatingaboard

OpenPCBEditor:Start>AllPrograms>CadenceSPB16.01>PCBEditor>AllegroPCBDesignXL

CreateanewboardbygoingtoFile>New

BrowsetotheSDrivedirectoryofchoice(preferablythesamelocationasyourschematic),inserta
DrawingNameandsettheDrawingTypetoBoard.

Figure4:Creatinganewboard

ImportingtheNetlist

Beforeimportingthenetlist,youmustsetthedirectorypathtoyourfootprintfolder.

Setup>UserPreferences>Categories:DesignPaths>psmpath()

Addthedirectorypathtoyourfootprintfolder.ThenclickOKtoconfirm.

Repeatthesamestepforthepadstacks.

Setup>UserPreferences>Categories:DesignPaths>padpath()

Addthedirectorypathtoyourpadstackfolder(mostlikelythesamelocationasthefootprintfolder).
ThenclickOKtoconfirm.

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Figure5:Changingfootprintpath

ToimporttheschematicsfromDesignEntryCIS:

File>Import>Logic

ForImportDesignType,settoDesignentryCIS(Capture).PlacechangedcomponenttoAlways.Leave
everythingelseunchecked.ForImportDirectory,settotheallegrofolder(i.e.
S:/CMPE310/finalproj/allegro).
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Figure6:ImportLogicImportdirectoryistheallegrofolderfoundwithintheprojectdirectory

ClickImportCadence.Ifnooutputfileopensthenyournetlistwassuccessfullyimportedwithnoerrors
orwarnings.Ifthereareerrors,correctyourschematicinDesignEntryCISandrenetlist/importlogic
untilnoerrorsoccur.

CMPE310 LayoutEditorTutorialJordanBisasky

SettinguptheBoardLayers

Fortheproject,weareusingafourlayerboard.Thedefaultistwolayerssotochangethenumber,goto
Setup>CrossSection.RightclickbetweentheTopandBottomlayerstoaddfourlayers.FollowFigure
7toaddtheGNDandPowerlayersandappropriatelysettheTypetoDialectricorPlane.TheLayout
CrossSectionshouldmatchthefigure.

Figure7:Settingthenumberoflayerstofour

AllegroPCBEditorsettingsmustbechangedtosupporttheboardsizeneededfortheproject.To
increasetheavailableboardsize,gotoSetup>DesignParameterswhichopenstheDesignParameters
Editor.SelecttheDesigntabandchangetheExtentstothefollowing:

LeftX:500
LowerY:500
Width:15000
Height15000

TheunitsareinMilswhere1000Mils=1inch.AlloftheothersettingsshouldmatchthoseinFigure8.
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Figure8:AdjustingtheDesignParametersEditortosupporttherequiredboardsize

CMPE310 LayoutEditorTutorialJordanBisasky

CreatingtheBoardOutline

Tocreatetheboardoutline:Setup>Outlines>BoardOutline

UnderCommandOperations,selectCreateandunderCreateOptions,settoPlaceRectangle.

SettheBoardEdgeClearanceto100.0MIL.SetWdtandHhtbothto12000MIL(12inches).

DonotclickOK.

Figure9:CreatingtheBoardOutline

Placeboardoutlineinthelowerlefthandcornerofthewindowbyleftclicking.Again,donotclickon
OK.

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Figure10:Placingtheboardoutline

StilldonotclickOK,butplacethefirstrectangleinthewindowbygoingtoShape>Rectangular.A
purplerectangleshouldappearwithintheboardoutline.

GotoOptions(ontheupperrighthandcornerofthewindow),selecttheActiveClassasRouteKeepin
andsettheSubclassasAll.Therectanglecolorshouldchangefrompurpletoatannishred.

Figure11:Changingtherectangleclass

NowcreateanotherrectangleoverlappingthepreviousrectanglebyagaingoingtoShape>
Rectangular.Clickinthetopleftcornerofthetannishredrectangleandthenclickonthelowerright
cornerofthetannishredrectangle.ThenrightclickandselectDonetoplacethenewrectangle.

Thetworectanglesnowoverlapeachother.
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Figure12:Addingthesecondrectangle

CMPE310 LayoutEditorTutorialJordanBisasky

PlacingParts

Toplacethepartsfromtheschematic,gotoPlace>Manually.ThepartswillbeinthePlacementmenu
listedbytheirpartnames(i.e.U1,U2,R1,etc).Checkingtheboxofoneofthepartswillallowyouto
placethatpartontotheboard.Dothisforalloftheparts.Whencompleted,clickonOK.

Figure13:PlacingpartsPlacingthe8086

CMPE310 LayoutEditorTutorialJordanBisasky

Routing

First,setthewidthofthewires:Setup>Constraints>ConstraintManager

SelectthePhysicaltab,selectPhysicalConstraintSet,andthenAllLayers.UnderTypePCSwithObjects
DEFAULT,setthewidthundercolumnLineWidthMinto20.0andsetthewidthunderNeckMinWidth
to20.0.

Figure14:Changingthewirewidths

Toroutetheconnections,gotoRoute>RouteAutomatic.Leavethesettingstothedefaultandselect
Route.Inthefinalproject,thisstepcantakeupwardsof30minutes.

Figure15:Autoroutingtheparts
CMPE310 LayoutEditorTutorialJordanBisasky