JP3047086B2 - Printed circuit board design system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printed circuit board design system, and more particularly to a printed circuit board design system in which one printed circuit board is divided into a plurality of blocks, and a circuit pattern is assigned to each block. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Designing a printed circuit board using a CAD system has been conventionally performed. However, there is a problem that it takes too much time for one designer to design one printed circuit board as the density of the printed circuit board increases. Therefore, a shared design method has been used in which one printed circuit board is divided into blocks for each circuit function, and each person in charge designs the divided blocks.

[0003] The conventional shared design method is based on a block boundary.
Provide virtual terminals and use these virtual terminals to connect blocks
Had gone. The location of the virtual terminal is designed in the block
Is determined in. Therefore, the blocks are combined and 1
When making a single printed circuit board,
In some cases, the position of the virtual terminal to be connected sometimes did not match.
Thus, the position of the virtual terminal needs to be adjusted. Also,
In the block design, virtual terminals are provided and blocks are synthesized.
In such a case, a process for deleting the virtual terminal is required. this child
This means that it is not possible to shorten the design period of printed circuit boards
There was a problem.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and a printed circuit board without providing virtual terminals.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printed circuit board design system capable of shortening the design period by performing the shared design .

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a netlist data file in which data for designing a printed circuit board is stored, and a single printed circuit board which is obtained by reading data from the netlist data file. Divides data into multiple block areas, and blocks each block
Block area data and the block indicating coordinates surrounding the
Area setting means for creating in-block component data indicating a component name belonging to and additionally storing the data in the netlist data file; reading data for each block from the netlist data file to determine the component arrangement and wiring in the block
A block layout unit to be executed, and read-in the laid-out block data created by the block inside block unit to perform block synthesis and inter-block connection, and
A printed circuit board design system comprising block synthesizing means for creating completed printed circuit board data.
You.

[0006]

[Operation] A block area is created by reading data from a netlist data file, and a block is surrounded for each block.
Belonging to the block area data and the block indicates a non-coordinate
In- block component data indicating a component name to be created is created and additionally stored in the netlist data file. The block area data and the component data in the block are read for each block, and the component arrangement and wiring in the block are determined.
Do. In this way, the laid-out block data is obtained.
This makes it possible to connect the blocks between blocks, which could only be connected by the artwork until then, based on the connection data. Thus, according to the present invention,
Design of printed circuit boards without providing virtual terminals
A printed circuit board design system capable of shortening the design period.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a netlist data file in which data for printed circuit board design is stored, and 2 denotes a data read from the netlist data file 1;
Area setting means for dividing the printed circuit board data into a plurality of block areas, creating block area data and in-block component data for each block, and additionally storing them in the netlist data file 1; This is an in-block layout unit that reads out data from 1 for each block and performs an in-block layout. Reference numeral 4 denotes a block data file for each block laid out from data read for each block, and reference numeral 5 denotes one block obtained by reading the laid-out block data 4 created by the intra-block layout means 3 and synthesizing the blocks and connecting the blocks. Block synthesizing means for creating completed printed circuit board data;
Is a printed circuit board data file for storing one printed circuit board data synthesized by the above. The operation of the system configured as described above will be described below. (1) Determination of Block and Determination of Intra-block Configuration First, the netlist data file 1 stores component definition data and connection data as shown in FIG.
(A) shows component definition data, and (b) shows connection data.

The area setting means 2 first reads net list data from the net list data file 1 as shown in FIG. The read state at this time is as shown in S1 of FIG. In the figure, components IC1 to IC4 are read. Next, the area setting means 2 puts the component data of the read netlist into blocks. Define a block delimiter for what is put into a block and give it a name. S2 in the figure shows an example of division into block 1 and block 2. IC1 and IC2 are included in block 1, and IC3 and IC4 are included in block 2. Block divisions are indicated by coordinates in the x and y directions.

Next, the defined result is additionally stored in the netlist data file 1. The contents to be additionally stored are the block area data and the in-block component data. FIG.
5 shows an example of block area data, and FIG. 5 shows an example of component data in a block. Block area data is
As shown in FIG. 4, the coordinate data surrounding each block is shown in order, and the in-block part data shows the names of the parts belonging to each block as shown in FIG.

In this example, the block area data is shown by only a straight line. However, when a block is defined using an arc as shown in FIG. 6, it is described by the coordinates of each point of the arc. You may do so.

If the position of a component which becomes a boundary between the blocks divided by the sequence is determined, the arrangement result can be set in the component data. Therefore, when combining the blocks in a later step, the connection between the blocks can be performed smoothly. (2) Read processing of netlist by designating block name, etc. From this processing, actual sharing design is achieved. The intra-block layout means 3 reads the netlist data by designating a block name from the netlist data file 1 as shown in FIG. S1 in the figure shows a case where BLOCK1 is designated. As for the component data, only the components in the designated block are read. By doing so, useless data is not read, and the efficiency of data processing can be improved.

The connection data captures all data of the netlist. Then, the in-block layout means 3 displays the arrangement / wiring area based on the block area data. Next, in-block layout means 3
Performs in-block placement / wiring. In this case,
Placement and wiring are performed using the in-block connection ratio detection function. S2 in the figure shows a state after wiring. When the layout is completed, the intra-block layout means 3 outputs the laid-out data. The state of S2 in the figure corresponds to the block data file 4 in FIG. (3) Combining Block Combining Processing The block combining unit 5 reads the block data file 4 (block data for which sharing has been designed) as shown in FIG. As a reading method at this time, for example, using any one block data as a key, only graphic data of other block data is read.

Next, connection between blocks is performed. For example, a connection operation between the blocks is performed using an unconnected display function. S2 in the figure shows a state after the connection is completed. It can be seen that the connection between the blocks has been made. Then, the combined result is output. As a result, complete printed board data can be obtained for one printed circuit board. This printed board data is stored in the printed board data file 6.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the block is determined on the printed circuit board is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this. When linked with a circuit diagram, so-called blocks of the circuit diagram can be effectively used as shown below.

The netlist output from the circuit diagram includes:
It is generally possible to output the in-block component data as described above. The data in the block is read, and the components in the block are arranged as shown in FIG. 9A by using, for example, a distribution function of the system.

Next, an actual layout block is determined from the logical blocks as described above. The result is output as block area data as shown in FIG.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the sharing design for each block is achieved .
Layout and component placement and wiring in the block
Block data is obtained. Layouted block day
Data is obtained, connection between blocks is performed based on the connection data.
It can be performed. Thus, according to the present invention, provisional
Design of printed circuit boards without providing terminals
Printer that can shorten the design period
A board design system can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a net list.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of block area data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of component data in a block.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of block area data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view of another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Netlist data file 2 Area setting means 3 Layout means in a block 4 Block data file 5 Block synthesis means 6 Printed board data file

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-2-224182 (JP, A) JP-A-4-155472 (JP, A) JP-A-3-238557 (JP, A) JP-A-3-224 123055 (JP, A) Michimasa Akaishi, 3 outsiders, "CADVAN CE SUPER PCB Editing Design Method", Yokogawa Technical Report, Yokogawa Electric Corporation, April 20, 1991, Vol. 35, No. 2, p. 71-76 (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/50

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A netlist data file storing data for designing a printed circuit board, and reading data from the netlist data file to divide one piece of printed circuit board data into a plurality of block areas. Area setting means for creating block area data indicating coordinates surrounding the block and component data within the block indicating component names belonging to the block and additionally storing the block data in the netlist data file; and storing data for each block from the netlist data file. An in-block layout means for reading out and arranging and wiring components in the block, and reading out the laid-out block data created by the in-block layout means to combine the blocks and connect the blocks to one completed print It is composed of a block synthesis unit that creates board data. Printed circuit board design system.