Design support device and design support method for printed circuit boards, and program for causing a computer to execute the design support method

Abstract

Disclosed is a technology for reducing the amount of reworking the design of a printed circuit board. In this invention, processing to be executed by a CPU of a printed circuit board design assistance system comprises: a step (S510) of extracting, from a database, design information relating to a printed circuit board to be designed newly; a step (S520) of calculating the number of connections, the number of connected lines, and the number of connected electrodes; a step (S530) of calculating design metrics information relating to the printed circuit board; a step (S545) of grouping the sets of design metrics information relating to designed printed circuit boards if all the sets of design metrics information are determined to have been read (YES in step S540); a step (S555) of comparing the design metrics information relating to the printed circuit board to be designed newly and the sets of design metrics information relating to designed printed circuit boards; a step (S565) of determining design specifications if associations of all the sets of design metrics information have been determined (YES in step S560).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technology for supporting the development of printed circuit boards, and more particularly to a technology for supporting the design of printed circuit boards. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, the development environment for printed circuit boards has become increasingly difficult due to the miniaturization, increased number of pins, and increased speed of mounted components, making design work more difficult. To address this, it has become necessary to determine design specifications early on.

[0003] In particular, when developing printed circuit boards, determining the design specifications to be realized requires consideration of many interrelated factors, including not only the impact of miniaturization of mounted components and the increase in pin count, but also the total number of mounted components, the size of the board, etc. Furthermore, the factors to be determined must involve a combination of multiple factors, such as the wiring width, the clearance between wiring, and the number of layers of the printed circuit board. This poses the problem of requiring a great deal of experience and effort.

[0004] In general printed circuit board design devices, a technology is used in which the layer structure and wiring width are tentatively determined in advance, and after component placement design, whether the printed circuit board design is feasible is determined based on the wiring capacitance to see if it matches the amount of wiring that needs to be done. However, if the design is not feasible, there is a problem in that it requires rework, such as starting over from the component placement design (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-160751 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In such a printed circuit board design device, the design specifications could not be determined until the component layout design, which is the stage before the wiring design, was completed, and if it was determined that the wiring design was difficult based on the provisionally determined design specifications, it was necessary to start again from the component layout design. Therefore, a technology that can determine the design specifications of a printed circuit board at an early stage is needed.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and one of the objects according to a certain aspect is to provide a technique that enables the determination of design specifications for a printed circuit board that requires a large number of wirings at an early stage of design work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to one embodiment, there is provided a design support device for printed circuit boards. The design support device includes a storage unit that stores design index information for each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past, an input unit that accepts input of design index information for a printed circuit board to be newly designed, and a processing unit that proposes design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information. The processing unit aggregates the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping them, determines a design specification including the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications, and outputs the design specification for the newly designed printed circuit board. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to an embodiment of the printed circuit board design support system, design index information for a printed circuit board requiring a large number of wirings can be calculated at the start of the design of the printed circuit board, and appropriate design specifications for the printed circuit board can be obtained early. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an outline of functions provided in a printed circuit board design support system 100 according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram conceptually showing one mode of data storage in a circuit design information database (DB) 130. FIG. [Figure 3] 10 is a diagram conceptually showing one mode of data storage in a design specification performance DB 140. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a computer system 400 that realizes a printed circuit board design support system 100. [Figure 5] 1 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing executed by a CPU 1 of a computer system 400 functioning as a printed circuit board design support system 100. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of grouping design indicators using a design specification ID (Identification) that identifies a design specification. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of grouping design indicators using a graph. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of grouping design indicators using a graph. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of how the printed circuit board design support system according to the second embodiment groups design indicators. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of how the printed circuit board design support system according to the second embodiment groups design indicators. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the same or corresponding parts in the drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and their description will not be repeated in principle.

[0012] Embodiment 1 A configuration of a printed circuit board design support system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of an outline of functions provided in the printed circuit board design support system 100 according to the first embodiment.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the printed circuit board design support system 100 includes an input unit 110, a processing unit 120, a circuit design information DB (Database) 130, a design specification performance DB 140, a memory unit 150, an output unit 160, and a communication unit 170.

[0014] The printed circuit board design support system 100 is used for designing a printed circuit board. As will be described later, the printed circuit board design support system 100 can determine design specifications for a printed circuit board and output data representing the design specifications. The design specifications are composed of values ​​of multiple design indices (hereinafter referred to as design index information). The design indices include electrode density, connection density, building coverage ratio, component density, etc. Details of the design indices will be described later.

[0015] The input unit 110 accepts input of operations by a user (e.g., a development worker) of the printed circuit board design support system 100. The operations include, for example, an operation of storing information and an operation of issuing a command to execute processing of each function described below. More specifically, the input unit 110 is realized by a keyboard (KB), a mouse, a microphone, etc. In another aspect, the input unit 110 can be configured to accept input of information output from an auxiliary storage device such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or from another device connected to a receiving interface such as a parallel bus or a serial bus, or a network (not shown).

[0016] The processing unit 120 executes instructions (programs) for implementing the printed circuit board design support system 100. The processing unit 120 includes an arithmetic unit 121 and a design information processing unit 122. The design information processing unit 122 includes a design index calculation module 123 and a design index comparison and analysis module 124.

[0017] The calculation unit 121 realizes the overall function of software processing. For example, the calculation unit 121 receives information from the storage unit 150 in accordance with a command input to the input unit 110, and passes the information to the design information processing unit 122 and the output unit 160.

[0018] In the design information processing unit 122, the design index calculation module 123 calculates the electrode density, connection density, floor area ratio, component density, and other design indexes required to determine the design specifications of the printed circuit board, using the information stored in the storage unit 150. Furthermore, the design information processing unit 122 stores these calculated design indexes in the design specification performance DB 140 as information constituting one design specification of the printed circuit board (hereinafter also referred to as "design specification information").

[0019] In this embodiment, each design index includes, for example, electrode density, connection density, building coverage ratio, and component density, and may also include other information.

[0020] The electrode density is a design index that indicates the ratio of the total number of electrodes of the mounted components to the area of ​​the printed circuit board. The total number of electrodes is, for example, the number of electrically connected connection electrodes, and may be the total number of electrodes of the mounted components.

[0021] Connection density is a design index that indicates the ratio of the total number of connections of all signal groups to the area of ​​the printed circuit board.

[0022] The floor area ratio is a design index that indicates the ratio of the total area occupied by mounted components to the area of ​​the printed circuit board.

[0023] The component density is a design index that indicates the ratio of the total number of electrodes of the components mounted on the printed circuit board to the total number of components mounted on the printed circuit board.

[0024] The area of ​​the printed circuit board may be, for example, the total area indicated by the board size, the sum of the areas of the front and back surfaces, or the area obtained by excluding the prohibited area from the total area of ​​the printed circuit board.

[0025] The design index comparison and analysis module 124 compares the design index calculated by the design index calculation module 123 with at least one piece of design index information 141 of printed circuit boards that have been designed in the past and are already stored in the design specification performance DB 140. Furthermore, the design index comparison and analysis module 124 analyzes the results of the comparison to determine the design specifications of the printed circuit board to be designed this time.

[0026] The circuit design information DB 130 includes information required for design held by a known printed circuit board design device, a so-called CAD (Computer-Aided Design) system, as well as information required by the printed circuit board design support system 100 according to this embodiment. For example, the circuit design information DB 130 includes mounted component information 131, board information 132, and connection information 133. Details of the data structure of the circuit design information DB 130 will be described later (FIG. 2).

[0027] The design specification result DB 140 includes design index information 141. The design index information 141 is used by the printed circuit board design support system 100. Details of the design specification result DB 140 will be described later (FIG. 3).

[0028] The circuit design information DB 130 and the design specification result DB 140 are managed in a hard disk, an SSD, or other nonvolatile storage device. Note that, although the circuit design information DB 130 and the design specification result DB 140 are illustrated as being provided inside the printed circuit board design support system 100, in other aspects, these databases may be provided in an external storage device accessible by the printed circuit board design support system 100.

[0029] The memory unit 150 holds information input to the input unit 110, information required by the processing unit 120 for calculation processing, information generated by the processing unit 120, information output from the output unit 160, and other information required for the operation of the printed circuit board design support system 100.

[0030] The storage unit 150 includes a plurality of storage areas for storing instructions or data, such as a component information area 151, a board information area 152, and a connection information area 153.

[0031] The component information area 151 stores information such as the shape of each component mounted on the printed circuit board, the number of connection terminals provided for pattern wiring, etc. Furthermore, the component information area 151 stores information indicating the type of mounting when each component is mounted on the printed circuit board and the non-mountable area specific to that component.

[0032] The board information area 152 holds information on the shape and area of ​​the printed circuit board, and the width of the peripheral area of ​​the printed circuit board that is predetermined as a mounting prohibited area, as well as information on the area of ​​the prohibited area set at the edge or any location of the printed circuit board.

[0033] The connection information area 153 stores electrical connection information between multiple terminals of multiple mounted components for each of multiple pre-designed electrical connections required between multiple mounted components on the printed circuit board. Furthermore, the connection information area 153 also stores information such as the total number of connection nets, connections, and connection electrodes of the multiple electrical connections.

[0034] The number of connection nets is the total number of signal groups present on a printed circuit board, with an electrically connected signal group of the same potential being counted as 1. The number of connections is the number connected to a single signal group, and is calculated as "number of connections = number of connections within a signal group - 1." The number of connection electrodes represents the total number of electrodes on electrically connected components, and is calculated as "number of connection electrodes = number of connection nets + total number of connections."

[0035] According to one aspect, storage unit 150 is realized by a hard disk drive, a removable magnetic storage device, or an SSD (Solid State Drive) or other semiconductor storage device.

[0036] The output unit 160 outputs information to the outside of the printed circuit board design support system 100. This information includes, for example, information input to the input unit 110, information stored in the printed circuit board design support system 100, information generated by the processing unit 120, and the like. This information is confirmed by a development worker. As an example, the output unit 160 is realized as a monitor device such as a liquid crystal display, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. In another aspect, the output unit 160 can be realized as a printer or plotter capable of printing information in the form of characters, images, and the like.

[0037] Communication unit 170 is connected to a network (not shown) to communicate with other information communication terminals. The form of communication may be either wired communication or wireless communication. In one aspect, communication unit 170 can function as the receiving interface described above.

[0038] The printed circuit board design support system 100 according to this embodiment can be realized by a single computer system. According to another embodiment, the printed circuit board design support system 100 can also be realized on a cloud server. In this case, the printed circuit board design support system 100 calculates each piece of information for supporting printed circuit board design in response to a request received from another information communication terminal (e.g., a client terminal, a personal computer, a tablet terminal, etc.) via the communication unit 170, and transmits the calculation results to the other information communication terminal via the communication unit 170. With this configuration, the printed circuit board design support system according to this embodiment can also be realized as a cloud service.

[0039] <Data Structure> The data structure of the printed circuit board design support system 100 will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. Figure 2 is a diagram conceptually showing one mode of data storage in the circuit design information DB 130. As shown in Figure 2, the circuit design information DB 130 includes mounted component information 131, board information 132, and connection information 133.

[0040] The mounted component information 131 includes information on each component mounted on the printed circuit board. More specifically, the mounted component information 131 includes a component ID, dimensional information (width, height, length) of the component, the number of terminals for electrical connection (number of connection terminals), the component model name, mounting type information, and unmountable area information. The mounting type information indicates whether the component is a component that is attached to the surface of the board when mounted on the printed circuit board (a so-called surface-mounted component), or a component whose electrodes are inserted into holes formed in the printed circuit board (a so-called insertion-mounted component). The unmountable area information indicates the area of ​​an area that is generated around the component when the component is mounted and that is uniquely unmountable for the component.

[0041] The board information 132 includes the dimensions (width, length) and area of ​​the board, the board periphery prohibited area width, and the prohibited area area. The board periphery prohibited area width generally represents the width of the area around the board where component mounting or pattern wiring is not permitted. The prohibited area area includes information on other prohibited area areas that arise due to constraints on the product that uses the printed circuit board.

[0042] The connection information 133 includes the number of connection nets, which indicates the number of connection groups on the entire board, the number of connection electrodes, which is the total number of connection destinations of the connection groups, a connection ID, N pieces of connection destination information, and the number of connections. The connection ID identifies each of the multiple electrical connection groups. The connection destination information specifies multiple connection destinations to be interconnected for each connection ID. The number of connections specifies the number of such interconnections.

[0043] 3 is a diagram conceptually showing one mode of data storage in the design specification result DB 140. The design specification result DB 140 stores design index information 141 that constitutes the design specifications of the printed circuit board calculated by the printed circuit board design support system 100.

[0044] The design index information 141 includes a board ID, electrode density, connection density, floor area ratio, component density, wiring width, wiring clearance, and the number of wiring layers. The board ID identifies a printed circuit board having a certain design specification. Therefore, when one board ID is identified, one design specification is identified.

[0045] <Hardware configuration> Here, a specific configuration of the printed circuit board design support system 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a computer system 400 that realizes the printed circuit board design support system 100.

[0046] The computer system 400 mainly comprises the following components: a CPU 1 that executes programs; a mouse 2 and keyboard 3 that receive instructions input by the user of the computer system 400; a RAM 4 that volatilely stores data generated by the CPU 1 executing the programs or data input via the mouse 2 or keyboard 3; a hard disk 5 that nonvolatilely stores data; an optical disk drive 6; a communication interface (I / F) 7; and a monitor 8. The components are interconnected by a data bus. A CD-ROM 9 or other optical disk is inserted into the optical disk drive 6.

[0047] Processing in the computer system 400 is realized by software executed by each piece of hardware and the CPU 1. Such software may be pre-stored on the hard disk 5. Alternatively, the software may be stored on a CD-ROM 9 or other recording medium and distributed as a computer program. Alternatively, the software may be provided as a downloadable application program by an information provider connected to the Internet. Such software is read from the recording medium by an optical disk drive 6 or other reading device, or downloaded via the communication interface 7, and then temporarily stored on the hard disk 5. The software is read from the hard disk 5 by the CPU 1 and stored in the RAM 4 in the form of an executable program. The CPU 1 executes the program.

[0048] Each component constituting the computer system 400 shown in FIG. 4 is common. Therefore, one essential part of the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure can be said to be software stored in RAM 4, hard disk 5, CD-ROM 9, or other recording medium, or software downloadable via a network. The recording medium may include a non-transitory (i.e., permanent, non-volatile) computer-readable data recording medium. Note that the operation of each piece of hardware in the computer system 400 is well known, so detailed description will not be repeated.

[0049] The recording medium is not limited to a CD-ROM, FD (Flexible Disk), or hard disk, but may also be a medium that carries a program in a fixed manner, such as an SSD, magnetic tape, cassette tape, optical disk (MO (Magnetic Optical Disc) / MD (Mini Disc) / DVD (Digital Versatile Disc)), IC (Integrated Circuit) card (including memory card), optical card, mask ROM, EPROM (Electronically Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electronically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), flash ROM, or other semiconductor memory.

[0050] The program here includes not only a program that can be directly executed by the CPU 1, but also a source program, a compressed program, an encrypted program, and the like.

[0051] <Control Structure> The control structure of printed circuit board design support system 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flowchart showing a portion of the processing implemented by CPU 1 of computer system 400 functioning as printed circuit board design support system 100 executing instructions included in a program. Note that in another aspect, some or all of the following processing can also be implemented as a combination of circuit elements configured to execute the processing.

[0052] In step S510, the CPU 1 reads data from the circuit design information DB 130. More specifically, in response to a user input to the input unit 110, the CPU 1 extracts, from the circuit design information DB 130, design information (mounted component information 131 and board information 132) of a printed circuit board designated as a new design target by the user input.

[0053] In step S515, the CPU 1 stores the read data in a temporary work area. More specifically, of the extracted design information, the CPU 1 stores the mounted component information 131 in the component information area 151, and stores the board information 132 in the board information area 152.

[0054] In step S520, the CPU 1 calculates the number of connections, the number of connected nets, and the number of connected electrodes.

[0055] In step S525, the CPU 1 stores the connection information and the calculation results of step S520 (the number of connections, the number of connected nets, and the number of connected electrodes) in the connection information area 153.

[0056] In step S530, CPU 1 calculates necessary design index values ​​(design index information) from the stored information as design index calculation module 123. More specifically, CPU 1 uses the stored information to calculate at least one piece of design index information among electrode density, connection density, building coverage ratio, and component density, and writes the calculation results into design specification performance DB 140.

[0057] In step S535, the CPU 1 functions as the design index comparison and analysis module 124 to extract the design index information of each of all printed circuit boards that have been previously designed and stored in the design specification performance DB 140.

[0058] In step S540, CPU 1 determines whether all design index information has been read. If CPU 1 determines that all design index information has been read (YES in step S540), it switches control to step S545. If not (NO in step S540), CPU 1 returns control to step S535 and continues extracting design index information.

[0059] In step S545, the CPU 1 groups all the extracted design index information by design specification. Specifically, the CPU 1 aggregates one or more board IDs including the design index information into a group (=design specification) based on the value of the design index information, and classifies the printed circuit board identified by the board ID into one of the groups.

[0060] <Grouping> Grouping according to this embodiment will now be described with reference to Fig. 6 to Fig. 8. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of grouping design indicators using a design specification ID that identifies the design specification. Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of grouping design indicators using a graph. Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of grouping design indicators using a graph.

[0061] 6, a design specification ID is provided for each design specification. In one aspect, for example, CPU 1 compares each piece of design index information associated with each board ID with a preset range and determines to which range each piece of design index information belongs. For example, CPU 1 may group boards having the same design index information characterizing the design specifications (e.g., number of wiring layers, wiring width, clearance between wirings) as having the same design specification.

[0062] 6, the printed circuit boards identified by board IDs 1 and 2 are grouped into the same design specification (e.g., design specification ID=1) because they have the same number of wiring layers, wiring width, and clearance between wiring lines. Also, the printed circuit boards identified by board IDs 3 and 4 are grouped into a different design specification from the printed circuit board included in the design specification identified by design specification ID=1. In this way, the CPU 1 can manage the index information of the designed printed circuit boards included in the design specification identified by the design specification ID.

[0063] On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 7 or 8, the CPU 1 can group the design indices by graphing them in a mapping manner. The CPU 1 uses the values ​​of the design indices shown in Fig. 6 to group the design information by dividing the design information into regions for each design specification.

[0064] For example, the CPU 1 determines that each printed circuit board identified by one or more board IDs associated with design index information belonging to the same value or range (e.g., wiring width = 0.15 mm, 0.16 mm, etc.) belongs to the same design specification. The CPU 1 sets a design specification ID that identifies the design specification arbitrarily or in response to user input. The CPU 1 associates each design specification ID with one or more board IDs determined to belong to the same design specification, thereby classifying (grouping) each board ID into one of the design specifications.

[0065] Using the grouping technique illustrated in FIG. 6 and the grouping technique illustrated in FIG. 7 or FIG. 8, the CPU 1 can determine which group's value range the design index of the board that is to be the new design specification falls within.

[0066] 5, in step S550, CPU 1 determines whether all of the design information has been grouped. If CPU 1 determines that all of the design information has been grouped (YES in step S550), CPU 1 switches control to step S555. If not (NO in step S550), CPU 1 returns control to step S545.

[0067] In step S555, CPU 1 compares the extracted design index information with the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board. For each piece of design index information, CPU 1 compares and determines which design specification IDs, grouped by the design index information of the already-designed printed circuit boards, contain the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board. As an example of the comparison, CPU 1 calculates the maximum and minimum values ​​of the design index information for each board ID included in each design specification, compares the magnitude relationship, and determines which range the design index information falls within. As another aspect of the comparison, CPU 1 may calculate a value indicating the variation (e.g., standard deviation) taking into account the variation of other design index information and determine which range the value falls within. Furthermore, the design index information may be included in multiple design specification IDs. In this case, CPU 1 may group the board IDs having the design index information so that they belong to each of the multiple design specification IDs.

[0068] In step S560, CPU 1 determines whether the affiliation of all design index information for the newly designed printed circuit board has been determined. This determination is made, for example, based on whether the results of the comparison determination (step S555) have been obtained for the number of design indexes for the newly designed printed circuit board. If CPU 1 determines that the affiliation ranges of all design indexes have been determined (YES in step S560), it switches control to step S565. If not (NO in step S560), CPU 1 returns control to step S555.

[0069] In step S565, CPU 1 determines the design specifications for the printed circuit board. This determination is a proposal to the user, who can select the design specifications as appropriate. For example, the comparison in step S555 may result in multiple design specifications corresponding to one design parameter. In this case, CPU 1 analyzes the design specifications to which two or more design parameters belong in order to further improve the accuracy of the design specification determination. For example, if the electrode density corresponds to multiple design specifications with the same wiring width and wiring clearance but different numbers of wiring layers, CPU 1 also analyzes the results of the determination based on the building coverage ratio, connection density, component density, and other design parameters.

[0070] Therefore, the analysis method will be explained. One example of the analysis method is to adopt a design specification whose design index information value is high spec among one or more design specifications classified as belonging. A design specification whose design index information value is high spec means, for example, that in the case of the number of wiring layers, the number of wiring layers is greater than a predetermined standard number of wiring layers, in the case of the wiring width, the wiring width is the finest, and in the case of the wiring clearance, the clearance is the smallest.

[0071] The CPU 1 may propose, as the design specification for the new printed circuit board, a design specification in which some or all of the plurality of pieces of design index information have higher specifications than the design index information included in other design specifications, depending on the performance or functions required for the printed circuit board. In another aspect, the CPU 1 may select a design specification including high-spec design index information according to a priority order preset for the design index information by the user of the printed circuit board design support system 100.

[0072] As another example, the CPU 1 may calculate information for each design index of the group closest to the center of the region indicated by the corresponding design specification shown in FIG. 7 or 8, and determine the design specification to which the board ID that provides the design index information closest to the center belongs as the final design specification. For example, the CPU 1 may define a region consisting of two or more design indexes among multiple design indexes, and determine the design specification that defines the region in which the value between the center value of the region and the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is the smallest as a candidate for the design specification of the newly designed printed circuit board. The region illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 is a region defined by two design indexes among multiple design indexes. When three design indexes are selected, the CPU 1 derives a region in three-dimensional space as the region and compares the center of the three-dimensional space with the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board.

[0073] In yet another aspect, when calculating the design index, for example, if the calculation is performed without taking into account the prohibited area area in the area of ​​the printed circuit board, the CPU 1 may perform the above analysis using new design index information that takes into account the prohibited area area. Also, for electrode density, the CPU 1 may use an index using the number of connected electrodes as design index information, as opposed to a value calculated using the number of electrodes of all components.

[0074] Embodiment 2 The second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 9 and 10. Figures 9 and 10 are diagrams illustrating examples of how the printed circuit board design support system according to the second embodiment groups design indicators.

[0075] In the first embodiment, a technique relating to a simple group membership comparison with one or more pieces of design index information by grouping has been described as the comparison method in the design index comparison and analysis module 124. In contrast, the printed circuit board design support system according to the present embodiment differs from printed circuit board design support system 100 according to the first embodiment in that, when grouping, more reliable design indexes are selected to compose design specifications.

[0076] The hardware configuration of the printed circuit board design support system according to this embodiment is the same as the hardware configuration of printed circuit board design support system 100 according to Embodiment 1. Therefore, description of the hardware configuration will not be repeated.

[0077] In some cases, when designing a printed circuit board, the design specifications may be adopted to match the specifications of other printed circuit boards in the same product, resulting in a printed circuit board with a high likelihood (redundant specifications). For example, a four-layer wiring layer may be adopted for a board that can actually be designed with two wiring layers, or a 20mm x 50mm board may be designed for a board that can actually be designed with a 10mm x 50mm board size due to product structure issues.

[0078] Comparing and classifying the design specifications of such a likely board with the design specifications of a newly designed board can easily cause the level of the design specifications of the newly designed board to be lowered.

[0079] Therefore, the printed circuit board design support system according to this embodiment adopts, as a group to be compared, the remaining design specifications of previously designed and proven printed circuit boards (e.g., FIGS. 7 and 8), excluding the design specifications having lower-level design indexes arbitrarily set by the user. In this embodiment, the lower-level design indexes refer to design indexes whose values ​​(design index information) are lower than a predetermined reference value. Therefore, a printed circuit board with design specifications consisting of lower-level design indexes can be a printed circuit board with guaranteed minimum quality.

[0080] The printed circuit board design support system according to this embodiment compares design specifications made up of design indices of printed circuit boards belonging to the group with design specifications made up of design indices of a newly designed printed circuit board.

[0081] 9, the CPU 1 of the printed circuit board design support system determines that the area enclosed by the dashed line in design specifications 1 and 2 is a design specification with a lower design index and is to be omitted. As shown in state (B), the CPU 1 determines the remaining area after the area is removed as a comparison target.

[0082] 10, the CPU 1 determines that the rectangular area surrounded by the dashed line is a design specification having a lower design index and is to be omitted. As shown in state (B), the CPU 1 determines the remaining area after the rectangular area is omitted as a comparison target.

[0083] In this way, the printed circuit board design support system according to this embodiment omits information on previously designed printed circuit boards with lower design indices to form groups with reduced likelihoods, and only compares these groups, allowing the user to determine design specifications for new printed circuit boards with high accuracy.

[0084] In another aspect, the CPU 1 may select, as the design specification to be compared, an area consisting of design index information having a value that exceeds a threshold value specified by the user or a predetermined reference value. In this case, the design specification consisting of design index information with higher specifications is more likely to be selected.

[0085] <Summary> As described above, the printed circuit board design support system 100 according to this embodiment stores design index information for printed circuit boards that have already been designed and design specification information aggregated using the design index information. When a new printed circuit board is designed, the CPU 1 of the printed circuit board design support system 100 compares the design index information for the newly designed printed circuit board with the design specification information for previously designed printed circuit boards, and determines the design specifications to which the design index information for the newly designed printed circuit board belongs. With this configuration, the printed circuit board design support system 100 can quickly determine the design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board, allowing the printed circuit board designer to obtain design information early. This allows the design to proceed without determining at a later stage that wiring is difficult with the provisionally determined design specifications, thereby preventing the need to redo the layout design.

[0086] <Additional Notes> Some of the technical features disclosed in this specification and drawings can be summarized as follows:

[0087] [Configuration example 1] A printed circuit board design support device, a storage unit for storing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past; an input unit that receives input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; a processing unit for proposing design specifications for a newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information, The processing unit The design index information is grouped and aggregated into one or more design specifications; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; A printed circuit board design support device that outputs design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board.

[0088] [Configuration example 2] The printed circuit board design support device according to configuration example 1, wherein the determining step includes selecting design specifications of the newly designed printed circuit board as design specifications of one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards, based on the fact that design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is included between a maximum value and a minimum value of the design index information of the one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

[0089] [Configuration example 3] The printed circuit board design support device according to configuration example 1, wherein the determining step includes selecting, as the design specification into which the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated, a design specification that will have the smallest variation in the design index information included in the aggregated design specification when the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated.

[0090] [Configuration example 4] The above decision is determining a plurality of design specifications; A design support device for a printed circuit board according to any one of configuration examples 1 to 3, which includes determining, as the design specification for the newly designed printed circuit board, the design specification that includes the highest performance design index information among the design index information for each of the plurality of design specifications.

[0091] [Configuration example 5] The above decision is determining a plurality of design specifications; deriving a center of each of the plurality of design specifications; The design support device according to any one of configuration examples 1 to 3, further comprising: setting, as the design specification of the newly designed printed circuit board, a design specification including design index information that minimizes the difference between each of the centers and the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board.

[0092] [Configuration example 6] The printed circuit board design support device according to any one of configuration examples 1 to 5, wherein the aggregating includes grouping design index information that exceeds a set threshold among the respective pieces of design index information.

[0093] [Configuration Example 7] A method for supporting design of a printed circuit board, comprising: A step of accessing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past, and aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the respective design index information; A step of receiving input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; and outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board.

[0094] [Configuration example 8] The printed circuit board design support method according to configuration example 7, wherein the determining step includes a step of selecting design specifications of the newly designed printed circuit board as design specifications of any of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards, based on the fact that design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is included between the maximum value and the minimum value of the design index information of any of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

[0095] [Configuration Example 9] The printed circuit board design support method according to configuration example 7, wherein the determining step includes a step of selecting, as the design specification into which the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated, a design specification that will have the smallest variation in the design index information included in the aggregated design specification when the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated into the design specifications of one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

[0096] [Configuration Example 10] The determining step includes: determining a plurality of design specifications; The design support method according to any one of configuration examples 7 to 9, further comprising a step of selecting a design specification that includes the highest performance design index information among the design index information of each of the plurality of design specifications as the design specification for the newly designed printed circuit board.

[0097] [Configuration Example 11] The determining step includes: determining a plurality of design specifications; deriving a center of each of the plurality of design specifications; The design support method according to any one of configuration examples 7 to 9, further comprising a step of setting design specifications including design index information that minimizes the difference between each of the centers and the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board as the design specifications of the newly designed printed circuit board.

[0098] [Configuration example 12] 12. The printed circuit board design support device according to any one of configuration examples 7 to 11, wherein the aggregating step includes a step of grouping design index information that exceeds a set threshold value from among the respective pieces of design index information.

[0099] [Configuration Example 13] A program that causes a computer to execute the design support method according to any one of configuration examples 7 to 12.

[0100] The embodiments disclosed herein should be considered to be illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims, not by the above description, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope of the claims. [Industrial Applicability]

[0101] The disclosed technology can be used as a device that supports the design of printed circuit boards, as a cloud service that supports the design of printed circuit boards, or as a program that supports the design of printed circuit boards. [Explanation of symbols]

[0102] CPU1, 2 mouse, 3 keyboard, 4 RAM, 5 hard disk, 6 optical disk drive, 7 communication interface, 8 monitor, 9 ROM, 100 printed circuit board design support system, 110 input unit, 120 processing unit, 121 calculation unit, 122 Design information processing unit, 123 design index calculation module, 124 design index comparison analysis module, 130 circuit design information database (DB), 131 mounted component information, 132 board information, 133 connection information, 140 design specification performance DB, 141 design index information, 150 Memory unit, 151 component information area, 152 board information area, 153 connection information area, 160 output unit, 170 communication unit, 400 computer system.

Claims

1. A printed circuit board design support device, a storage unit for storing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past; an input unit that receives input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; a processing unit for proposing design specifications for a newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information, The processing unit aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The device for supporting design of printed circuit boards, wherein the determining step includes selecting design specifications of the newly designed printed circuit board as design specifications of one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards, based on the fact that design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is included between a maximum value and a minimum value of the design index information of the one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

2. A printed circuit board design support device, a storage unit for storing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past; an input unit that receives input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; a processing unit for proposing design specifications for a newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information, The processing unit aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The determining step includes selecting, as the design specification into which the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated, a design specification that will have the smallest variation in the design index information included in the aggregated design specification when the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated into the design specifications of one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

3. A printed circuit board design support device, a storage unit for storing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past; an input unit that receives input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; a processing unit for proposing design specifications for a newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information, The processing unit aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The determining step comprises: determining a plurality of design specifications; and determining, as the design specification for the newly designed printed circuit board, the design specification including the highest performance design index information among the design index information for each of the plurality of design specifications.

4. A printed circuit board design support device, a storage unit for storing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past; an input unit that receives input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; a processing unit for proposing design specifications for a newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information, The processing unit aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The determining step comprises: determining a plurality of design specifications; deriving a center of each of the plurality of design specifications; and determining, as the design specification for the newly designed printed circuit board, a design specification including design index information that minimizes a difference between each of the centers and the design index information for the newly designed printed circuit board.

5. A printed circuit board design support device, a storage unit for storing design index information of each of a plurality of printed circuit boards designed in the past; an input unit that receives input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; a processing unit for proposing design specifications for a newly designed printed circuit board based on the stored design index information and the input design index information, The processing unit aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The device for supporting design of a printed circuit board includes grouping design index information that exceeds a set threshold value among the respective pieces of design index information.

6. A method for supporting the design of a printed circuit board, comprising: accessing design index information of each of a plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards; aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; A step of receiving input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The method for supporting design of printed circuit boards, wherein the determining step includes a step of selecting design specifications of the newly designed printed circuit board as design specifications of one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards, based on the fact that design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is included between a maximum value and a minimum value of the design index information of the one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

7. A method for supporting the design of a printed circuit board, comprising: accessing design index information of each of a plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards; aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; A step of receiving input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The method for supporting design of a printed circuit board, wherein the determining step includes a step of selecting, as the design specification into which the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated, a design specification that will have the smallest variation in the design index information included in the aggregated design specification when the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board is aggregated into the design specifications of one of the plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards.

8. A method for supporting the design of a printed circuit board, comprising: accessing design index information of each of a plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards; aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; A step of receiving input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The determining step includes: determining a plurality of design specifications; and selecting a design specification that includes the highest performance design index information among the design index information of each of the plurality of design specifications as the design specification for the newly designed printed circuit board.

9. A method for supporting the design of a printed circuit board, comprising: accessing design index information of each of a plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards; aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; A step of receiving input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The determining step includes: determining a plurality of design specifications; deriving a center of gravity for each of the plurality of design specifications; a step of setting design specifications including design index information that minimizes a difference between each of the centers and the design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board as the design specifications of the newly designed printed circuit board.

10. A method for supporting the design of a printed circuit board, comprising: accessing design index information of each of a plurality of previously designed printed circuit boards; aggregating the design index information into one or more design specifications by grouping the design index information; A step of receiving input of design index information for a newly designed printed circuit board; determining a design specification including design index information of the newly designed printed circuit board from the one or more design specifications; outputting design specifications for the newly designed printed circuit board; The method for supporting design of a printed circuit board, wherein the step of aggregating includes a step of grouping design index information that exceeds a set threshold value among the respective pieces of design index information.

11. A program that causes a computer to execute the design support method according to any one of claims 6 to 10.

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