User-guided PCB Autorouting with Flow Segments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current PCB autorouters lack the ability to effectively capture and implement a designer's mental routing strategy, leading to manual and time-consuming routing processes, especially as PCB complexity increases, resulting in delayed product development and limited control over the routing process.
Innovation Solution
A method that allows designers to define user-preferred placements and paths for interconnections, which are then used to bias the autorouter, enabling the routing engine to generate geometric paths that align with the designer's intent, while also allowing for data abstraction and visualization of patterns to ensure signal integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If manual routing is used to achieve precise control over interconnection paths, then routing precision is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to the extremely slow and arduous process
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary routing actions by creating flow segments and path guidance structures before final autorouting. Designers can define preferred paths and the system pre-processes routing guidance, allowing the autorouter to follow established directions rather than calculating paths from scratch, thus maintaining precision while improving productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces flow segments and path guidance structures as intermediary elements between manual routing definitions and final autorouting execution. These intermediaries carry routing intent through the design database, enabling the autorouter to automatically follow designer-intended paths without manual vertex-by-vertex specification
2Productivity
If autorouting is used to improve productivity, then routing speed is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to limited control over routing decisions
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by allowing different routing control mechanisms to apply to different regions or sets of interconnections. Flow segments can be defined for specific nets or regions, enabling precise control where needed while allowing automated routing elsewhere, thus maintaining both productivity and precision
3Reliability
If designers manually define routing paths to maintain design integrity, then reliability is improved, but loss of time increases due to the extended design phase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of routing intent and design strategy by storing flow segment definitions and path guidance data in the design database. This copied information represents the designer's mental model and can be automatically retrieved and followed by the autorouter, maintaining design integrity without requiring time-consuming manual routing execution
4Ease of operation
If existing autorouting mechanisms are used to provide limited path control, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to inability to preserve specific paths
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-defining flow segments and path guidance structures that encode specific routing paths before autorouting execution. These pre-established paths are stored in the design database and the autorouter is biased to follow them, preserving specific paths while maintaining ease of operation through automated processing
Data Source
AI summary
A mechanism is provided for the user to define a circuit design intent or strategy in the form of data that is stored with the design database. An autorouter then uses this guidance from the user to create a plan for routing the design. The user can then modify their guidance to the router until the results for the plan are acceptable. Using the planned flow, the autorouter can complete the design, creating detailed paths including etch segments and vias. Allowing such interaction with an autorouter significantly reduces the routing time and hence time-to-market.