Mentor Graphics Extends the PADS PCB Product Creation Platform

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Mentor Graphics Corporation today announced the latest additions to the PADS PCB Product Creation Platform. New analog/mixed-signal (AMS) and high-speed analysis products address engineering challenges associated with mixed-signal design, DDR implementation, and electrically-correct design signoff. Tightly integrated and highly affordable, the new PADS AMS Design Suite, PADS AMS Cloud, PADS HyperLynx DRC, and PADS HyperLynx DDR products streamline the design process and ensure circuit performance goals are met, reducing the need for prototypes and design re-spins.  Combined with the recently announced PADS HyperLynx® DC Drop and PADS FloTHERM® XT products for power integrity and thermal analysis, the extended PADS Product Creation Platform gives engineers access to technologies that were formerly out of reach for the mainstream PCB market.

"Our products are becoming more challenging to develop due to higher-end requirements," said Joel Libove, Ph.D. and president of Furaxa, Inc.  "The new PADS products give us access to essential simulation technologies that enable us to produce products at higher complexity, ensuring we can deliver on our commitments to the market in terms of function, price, and delivery."

Analog/Mixed Signal Design

The vast majority of today's electronic products contain analog content which must be designed and validated in the context of the overall system, making analog/mixed signal simulation critical for product creation. To address this need, the new PADS AMS Cloud – which is a cloud-based circuit exploration/simulation environment and user community – is available FREE for all PADS users.  Users from all levels of expertise can create and share analog, mixed-signal, and mixed-technology designs in an online, collaborative environment where designs and models can be published or downloaded. A unique benefit for PADS customers: circuit designs created in PADS AMS Cloud can be transferred to the PADS AMS Design Suite desktop environment, eliminating the need to manually recreate circuits to perform advanced analysis and drive the PCB design flow. PADS AMS Cloud may be found here.

An industry-unique offering, the PADS AMS Design Suite is truly a complete design creation solution that empowers engineers to design and simulate analog/mixed-signal (AMS) and digital in one environment.  Within one schematic session, both analog circuit simulation leveraging the power and flexibility of VHDL-AMS, (an IEEE standard, along with a powerful SPICE-based simulation engine), and topology exploration with the HyperLynx tool can be performed. Beyond common core AMS simulation analysis (DC Bias, time-domain, and frequency-domain simulations) additional extended analysis capabilities are included as standard, such as multi-run parametric sweeps, sensitivity, Monte Carlo, and Worst Case analysis to address specific engineering needs.

Key benefits of PADS Analog/Mixed Signal Design:

• Schematic design (including component data management, constraint definition, and variant capability), analog circuit simulation, and PADS HyperLynx pre-layout analysis all in a single environment.
• Seamless and accurate representation of both electronic and electromechanical elements of a circuit.
• Core capabilities for circuit verification and optimization against real-world variability.

DDR Simulation

DDR memory has become commonplace across the spectrum of electronics designs and is now found in the mainstream markets. By extending the PADS Product Creation Platform to include integrated DDR simulation, the new PADS HyperLynx DDR option allows engineers to quickly identify and solve signal integrity (SI) and timing issues specific to DDRx designs in an easy-to-use and affordable environment.

Key capabilities:

• Identifying and resolving SI impairments (overshooting/undershooting, ringing) and timing issues (set-up/hold, de-rating, skew, data bus margins).
• Easy setup, automated whole-bus simulation, and consolidated results reporting with DDR Wizard.
• Streamlined summary pass/fail judgment on entire interfaces.
• HTML-based reporting which provides design documentation and Web-based publication of results.

Electrical DRC, Validation, and Sign-off

Now available for the mainstream PCB design market, the PADS HyperLynx DRC tool accelerates the electrical sign-off process by allowing engineers to perform electrical rules checks and identify violations that will affect the design integrity and performance of the board. With pre-defined rules, issues such as traces crossing voids and traces changing reference planes can be quickly identified even on the largest designs. Integrated electrical DRC technology enables engineers to be confident that their PCB designs are electrically correct before hand-off to manufacturing.

Key capabilities:

• Fast and easy time to results with a rules-based approach to identify non-CAD constraints.
• Out-of-the-box checks for EMI, signal integrity, and power integrity.
• Visual results, easy identification of violations integrated with the PADS PCB product.

"PCB engineering challenges are as profound at the mainstream level as they are at the enterprise level, and Mentor's mission is to provide competitive advantage to our customers in tacking the most complex designs," stated AJ Incorvaia, vice president and general manager of Mentor Graphics Board Systems Division. "By bolstering our PADS product creation platform with analog/mixed signal, DDRx, and DRC analysis, plus our recent electronics cooling and DC voltage drop tools, electrical engineers can now access technologies that were out-of-reach for the mainstream PCB market. PADS empowers customers to design complex products, from concept through manufacturing, with great confidence."

Product Availability

The new PADS release with PADS AMS, PADS DRC and PADS DDR analysis options range from $3,560 (USD) to $4,995 (USD). For additional information on the PADS Product Creation Platform. To contact a Mentor Graphics sales representative, call 1-800-547-3000.

About Mentor Graphics

Mentor Graphics Corporation is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronic, semiconductor and systems companies. Established in 1981, the company reported revenues in the last fiscal year of approximately $1.18 billion. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. For more information, click here.