SW & ECAD Software 1

[macduff]

Hello,
What is the best ECAD software out there that plays well with SW and Circuitworks? We currently use Orcad and looking into other ECAD packages. I heard Orcad might be going obsolete?

Thanks,


Macduff
Colin Fitzpatrick
Mechanical Design Engineer
Solidworks 2007 SP 4.0
Dell 390 XP Pro SP 2
Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB

 

[slohcin]

Any ECAD system that will export IDF will be compatible with CircuitWorks and SW. But if it will also import IDF this makes it doubly useful.
Slohcin

 

[CFinley]

Have you tried Multisim from National Instruments?

 

[rfus]

We use Cadence Allegro Design Entry CIS. We do all our schematics in Orcad which is part of this and owned by Cadence. We have the Design Entry CIS package where the schematic links to an access database. We create our access parts database and link the orcad shematic symbols and the Allego package symbol footprints through CIS. All layout is done with Allegro 16.0. Then new 16.0 is pretty hot compared to 15.7. This layout .brd links dynamically to the orcad .dsn which which links dynamically to the part database .mdb which links to the orcad libray .olb. One big happy system. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. When this .brd is finished Allegro 16.0 has idf export 3.0 (board geometry, place bounds with height info, route keepout, via keepout, pins, vias..etc) but most of the time i'd rather do this with dxf output to map layers. I use circuit works lite (although have evaluated circuit works full a bunch, and you can output an idf, make changes in SW, and import the idf back in to update allegro, although allegro currently doesn't support 4.0 which is a little fancier). I use lite with idf 3.0 to bring in block models for interference checks, but I find dxf out of Solidworks, into DWG editor, and into Allgro very useful, as well as dxf out of allgro and into a slddrw sheet very useful.

Allegro does have a high learning curve, I complain about the padstack editor, but we went with it over Protel, which most layout guys will rave about, because it creates such a dynamic system with Orcad Shematic Capture. Cadence owns Orcad and they are steadily phasing out Orcad layout and pushing to get everyone on Allego 16.0. The high end tools such as P-spice and our performance option tools come in very hand fore advanced DRC's.

I'm not plugging this product over any other or trying to sell. just voicing my experience with it.

RFUS

 

[macduff]

rfus,
A star for you for giving me a detailed response. I'll pass this thread over to our ECAD guys and have them read this.

Thanks a bunch!

Macduff
Colin Fitzpatrick
Mechanical Design Engineer
Solidworks 2007 SP 4.0
Dell 390 XP Pro SP 2
Intel 2 Duo Core, 2GB RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB