PCB Design Software With Simulation | Cadence

September 25, 2024

Cadence PCB Solutions

Key Takeaways

Modern PCB design software integrates simulation tools for enhanced signal integrity, power delivery, and thermal management.
Allegro X Design Platform: Offers a comprehensive environment for schematic capture, PCB layout, and in-design analysis, streamlining the design workflow
Multiphysics Analysis tools like Celsius Thermal Solver and Clarity 3D Solver enable accurate electrical-thermal and electromagnetic simulations.

An intelligent PCB design software with simulation allows for thermal analyses.

Simulation plays an ever-increasing role in modern PCB design. Specifically, PCB design software with simulation enables engineers to predict how a circuit will behave under different scenarios, identify potential issues, and deal with them early in the design process. Especially for boards that require high-reliability, through a PCB design software that has simulation capabilities, designers can ensure signal integrity (SI), power integrity (PI), thermal performance, and more.

Important Simulation Capabilities in PCB Design Software

Name	Description	Benefit in Design
Signal Integrity (SI)	Analysis of the electrical performance of signals on the PCB, ensuring signals maintain integrity and minimize losses.	Prevents signal degradation, reduces noise, and ensures reliable data transmission, important for high-speed designs.
Power Integrity (PI)	Ensures stable power delivery across the PCB, analyzing power distribution networks (PDNs) to avoid issues like voltage drops and noise.	Guarantees stable power supply to all components, preventing malfunctions.
Thermal Analysis	Simulates the heat generation and dissipation across the PCB to prevent overheating and ensure thermal management.	Prevents overheating, extends component lifespan, and ensures stability under various conditions.
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)	Analyzes electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) to ensure the PCB does not emit or be affected by electromagnetic noise.	Ensures compliance with regulatory standards, and prevents EMI-caused malfunctions.
Mechanical Simulation	Evaluates the mechanical stress and strain on the PCB and its components under various conditions, including vibration and impact.	Ensures mechanical robustness, prevents physical damage, and improves product durability and reliability.
Electrical Overstress (EOS)	Analyzes the electrical stress on components to prevent damage due to excessive voltage, current, or power.	Protects components from electrical damage, increases reliability, and reduces the risk of failure.
Reliability Prediction	Uses statistical methods to predict the reliability of the PCB design (mean time between failure) over its intended lifespan, based on component stress and operational conditions.	Provides insights into potential failure rates, helping to design more reliable products.

Allegro X Design Platform is The Best PCB Design Software With Simulation Capabilities

The Allegro X Design Platform is a state-of-the-art PCB design software with simulation capabilities that addresses the multifaceted requirements of modern PCB design. It integrates schematic capture, PCB layout, and in-design analysis into a unified environment with multiphysics simulation abilities, streamlining the design workflow.

Allegro X Integration with Mixed-Signal Simulation and Multiphysics Analysis Tools

The integration with high-capacity and high-accuracy multiphysics analysis tools enable comprehensive system-level analysis, ensuring that designs meet the required performance and reliability standards under varied conditions.

Celsius Thermal Solver, provides accurate electrical-thermal co-simulation across chip, package, PCB, and enclosure levels. This integration helps manage thermal profiling complexities, ensuring that designs can handle heat dissipation requirements effectively.
Electromagnetic (EM) Solvers like the Clarity 3D Solver offer high-fidelity electromagnetic modeling and analysis, which is essential for managing EMI/EMC challenges in PCB designs. These solvers enable accurate modeling of resistance-inductance-capacitance (RLC) and package IBIS models (CompSoft).
Cadence Optimality Intelligent System Explorer is an AI-driven multiphysics optimization software designed to enhance electronic system design efficiency. It leverages Cadence.AI to automate and accelerate the optimization process, enabling designers to explore the entire design space and achieve optimal electrical performance. This tool significantly reduces the need for repetitive design cycles and provides a user-friendly interface that integrates seamlessly with Clarity and Sigrity X environments.
PSpice offers robust simulation capabilities with access to over 35,000 component models, enabling mixed-signal designs and reducing design time. It supports comprehensive analyses including bias point, time, frequency, Monte Carlo, and AC/DC domain. Tight integration with MATLAB and Simulink allows for co-simulation, optimizing system performance. Customizable plot windows and measurement functions facilitate precise circuit evaluation. PSpice also provides reliability and fault-tolerant analysis, real-world environment optimization, and supports non-linear magnetics and transmission line modeling for full signal simulation.

PSpice is another advanced simulation tool integrated with Allegro X — *PSpice simulation plot —another advanced simulation tool integrated with Allegro X.*

In-Design Analysis Capabilities with Allegro X System Capture and PCB Editor

In-Design analysis includes managing schematic design, running design integrity and design rule checks, generating Bill of Materials (BOM), creating design variants, and exporting netlists for layout creation. This integrated approach allows for seamless transitions between different stages of the design process, such as moving from Allegro X System Capture (schematic capture) and PCB Editor (layout and simulation), ensuring that all components of the system are designed and checked under unified design rules and performance parameters.

The Allegro X Design Platform supports integration across electrical, mechanical, and thermal domains through common file formats and automation languages, reducing time-to-market.

The Allegro X Electrical Engineering Cockpit Provides a centralized environment for schematic capture and PCB floorplanning, which helps in reducing design cycle times and improving data integrity. This cockpit allows engineers to set up your designs for success.

Reliability and Thermal Analysis: Focuses on ensuring circuit reliability and thermal. includes features for managing constraints and rules-driven methodologies that enhance reliability. Specifically, rule sets for physical, spacing, design for fabrication (DFF), design for assembly (DFA), and design for test (DFT).
Concurrent Team Design: Enables simultaneous design activities across global teams, enhancing productivity through in-tool collaboration and real-time design data insights.
PCB Floor Planning: Offers a powerful set of floorplanning and placement tools, including placement replication and dynamic DFA-driven placement, which ensure optimal component placement and routing efficiency. Also supports the creation of a visual/spatial map of open areas relative to design data, accelerating the planning and routing process. The tool’s 3D visualization capabilities further enhance the floorplanning process by providing detailed views of the board, including complex via structures and component placements, which reduce iterations and potential errors.

Leveraging PCB design software with simulation capabilities is a must for creating high-reliability designs that meet rigorous performance standards.

With integrated multiphysics analysis tools like the Celsius Thermal Solver and Clarity 3D Solver, Allegro X streamlines the design process, enhances optimization, and reduces the need for repetitive cycles. Discover how Allegro X can elevate your PCB design projects by visiting the PCB Design and Analysis Software page and exploring the Allegro X Design Platform.

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