JP2004246869A - Design checking system, design checking method, and design checking program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a design checking system capable of checking electric properties of a board layout without disclosing a circuit designing technology or a board designing technology in an Internet connection environment. <P>SOLUTION: This system is constructed for extracting feature value from a position, in which occurrence of an electric property defect due to influence of a board layout is expected, in inputted board layout information. A correction determining means determines necessity of layout correction by comparing the feature value with a correction determining criterion matching the electric property defect read from a database. In this way, the electric properties can be checked without disclosing the correction determining criterion or a determination method to a user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a CAD (Computer Aided Design), and more particularly to a design check system, a design check method, and a design check program for checking electrical characteristics of board layout information (board layout CAD data).

  In recent years, digitalization and high performance of AV devices have been advanced, and LSIs in AV devices have also been digitized, increased in speed, and highly integrated. Along with this, radiation noise radiated from the substrate on which the LSI is mounted has become a problem, and a substrate design technique for reducing the radiation noise has become very important.

  In addition, as the size of AV equipment has become smaller, the size of the board inside the equipment has also been reduced, and in order to make the equipment even smaller, a build-up board made of a new material different from the conventionally used material such as glass epoxy has been used. It is increasingly used. In such a substrate made of a new material, the radiation characteristics of radiation noise are different from those of a conventional substrate. Therefore, it is necessary to change a design standard and a design method according to the substrate material.

On the other hand, a designer (registrant) who can provide information on radiation noise countermeasures registers the design and countermeasure examples in the database via the Internet, and a designer (user) who needs information on radiation noise countermeasures However, a system that can acquire information by referring to the database has been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-2002-157280 (page 4-7, FIG. 1)

  In the above conventional technology, a registrant registers a specific circuit configuration and board layout as a design / measure example in a database, and a user obtains a specific circuit configuration and board layout by referring to the database. can do. For this reason, by analyzing the acquired circuit configuration and board layout, the user can acquire not only information on radiation noise countermeasures but also detailed information on circuit design and board design.

  It is not preferable for a registrant to obtain detailed information on a circuit design and a board design by a user, since this leads to leakage of know-how. Further, there is a risk that the circuit configuration and the board layout acquired by the user may be leaked to a third party without being charged.

  The present invention has been proposed based on the above-mentioned conventional circumstances, and provides a design check system that prevents leakage of a specific circuit configuration and board layout and that reliably charges for access to a database. The purpose is to:

  The present invention employs the following means to achieve the above object.

  First, the present invention is based on a design check system for checking electrical characteristics of board layout information.

  The design check system of the present invention is based on a position specifying condition for specifying a position where occurrence of an electrical property defect is expected due to the influence of a board layout, an item of a feature quantity to be extracted, and a reference for determining whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected. There is provided storage means for storing a database in which a certain correction determination criterion is registered in association with each occurrence cause of an electrical characteristic failure whose occurrence is predicted. Further, the design check system includes a position specifying unit, a feature amount extracting unit, and a correction determining unit for performing an electrical characteristic check of the board layout.

  The position specifying means is used for specifying a position where occurrence of an electrical characteristic defect is predicted from the board layout information based on the position specifying condition stored in the database. Then, the characteristic amount extracting means extracts the characteristic amount according to the characteristic amount item stored in the database at the position specified by the position specifying means.

  The correction determining unit determines whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected by comparing the feature amount extracted by the feature amount extracting unit with the correction determination criterion corresponding to the feature amount read from the storage unit. Is what you do.

  When the design check system is configured by a client device to which board layout information is input and a server device connected to the client device via a network, the storage unit is provided in the server device. At this time, the position specifying unit, the feature amount extracting unit, and the correction determining unit may be provided in either the server device or the client device, but the position specifying unit and the feature amount extracting unit may be provided in the same device. preferable.

  For example, when the server device includes a position specifying unit, a feature amount extracting unit, and a correction determining unit, the client device transmits the input board layout information to the server device. In this case, the server device extracts the feature amount from the received board layout information, makes the above determination, and transmits the result of the determination to the client device.

  Further, when the server device includes the correction determining unit and the client device includes the position specifying unit and the feature amount extracting unit, the client device extracts the feature amount from the input board layout information and transmits the extracted feature amount to the server device. In this case, the server device makes the above determination using the received feature amount, and transmits the result of the determination to the client device.

  When the client device includes a position specifying unit, a feature amount extracting unit, and a correction determining unit, the client device acquires the correction determination condition from the server device and performs the determination.

  When the client device is configured to include any one of the position specifying unit, the feature amount extracting unit, and the correction determining unit, each of the units is stored in the server device as a program, and the client device is configured to store the program. What is necessary is just to acquire and execute from a server apparatus as needed.

  With any of the above configurations, the design check system can check the electrical characteristics without disclosing information such as a specific circuit configuration and board layout.

  Incidentally, the server device may include a billing unit for billing the client device according to access to the database. According to the present invention, the design cannot be checked unless the database is accessed. Therefore, charging for information can be reliably performed by charging according to access to the database.

  The client device may further include a selection unit that can select whether to display detailed information on the determination result, such as a description of an error registered in the database and a layout correction method. This makes it possible to display information on the electrical characteristic failure step by step. In addition, by restricting the designers who can access the detailed information, it is possible to display the detailed information only to a specific designer.

  Further, the server device includes a second storage unit that accumulates the feature amounts extracted from the board layout information, and a statistic operation unit that calculates a statistic such as an average value of the accumulated feature amounts. The amount may be transmitted to the client device together with the result of the determination. In this way, the user can compare his own design value with the design average value of another user, and can grasp his own design tendency.

  On the other hand, in the design check system of the present invention, when the circuit design data is input instead of the board layout information, the position specifying means sets the position based on the position specifying condition that allows the position to be specified only by the circuit design data. The position is specified from the circuit design data. At this time, the server device transmits information on the layout design corresponding to the position specifying condition registered in the database to the client device.

  This allows the user to obtain information on the layout design from the database by performing a design check at the stage of circuit design.

  In another aspect, the present invention can provide a design check method including the above procedure.

  Further, in another aspect, the present invention can provide a program for causing a computer to execute the above-described design check method.

  In this specification, the board layout information refers to information (device type, resistance value, capacitance value, etc.) that specifies a device constituting a circuit, and information of each wiring (type of a signal to be propagated, power supply line, ground). Etc.) and physical information related to the board layout such as wiring length, wiring width, and via hole position.

  In addition, the electrical characteristic failure due to the influence of the board layout refers to, for example, radiation noise generated due to the arrangement of wiring patterns, disturbance of signal waveforms due to signal interference between wirings, and the like.

  Further, the feature amount refers to information related to occurrence of electrical characteristic failure due to the influence of the board layout in the input board layout information.

  The present invention has a configuration in which the design check of the board layout information is performed using the parameters of the position specifying condition, the item of the feature amount, and the correction determination condition stored in the server device. It is possible to check the electrical characteristics of the board layout without disclosing information such as the above. Furthermore, even if a third party analyzes the program of the client device, it is not possible to obtain a determination method or determination criterion of the necessity of layout correction, so that the confidentiality is high.

  Further, in the present invention, since the method and the criterion for judging the necessity of the layout correction do not leak to a third party, the charge for the information is ensured by charging the fee according to the access to the server device (database). Can be done.

  Furthermore, since there is provided a selection unit for displaying information on the electrical characteristic failure stepwise, it is possible to display the detailed information only to a specific user by limiting the users who can access the detailed information.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing processing in the client device 1a and the server device 2.

  When the user inputs the board layout information to the client devices 1a, 1b,..., The design check system according to the present invention executes the design check processing in the following procedure.

  First, in the database stored in the storage unit 16 of the server device 2, a position specifying condition 32 and a feature amount item 33 to be extracted as shown in FIG. 3 are registered as a pair. The number 31 is given.

  Although the detailed description of each of the above items will be described later, the position identification condition 32 and the item 33 of the feature amount will be described below using the item number “1” as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 18B, in a state where the slit 83 is formed in the ground plane 82 and the signal line 81 of the layer above or below the slit 83 straddles the slit 83, the amount of current flowing through the signal line 81 or the signal Depending on the frequency condition, radiation noise is likely to occur. In this case, the position identification condition 32 is “a slit in the ground layer and a signal line straddling the slit”, and the item 33 of the characteristic amount is “frequency of a signal propagating through the signal line, amount of current flowing through the signal line, and signal amount”. Area of the plane formed by the line and the loop current path ".

  In the above state, first, the user inputs board layout information to the client device 1a by CAD input, data file reading, or the like. For example, when the board layout information is input by CAD input, the display unit 11 of the client device 1a displays a screen 21 including a data display unit 51, a message display unit 52, and a command display unit 53 as shown in FIG. Is displayed. In this state, the user CAD-inputs the board layout information to the client device 1a using the layout editing button group 54 arranged on the command display unit 53.

  After inputting the board layout information, clicking the check button 55 of the command display section 53 starts the design check.

  First, the client device 1a communicates with the server device 2 via the transmission / reception means 15 and 19, and the device ID or the user inputs whether the client device 1a or the user is permitted to access the database. An inquiry is made to the authentication means 20 of the server device 2 using the user ID and the password (S1 and S11 in FIG. 2). If the access is not permitted, the client device 1a and the server device 2 end the processing.

  When the access is permitted, the position specifying unit 12 of the client device 1a determines from the database the position specifying condition 32 and the characteristic item 33 shown in FIG. All the item numbers 31 are read (S2 in FIG. 2).

  Next, the position specifying unit 12 specifies a position that matches the position specification condition 32 from the input board layout information in the order of the item numbers 31. Only when a position matching the position specification condition 32 can be specified from the board layout information, the characteristic amount extraction unit 13 extracts the characteristic amount specified by the characteristic amount item 33 at the specified position.

  In the example of FIG. 3, first, the position specifying unit 12 specifies a position that matches the position specifying condition 32 of the item number “1”, that is, “the position where the slits in the ground layer and the signal lines extending across the slits exist” ( FIG. 2 S3). If a position that matches the position specification condition 32 cannot be specified for the entire input board layout information, the position specifying unit 12 checks whether there is a next item (S6 in FIG. 2). Here, since there is the next item, the position specifying unit 12 specifies a position that matches the position specifying condition 32 of the item number “2”.

  On the other hand, when the position specifying unit 12 has specified the position that matches the position specifying condition 32 of the item number “1”, the feature amount extracting unit 13 determines the item 33 of the feature amount of the item number “1” from the specified position. (S4 in FIG. 2) is extracted as “frequency of a signal propagating through a signal line, amount of current flowing through the signal line, and area of a surface formed by the signal line and the return current path”. At this time, the feature amount extracting means 13 simultaneously extracts coordinates as position information on the board layout information. The extracted feature amount and coordinates are stored in the storage unit 14 of the client device 1a in association with the item number 31.

  The position specifying process and the feature amount extracting process are repeated until the process is completed for the entire input board layout information (S5 in FIG. 2). When the processing has been completed for the entire board layout information, the position specifying unit 12 checks whether or not the next item exists (S6 in FIG. 2). Here, since there is the next item, the position matching the position specifying condition 32 of the item number “2” is specified.

  When the above-described position specifying process and feature amount extraction process are repeated to complete the process for all item numbers 31, the feature amount extraction unit 13 stores the feature amount and the coordinates of the extraction position stored in the storage unit 14 of the client device 1a. And the corresponding item number 31 are read out and transmitted to the server device 2 via the transmission means 15 (S7 in FIG. 2).

  The correction determination unit 17 of the server device 2 receives the transmitted feature amount, the coordinates of the extraction position, and the corresponding item number 31 via the transmission / reception unit 19 (S12 in FIG. 2). Then, the correction determining unit 17 reads the correction determining criterion 34 corresponding to the received item number 31 from the database stored in the storage unit 16, compares the read correction determining criterion 34 with the received feature quantity, and Is determined (S13 in FIG. 2).

  The determination is made based on whether or not the correction determination criterion 34 associated with the item number 31 as shown in FIG. 4 is satisfied. For example, when the feature value of the item number “1” is transmitted from the client device 1a, the correction determining unit 17 determines that “the radiation noise amount calculated from the feature value is a predetermined value” which is the correction determination criterion 34 of the item number “1”. Exceeds the upper limit of ". Then, a radiation noise amount is calculated from the received feature amount using a relational expression described later. When the calculated radiation noise amount exceeds a predetermined upper limit, the correction determining unit 17 determines that the board layout needs to be corrected (error), and when the calculated radiation noise amount does not exceed the predetermined upper limit, it determines that the correction is unnecessary.

  This determination is sequentially performed for all the received feature amounts (S14 in FIG. 2). When the determination is completed for all the feature values, the correction determination unit 17 transmits the result of the determination, for example, the coordinates of the position where the feature value determined to be an error is extracted to the client device 1a (FIG. 2). S15).

  According to the above configuration, the server device 2 determines whether or not layout correction is necessary using the feature amount extracted by the client device 1a, and returns the determination result to the client device 1a. The electrical characteristics can be checked without disclosing information such as the board layout to the user.

  Therefore, even if the network 3 is connected to the Internet and an open environment in which another company can use the design check system, there is no danger that information such as a circuit configuration and a board layout leaks to another company. In addition, by analyzing the program of the client device 1a, the confidentiality is high because a third party cannot acquire the method and the criterion for determining whether or not the board layout needs to be modified.

  On the other hand, the client device 1a receives the result of the determination (S8 in FIG. 2) and displays the result on the display unit 11 (S9 in FIG. 2). In the example shown in FIG. 5, the determination result is displayed on the message display section 52 of the screen display 21.

  This determination result describes the number of positions determined to be in error, and a URL indicating a Web page, which is the selection unit 56 that can display detailed information as needed. By referring to the URL, an error can be obtained. Detailed information can be obtained (S10 in FIG. 2). In the example of FIG. 5, the browser is activated by clicking on the URL displayed on the message display section 52 of the screen display 21, and the Web page can be displayed.

  As shown in the Web page display example of FIG. 6, the Web page 22 showing the detailed information includes the coordinates of the error position acquired at the time of extracting the feature amount, and the error information registered in the database in association with the item number 31. The explanation and the method of modifying the layout are displayed. When referring to this Web page 22, the corresponding portion of the input board layout information displayed on the data display section 51 is highlighted and the position can be confirmed.

  For example, by restricting the users who can access this detailed information and displaying the detailed information only to specific users, the detailed information is disclosed to users inside the company and the detailed information is not disclosed to users outside the company. It is also possible.

  By the way, in the server device 2, when the determination result is transmitted to the client device 1a, the charging unit 18 performs a charging process according to the access from the client device 1a to the database (S16 in FIG. 2).

  The accounting unit 18 monitors the access to the correction determining unit 17 and the database, and provides, for example, the number of accesses, the access time, the number of errors, and Charges are made according to the amount and the like. The charging unit 18 also performs charging when the client device 1a refers to the Web page 22 indicating the detailed information. In addition, it is also possible not to charge for a specific ID such as an in-house user by the identification by the device ID or the user ID.

  In the present invention, as described above, the determination method and the determination standard of the necessity of the layout correction are leaked to a third party, that is, since there is no information leak, charging is performed according to access to the database. Billing for information can be performed reliably.

  On the other hand, the design check system of the present invention can be applied to an educational tool for a user as one of the uses. When used as an educational tool, information such as the principle of the occurrence of electrical characteristic failure, which is expected to be generated due to the influence of the board layout, is further registered in a database, and the information is charted on a Web page specified by the URL. It can be displayed with the commentary by.

  Thus, when it is determined that the layout needs to be corrected, the user can refer to the principle of the occurrence of the electrical characteristic failure, and can increase the design ability. Further, if the charging means 18 is configured to charge for each user in accordance with the number of errors, it is possible to confirm the skill of the board layout design of each user based on the charged amount.

  In the above description, when the design check is started, the position specifying unit 12 acquires the extraction condition from the database. However, the configuration may be such that the extraction condition is stored in the storage unit 14 provided in the client device 1a.

  This eliminates the need for the client device 1a to acquire the extraction condition from the server device 2 every time the design check is performed, so that the number of times of data transmission / reception with the server device 2 can be reduced. In this case, at the start of each design check, the position specifying unit 12 checks whether there is a change in the database such as the addition of a new item by using a time stamp or the like, and if there is a change, acquires the extraction condition from the database and stores it. The extraction condition stored in the means 14 is updated. Thus, by simply updating the database stored in the storage unit 16 of the server device 2, all the client devices 1a, 1b,... Connected via the network 3 always have the latest information. A design check can be performed.

  In the above description, the case where all the check items in the database are checked has been described. However, as shown in the example of FIG. 7, a list of the design check items registered in the database at the start of the design check is stored in the client device 1a. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which items to be displayed and for which the user performs a design check can be selected by the item selection means 71 displayed on the display means 11. As a result, for example, when the board layout is corrected based on the result of the design check and then the design check is performed again, it is possible to check only the check item having an error, thereby shortening the check time. Can be.

  Further, in the above description, the client device 1a is provided with the position specifying unit 12 and the feature amount extracting unit 13 in advance, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the server device 2 is configured to store a program for causing the client device 1a to execute the above-described position specifying process and the feature amount extracting process (S2 to S6 in FIG. 2) in the storage unit 16, and the client device performs a design check. A similar effect can be obtained even if the program is obtained from the server device when starting.

  When the client device 1a acquires the program from the server device 2 as described above, the program is deleted by an instruction from the server device 2 when the check of the electrical characteristics of the board layout is completed. With this configuration, confidentiality can be further improved because the above-mentioned program is not analyzed by a third party.

  It should be noted that the case of the above-described electrical characteristic failure is only a specific example, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

(Embodiment 2)
Another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG. 8 and the flowchart of FIG. In the drawings, blocks having the same functions as those in the first embodiment and steps for performing the same processing are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In the present embodiment, the server device 2 includes the position specifying unit 12 and the feature amount extracting unit 13 provided in the client device 1a in the first embodiment, and the client device 1 performs the server access to the server device 2 The configuration includes an access unit 72.

  That is, the client device 1a to which the board layout information has been input communicates with the server device 2 by the server access means 72 such as a browser, and when access to the database is permitted (S1 in FIG. 9), the input is performed. The board layout information is transmitted to the server device 2 (S21 in FIG. 9).

  When the server device 2 receives the board layout information (S22 in FIG. 9), the position specifying unit 12 and the feature amount extracting unit 13 of the server device 2 perform the position specifying process described in the first embodiment according to the extraction conditions. Then, a feature amount extraction process is performed to extract the feature amount and the coordinates of the extraction position from the input board layout information (S2 to S6 in FIG. 9).

  Further, the correction determining means 17 determines whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected based on the extracted characteristic amounts as in the first embodiment (S13, S14 in FIG. 9), and determines the result of the determination and the characteristic amounts. The coordinates of the extracted position are transmitted to the client device 1a (S15 in FIG. 9). Note that the operation of the client device 1a when receiving the result of the determination is the same as that in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  Also in the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to check the electrical characteristics without disclosing information such as a specific circuit configuration and board layout to the user. Further, in the present embodiment, since all the electrical characteristics of the board layout are checked by the server device 2, confidentiality can be further improved.

(Embodiment 3)
Still another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of FIG. 10 and the flowchart of FIG. In the drawings, blocks having the same functions as those in the first embodiment and steps for performing the same processing are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  In this embodiment, the client device 1a is provided with the correction determining means 12 provided in the server device 2 in the first embodiment.

  That is, in the client device 1a, after the input board layout information is subjected to the feature amount extraction processing described in the first embodiment (S1 to S6 in FIG. 11), the correction provided in the client device 1a is performed. The determining means 17 determines whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected (S13, S14 in FIG. 11). At this time, the correction determination unit 17 reads out the correction determination criterion 34 associated with the item number 31 from the database stored in the storage unit 16 of the server device 2 and refers to the database (S31 in FIG. 11).

  The operation when this determination result is displayed on the client device 1a is the same as the operation of the client device 1a after receiving the result of the determination in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof will be omitted.

  Also in the present embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to check the electrical characteristics without disclosing information such as a specific circuit configuration and board layout to the user.

  In the above description, the client device 1a is provided with the position specifying unit 12, the feature amount extracting unit 13, and the correction determining unit 17 in advance, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the server apparatus 2 causes the client apparatus 1a to execute the position identification processing and the feature amount extraction processing (S2 to S6 in FIG. 11) and the correction determination processing (S13 and S14 in FIG. 11) to the client apparatus 1a. The same effect can be obtained by storing the programs to be executed in the storage means 16 and obtaining these programs from the server device when the client device 1a starts the design check.

  When the client device 1a acquires the program from the server device 2 as described above, the program is deleted by an instruction from the server device 2 when the check of the electrical characteristics of the board layout is completed. With this configuration, confidentiality can be further improved because the above-mentioned program is not analyzed by a third party.

(Embodiment 4)
In the present embodiment, the server device 2 described in each of the above embodiments stores a second storage unit 121 for accumulating feature amounts extracted from the board layout information, an average value and a maximum value of the accumulated feature amounts. And a statistic calculation means 122 for calculating a statistic such as a statistic. Here, a case where the present invention is applied to the server device 2 described in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of the server device 2 in FIG.

  As described in the first embodiment, when the user starts a design check on the board layout, the feature amount extracted by the client device 1a, the coordinates of the extraction position, and the item number 31 are transmitted to the server device 2. Is done. In the present embodiment, the feature amounts received by the server device 2 are sequentially stored in the second storage unit 121 together with the item numbers 31.

  When the design check of another board layout is started in a state where the feature amounts are accumulated in the second storage unit 121 in this way, the statistic calculation unit 122 reads the second storage unit 121 from the second storage unit 121. It reads out all the feature amounts corresponding to the item number 31 received together with the feature amounts, calculates a statistic such as an average value or a maximum value of the feature amounts, and transmits the calculated statistics to the client device 1a.

  Note that some of the feature amounts extracted from the board layout information are not suitable for the calculation of the statistical amount, such as the coordinates registered in the item number “2” in FIG. For this reason, in the present embodiment, an item number 31 in which an item 33 of a feature amount for calculating a statistic is registered in advance in the statistic operation unit 122, and the statistic operation unit 122 sets the item number 31. The statistic is calculated only for the feature corresponding to the number 31.

  In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate the management of the item of the feature amount for calculating such a statistic, the feature amount described in the first embodiment is stored in the database stored in the storage unit 16 of the server device 2. In addition to the above item, the item of the feature amount used only for the purpose of calculating the statistic is registered. In the example illustrated in FIG. 13, the position identification condition is registered as “LSI” in the item number “100”, and the item 33 of the feature amount is registered as “the number of power supply pins, the number of bypass capacitors”.

  In this case, the position specifying unit 12 of the client device 1a specifies “LSI” of the position specifying condition corresponding to the item number “100” stored in the storage unit 16 from the board layout information. Then, the characteristic amount extracting means 13 extracts the number of power supply pins of the specified LSI and the number of bypass capacitors connected to the power supply pin as characteristic amounts, and transmits them to the server device.

  Further, the statistic calculation means 122 reads out the feature amount corresponding to the item number “100” stored in the storage means 122 until the design check is executed, calculates the statistic, and sends the statistic to the client device 1a. Send. At this time, since the correction determination condition corresponding to the item number “100” is not registered in the database, the correction determination unit 17 does not determine whether correction of the board layout information is necessary.

  The statistics transmitted to the client device 1a in this manner are displayed in the message display section 52 of the display screen 21 shown in FIG. 5, for example, as follows: "Average 1.3 bypass capacitors per power pin are arranged. However, in this design it is 0.7. "

  According to this configuration, the user can compare his or her design value with the design average value of another user, and can grasp his or her design tendency.

(Embodiment 5)
In the present embodiment, the server device 2 described in each of the above embodiments further includes a layout design information reading unit 141. Here, a case where the present invention is applied to the server device 2 described in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the schematic diagram of the server device 2 in FIG.

  In the above embodiments, the board layout information is input to the client device 1a. However, in the present embodiment, circuit design data is input instead of the board layout information.

  When the design check is started in a state where the circuit design data is input as described above, the position specifying means 12 determines the position from the circuit design data based on the position specifying condition 32 that allows the position to be specified only by the circuit design data. Is specified, and at the specified position, the feature amount extraction unit 13 extracts the feature amount. Here, the position specifying condition 32 that allows the position to be specified only by the circuit design data includes, for example, a “bypass capacitor” disposed between a power supply line and a ground plane and a “damping” disposed between clock pins of an LSI. Resistance ". Such a position specifying condition 32 is registered in the database in association with the item number 31 and the feature amount item 33 as shown in FIG. In the example illustrated in FIG. 14, “bypass capacitor” as the position specifying condition 32 and “power supply pin” as an item of the feature amount are registered in the item number “200”.

  Note that the procedure of the position specifying process and the feature amount extracting process is the same as the procedure of the first embodiment, and the description is omitted here.

  In the above-described state, for example, a case where circuit design data in which the control IC and the memory IC shown in FIG. 17 are connected to each other is input to the client device 1a will be described below. The numbers described on the outer periphery of each IC in FIG. 17 indicate the pin numbers of each IC.

  In this case, for the item number “200”, the position specifying unit 12 and the feature amount extracting unit 13 set “the 10th pin of C1, IC1” and “C2, IC1” as the combination of the specified position and the feature amount. 24th pin ",...," C6, pin 27 of IC2 ".

  On the other hand, in the database, layout design information 35, which is information on layout design, is registered in association with the item number 31. That is, as shown in FIG. 15, in the item number “200” in which the “bypass capacitor” is registered, the layout design information 35 of “place the bypass capacitor so as to minimize the distance from the power supply pin” is registered. Have been.

  In the server device 2, the item number 31 transmitted from the feature amount extracting unit 13 is sequentially input to the layout information reading unit 141. For example, when the item number “200” is input, the layout information reading unit 141 determines that the “bypass capacitor is a distance from a power supply pin or an external power supply input portion” which is the layout design information 35 corresponding to the item number “200”. Is read from the database, and the layout design information 35 is transmitted to the client device 1a. At this time, the item number “200” is also input to the correction determination unit 17. However, since the correction determination condition corresponding to the item number “200” is not registered in the database, the correction determination unit 17 It is not determined whether correction is necessary.

  Upon receiving the layout design information 35, the client device 1a displays the received layout design information 35 and the combination of the specific position and the feature amount corresponding to the layout design information 35 on a message display screen 21 shown in FIG. It is displayed on the section 52. That is, in the above example, "the bypass capacitor C1 is arranged such that the distance from the 10th pin of the IC1 is the shortest" is displayed.

  At this time, if the layout design information 35 is added to the input circuit design data as additional information, for example, in a header or the like, the circuit design data is designed when the board layout is designed based on the circuit design data. , The information can be confirmed.

  In this embodiment, since the design check is performed on the circuit design data, the client device 1a is provided with the item selecting means 71 described in the first embodiment, and the design check system according to the present embodiment is configured as follows. It is preferable that the design check is executed only for the position specifying condition 32 in which the position can be specified only by the data.

  By doing so, the user can obtain the information on the layout design from the database by performing the design check at the stage of performing the circuit design, and can reflect the information on the board layout design.

  In each of the above embodiments, the client device 1a includes a DRC (checking whether or not a design rule (minimum line width, minimum wiring interval, via hole size, etc.) limited by the substrate manufacturing process is satisfied. (Design Rule Check) function may be provided. This is efficient because it is possible to check for design rule violations at the same time as checking for electrical characteristics.

(Example 1 of occurrence of defective electrical characteristics)
In the following, an example of a failure in electrical characteristics to be checked in the design check system of the present invention will be described.

  In the example shown in FIG. 18A, in a multilayer board, when the inner wiring layer is a ground plane 82 and a signal line 81 is formed in another layer, the signal line 81 is formed on a slit 83 that divides the ground plane 82. Is a case where is arranged. Such a slit 83 in the ground plane 82 is used when the signal line 81 is connected via the ground plane 82 with a via hole or when power is supplied from the power plane 86 to another layer in the multilayer board. In some cases, clearance lands of via holes penetrating through 82 may be continuously formed. Further, it may occur when the ground plane 82 is divided into a plurality of areas such as a digital ground and an analog ground.

  When there is no slit in the ground plane 82, when a current flows on the signal line 81, a return current 84 flows in a direction opposite to the current on the ground plane 82 immediately below the signal line, and the generated electromagnetic waves cancel each other. become.

  However, when there is a slit 83 in the path where the return current 84 flows, the return current 84 flows along the outer periphery of the slit 83. Therefore, the electromagnetic waves generated by the current flowing through the signal line 81 and the return current 84 do not cancel each other. In such a state, radiation noise is generated in proportion to the loop area 85, which is the area of the surface formed by the path of the return current 84 and the signal line 81.

  The amount (E) of the radiation noise depends on the frequency (f) of the signal propagating through the signal line, the amount of current (I) flowing through the signal line, and the loop area 85 (A) as shown in Expression 1. .

  Note that α in Equation 1 is a constant derived from actual measurement, and R is a distance (for example, 3 m) from the substrate to a position at which the intensity of radiation noise is measured.

  As described above, in this case, the position specifying condition is “the position where the slits of the ground layer and the signal lines straddling the slits exist”. The items of the feature amount to be extracted are “frequency of a signal propagating through a signal line, amount of current flowing through the signal line, and loop area”.

  Then, the correction determination criterion sets the radiation noise generation amount (E) that can be generated as the upper limit, and becomes "the radiation noise amount calculated from the characteristic amount exceeds the upper limit".

(Example 2 of occurrence of electrical characteristic failure)
In the case shown in FIG. 19A, in a multilayer substrate, when a power supply wiring 91 is formed on the uppermost wiring layer and the third wiring layer is used as a power supply surface via an insulating layer, the via hole 92 is used. In this case, a bypass capacitor 93 having the other end grounded is arranged on a power supply line 91 of an LSI 90 to which power is supplied from a power supply surface.

  As shown in FIG. 19A, when the power supply pin 94 of the LSI 90, the via hole 92 connected to the power supply surface, and the bypass capacitor 93 are connected in this order, a part of the high-frequency current flowing into and out of the power supply pin 94 of the LSI 90 Flows through the via hole 92 to the power supply surface without flowing through the bypass capacitor 93. The current flowing through the power supply plane changes the potential of the power supply plane, so that radiation noise is generated. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 19B, a board layout in which the bypass capacitor 93 is located between the LSI 90 and the via hole 92 is better.

  In this case, the position specifying condition is “the position where the LSI, the via hole connected to the power supply plane, the bypass capacitor, and the power supply wiring exist”. The items of the feature quantity to be extracted are “coordinates of the power supply pin of the LSI, coordinates of the power supply wiring, coordinates of the bypass capacitor, and coordinates of the via hole connected to the power supply plane”. There is no bypass capacitor between them. "

(Example 3 of occurrence of electrical characteristic failure)
In the case shown in FIG. 20, when a signal line 101 is formed on the uppermost wiring layer in a multilayer substrate and the second wiring layer is used as a ground plane 102 via an insulating layer, the signal line 101 Is a case where is arranged.

  When the signal line 101 is disposed at the end of the substrate, as shown in FIG. 20A, the electric field generated by the signal propagating through the signal line 101 does not close on the ground plane 102 and leaks outside the substrate. The electric field leaking out of the substrate generates radiation noise. This electric field leakage increases as the frequency of the signal propagating through the signal line 101 increases. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 20B, it is better to arrange the signal lines 101 inside a predetermined distance from the edge of the substrate, so that the electric field does not leak outside. If the signal lines are arranged in the inner layer and there are ground planes above and below, the case is different from this case because the electric field leaks differently.

  In this case, the position specifying condition is “the signal line formed on the outermost surface at the end of the substrate”. Items to be extracted are “distance from the substrate edge to the signal line, layer on which the signal line is arranged, maximum frequency of a signal propagating through the signal line (rise or fall time in the case of a pulse signal). ), And the correction criterion is "the signal line transmitting the signal having the maximum frequency equal to or higher than the predetermined frequency is within a predetermined distance from the edge of the substrate".

(Example 4 of occurrence of defective electrical characteristics)
The example shown in FIG. 21 is an example in which two inner wiring layers are arranged as a ground plane 111 and a power plane 112 in a multilayer substrate.

  When the ground plane 111 and the power supply plane 112 are arranged in the inner layer, if the end of the ground plane 111 and the end of the power supply plane 112 are aligned, as shown in FIG. The heading electric field reaches the ground plane 111 via the outside of the substrate. The electric field leaking out of the substrate generates radiation noise. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 21B, it is better to arrange the end of the power supply surface 112 inside the ground layer 111 by a predetermined width so that the electric field does not leak outside.

  In this case, the position specifying condition is “the ground plane and the power plane exist”. In addition, the items of the feature amount to be extracted are “substrate layer configuration / coordinates of the power supply plane (coordinates of the constituent points of the plane) / coordinates of the ground plane (coordinates of the constituent points of the plane)”. The plane edge is not more than a predetermined width inside the ground plane edge ".

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention has an effect that electrical characteristics of board layout data can be checked without disclosing information such as a specific circuit configuration and board layout, and is useful as a design check system or the like.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an extraction condition according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a correction determination condition according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a screen display of the client device according to the first embodiment of the present invention Schematic diagram of detailed information display according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a modification of the system configuration according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Schematic diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a third embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the extraction condition of Embodiment 4 of this invention. A schematic diagram illustrating a system configuration according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The figure explaining the extraction condition of Embodiment 5 of this invention. FIG. 14 is a view for explaining layout design information according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. Circuit diagram for explaining operation of the fifth embodiment of the present invention Diagram showing a case where electrical characteristics failure occurs Diagram showing a case where electrical characteristics failure occurs Diagram showing a case where electrical characteristics failure occurs Diagram showing a case where electrical characteristics failure occurs

Explanation of reference numerals

1a, 1b ... Client device 2 Server device 3 Network (Internet network)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Position specifying means 13 Feature extraction means 14, 16 Storage means 17 Correction determination means 18 Billing means

Claims (19)

In a design check system that checks electrical characteristics against board layout information,
For each cause of the occurrence of the electrical characteristic failure predicted to be caused by the influence of the substrate layout, a position specifying condition for specifying the position where the occurrence of the electrical characteristic failure is predicted from the substrate layout information, the item of the feature amount to be extracted, and the substrate Storage means for storing a database in which a correction determination criterion, which is a criterion for determining the necessity of layout correction, is stored;
Position specifying means for specifying a position from the board layout information based on the position specifying condition;
At the specified position, a feature amount extracting unit that extracts the feature amount,
Correction determination means for determining whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected by comparing the characteristic amount extracted by the characteristic amount extraction means with the correction determination criterion corresponding to the characteristic amount read from the storage means;
A design check system comprising: The design check system includes a client device to which the board layout information is input, and a server device connected to the client device via a network.
The server device includes the storage unit, the position identification unit, the feature amount extraction unit, and the correction determination unit,
The design check system according to claim 1, wherein the client device obtains the result of the determination via the network. The design check system includes a client device to which the board layout information is input, and a server device connected to the client device via a network.
Transmitting the feature value extracted by the client device including the position specifying means and the feature value extracting means to the server device;
The design check system according to claim 1, wherein the server device including the storage unit and the correction determination unit transmits a result of the determination to the client device. 4. The design check system according to claim 3, wherein the client device acquires the position specifying unit and the feature amount extracting unit from the server device via the network as needed. The design check system includes a client device to which the board layout information is input, and a server device connected to the client device via a network.
2. The client device according to claim 1, wherein the client device including the position specifying unit, the feature amount extracting unit, and the correction determining unit performs the determination based on a correction determination criterion stored in the storage unit included in the server device. Design check system. 6. The design check system according to claim 5, wherein the client device acquires the position specifying unit, the feature amount extracting unit, and the correction determining unit from the server device via the network as needed. 7. The design check system according to claim 2, wherein the server device includes a charging unit that charges the client device according to access to the database. 7. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a selection unit configured to select, when the correction determination unit determines that the board layout needs to be corrected, to display detailed information on an error registered in the database. The design check system described in 1. The server device further includes a second storage unit that accumulates a feature amount extracted from the board layout information, and a statistic operation unit that computes a statistic amount of the accumulated feature amount. The design check system according to claim 2, wherein the design check system transmits the design check result to an apparatus. When circuit design data is input in place of the board layout information, the position specifying means specifies a position from the circuit design data based on a position specifying condition capable of specifying a position only with the circuit design data, 7. The design check system according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus transmits information on a layout design corresponding to the position specifying condition registered in the database to the client apparatus. In a server device used in a design check system that performs an electrical characteristic check on board layout information input from a client device connected via a network and transmits the check result to the client device,
For each of the causes of the occurrence of the electrical characteristic failure which is predicted to be caused by the influence of the board layout, the position identification condition for identifying the position where the occurrence of the electrical characteristic failure is predicted from the input board layout information is extracted at the identified position. Storage means for storing a database in which the items of the feature amount to be performed and a correction determination criterion that is a criterion for determining whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected,
The client device specifies a position from the input board layout information based on the position specifying condition, receives a characteristic amount extracted at the position, and reads the characteristic amount and the characteristic amount read from the storage unit. Correction determination means for determining whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected by comparing the correction determination criterion corresponding to the above, and transmitting the result of the determination to the client device;
A server device comprising: A client device used in a design check system that transmits board layout information to a server device via a network, checks electrical characteristics in the server device, and receives a result of the check.
Position specifying means for specifying a position from the input substrate layout information, based on a position specifying condition for specifying a position at which the occurrence of an electrical property defect due to the influence of the substrate layout is predicted,
A feature amount extracting unit that extracts a feature amount at the specified position and transmits the feature amount to the server device;
A client device comprising: A program used in a design check system for checking electrical characteristics with respect to board layout information,
A step of specifying a position from the substrate layout information based on a position specifying condition for specifying a position at which the occurrence of an electrical property defect due to the influence of the substrate layout is predicted;
Extracting a feature value at the specified position;
For each of the causes of the predicted electrical characteristic failure, the position identification condition, the item of the extracted feature quantity, and the correction determination criterion that is a criterion for determining whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected are registered and associated from a database. Reading the correction criterion corresponding to the feature amount extracted from the board layout;
Determining whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected by comparing the feature amount extracted from the board layout information with a correction determination criterion read from the database;
Which causes a computer to execute the program. Causing the client device to execute the step of specifying the position, the step of extracting the feature amount, and the step of transmitting the extracted feature amount to the server device, the step of reading the correction determination criterion, and the necessity of the correction. 14. The program according to claim 13, wherein the program causes the server device to execute the steps of: 15. The program according to claim 14, wherein the step of determining whether or not the correction is necessary is executed by the client device instead of the server device. A design check method for checking electrical characteristics with respect to board layout information,
A step of specifying a position from the substrate layout information based on a position specifying condition for specifying a position at which the occurrence of an electrical property defect due to the influence of the substrate layout is predicted;
Extracting a feature value at the specified position;
The correction corresponding to the feature extracted from the board layout information from a database registered in association with the position specifying condition, the item of the feature, and a correction determination criterion for determining whether the board layout needs to be corrected. Reading the criterion;
Comparing the feature amount extracted from the board layout information with a correction determination criterion read from the database to determine whether or not the board layout needs to be corrected;
A design checking method characterized by having: In a design check method in which a server device checks electrical characteristics with respect to board layout information input from a client device connected via a network,
A step of specifying a position from the substrate layout information input to the client device, based on a position specifying condition for specifying a position at which the occurrence of an electrical property defect due to the influence of the substrate layout is predicted;
Extracting a feature amount from the board layout information at the specified position;
Transmitting the extracted feature amount to the server device;
In the server device, the position identification condition, the item of the feature amount to be extracted, and a correction determination criterion, which is a criterion for determining whether the board layout needs to be corrected, are registered in association with each other from the database and correspond to the feature amount. Reading a correction criterion;
In the server device, a step of comparing the received feature value with a correction determination criterion read from the database to determine whether or not the substrate needs to be corrected;
Transmitting the result of the determination to the client device;
A design checking method characterized by having: Before executing the step of specifying the position, the method further includes the step of the client device acquiring a program for causing the client device to execute the step of specifying the position and the step of extracting the feature amount from the server device. Item 18. A design checking method according to Item 17. 19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising a step of acquiring, from the server device, a program for causing the client device to execute the step of determining whether the correction is necessary before the step of determining whether the correction is required. Design check method described in.

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