JP2005222528A - Design review output device, design review support device, design review system, design review output method and design review support method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a design review output device which enables appropriate design review concerning a given object on a circuit board. <P>SOLUTION: The design review output device consists of a specification part 14, image construction part 16 and output part 17. The specification part 14 specifies an object identifier corresponding to a design review object based on design review information containing attributes of the design review object by every entry of more than one design review concerning with a basic construction of a circuit, and on circuit information which is given by relating an object attribute and object identifier which specifies objects on the circuit. The image construction part 16 constructs the design review image including an image on the board of the design review object based on board information which is given by relating the object identifier specified by the specification part 14, the object identifier, and location on the board of the object which is specified by the object identifier. The output part 17 outputs images of the design review. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a design review output device that outputs a design review image for performing a design review related to circuit board design.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in circuit board design, a technique for automatically performing a check operation according to a predetermined rule has been developed in order to prevent a quality defect (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-330784 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.) JP-A-9-34925 (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  However, it is necessary to confirm whether or not there is any inconvenience by performing a design review on predetermined check items related to circuit board design. The design review here is a visual check of the designed substrate. In this design review, since there is a visual check, there is a problem that an oversight may occur.

  In particular, when a beginner unfamiliar with the design review performs the design review, there is a high possibility that an item to be checked is overlooked or an object to be checked is overlooked. Therefore, whether or not the design review can be performed accurately depends greatly on the skill and experience of the person who performs the design review.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a design review output device and the like that can appropriately perform a design review.

  In order to achieve the above object, a design review output device according to the present invention is a circuit information storage unit that stores circuit information having an object identifier for identifying an object in a circuit and an attribute of the object in association with each other. A design review information storage unit storing design review information having an attribute of a design review target, which is a target to be subjected to design review, for each of one or more design review items related to circuit board design; and the circuit information And, based on the design review information, on the substrate of the object identified by the object identifier, the object identifier, and the object identifier that identifies the object identifier corresponding to the design review object A board information storage unit storing board information associated with the position of the object, and the object identification specified by the specifying unit And, based on the board information, an image composing unit that constitutes a design review image that is an image including the design review object on the board, and an output that outputs the design review image constituted by the image composing unit. Part.

  With such a configuration, the design review related to the design review object can be performed by the output design review image, and the design review related to the design review object can be appropriately performed.

The design review output device according to the present invention further includes a design review item determination unit that determines which design review item is selected according to an instruction from a user, and the output unit includes the design review item determination unit. The design review image corresponding to the design review item determined to be selected by the user may be output.

  With such a configuration, a design review image related to a design review item selected by the user can be output. Therefore, the user can view a desired design review item on, for example, a display.

  Further, in the design review output device according to the present invention, the design review information has display method information that is information indicating a display method related to the design review object in association with the attribute of the design review object. The image configuration unit may configure the design review object on the design review image based on the display method information.

With such a configuration, the design review object can be displayed in a design review image by a display method according to the object. For example, the design review object and other objects are set to have different colors. By doing so, the position of the design review object and the relationship with other objects can be easily confirmed. As a result, the design review can be performed quickly, and the possibility of oversight can be significantly reduced.
Further, in the design review output device according to the present invention, the attribute of the object includes analog and digital, and the display method information indicates a method of displaying analog and digital in a distinguishable manner from other design review objects. In addition, the image composition unit can distinguish a design review object having an attribute of analog and a design review object having an attribute of digital from the other design review objects on the design review image. You may make it comprise.

  With such a configuration, even a beginner can clearly grasp the problem that noise is likely to be placed at a location where the analog wiring is close to the digital wiring.

  In the design review output device according to the present invention, the design review information includes review point information indicating a review point related to the design review object for each design review item, and the output unit includes the design review information. It is good also as a structure which outputs the said review point information corresponding to the said design review target object while outputting a review image.

  By performing output based on the review point information with such a configuration, the person who performs the design review can know the points (points to keep in mind) of the design review. For example, even a beginner can appropriately design review Can be performed.

  The design review support apparatus according to the present invention stores design review information having design review information having an attribute of a design review target, which is a target to be subjected to a design review, for each of one or more design review items related to circuit board design. A storage unit; and an attribute information output unit that outputs attribute information indicating an attribute of the design review object.

  With such a configuration, for example, a device that receives the attribute information can appropriately perform a design review by outputting a design review image including a design review object corresponding to the attribute indicated by the attribute information. It will be.

  Further, in the design review support apparatus according to the present invention, an identifier reception for receiving an object identifier for identifying the design review object corresponding to the attribute of the design review object indicated by the attribute information in response to the output of the attribute information An object display information generating unit that generates object display information including the object identifier received by the identifier receiving unit, and an object display that outputs the object information generated by the object information generating unit. And an information output unit.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to output object display information including the object identifier of the design review object. For example, in a device or the like that has received the object display information, the design review corresponding to the object identifier By displaying the object, the design review can be appropriately performed.

  In the design review support apparatus according to the present invention, the attribute information may be a command for outputting an object identifier corresponding to an attribute of the design review object to the design review support apparatus.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to instruct the output of an object identifier according to the attribute of the design review object by using a command. For example, by using a command set in advance in a device or the like that receives attribute information, Design review can be performed appropriately while using the device resources.

  The design review support apparatus according to the present invention further includes a board layer information storage unit that stores board layer information indicating a layer of the circuit board on which the object is located, and the attribute of the design review object includes An attribute relating to a layer where the design review target object is located is also included, and the target object display information generation unit indicates the target identifier that is indicated by the attribute corresponding to the target object identifier among the target identifiers received by the identifier reception unit. The object display information including the object identifier in which the layer where the design review object is located and the layer where the design review object indicated by the substrate layer information matches may be generated.

  With such a configuration, when the attribute relating to the layer where the design review object is located is included in the design review information, object display information corresponding to the attribute can be generated and output.

  In the design review support apparatus according to the present invention, the design review information includes display method information related to a display method of the design review object in association with an attribute of the design review object, and the object A display information generation unit may generate the object display information including the display method information corresponding to the object identifier included in the object display information.

  With such a configuration, the object display information can be configured such that the design review object is displayed based on the display method information. For example, the design review object is displayed based on the object display information. In this case, the position of the design review object and the relationship between the design review object and other objects can be easily confirmed.

  Further, in the design review support device according to the present invention, the display method information corresponding to the object identifier indicates that the object display information is an object identified by the object identifier included in the object display information. It may be a command to display according to the display method shown.

  With such a configuration, the object display information can be output by a command. For example, by using a command set in advance in a device or the like that receives the object display information, the design can be performed while using existing device resources. Review can be done appropriately.

  In the design review support device according to the present invention, the object display information output unit may output the object display information for each design review item.

  With such a configuration, a design review can be performed for each design review item.

  The design review support apparatus according to the present invention further includes a design review item determination unit that determines which design review item is selected according to an instruction from a user, and the object display information output unit includes the design display information output unit. The object display information corresponding to the design review item determined to be selected by the user by the review item determination unit may be output.

With such a configuration, it is possible to output object display information related to the design review item selected by the user. Therefore, the user can view a desired design review item on, for example, a display.

  Further, in the design review support device according to the present invention, the design review information includes review point information indicating a review point related to the design review object for each design review item, and the object display information generation unit However, the object display information including the review point information corresponding to the object identifier included in the object display information may be generated.

  With such a configuration, the person who performs the design review can know the points (notice points) of the design review. For example, even a beginner can appropriately perform the design review.

  According to the design review output device or the like according to the present invention, for example, the design review target that is the target of the design review is highlighted (for example, highlighted) based on the design review information. Review can be done appropriately.

(Embodiment 1)
A design review output device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The design review output device according to the present embodiment constitutes and outputs an image for design review including a design review object based on design review information.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a design review output apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the design review output device includes a circuit information storage unit 11, a design review information storage unit 12, a board information storage unit 13, a specification unit 14, an input reception unit 15, an image configuration unit 16, and an output. Unit 17, circuit CAD unit 18, input unit 18 a, display unit 18 b, substrate CAD unit 19, input unit 19 a, display unit 19 b, and design review item determination unit 51.

  The circuit information storage unit 11 stores circuit information. Here, the circuit information is information in which an object identifier for identifying an object in the circuit is associated with an attribute of the object. An object in a circuit is an element constituting the circuit, for example, an IC, a circuit element such as a transistor, a resistor, a crystal, or a capacitor, or a pin of the circuit element (for example, a pin of an emitter terminal of a bipolar transistor) ), Wiring in the circuit, or a combination thereof. The attributes of an object include the classification of the object (for example, whether the object is a circuit element or a wiring), the name of the object (for example, the part number of the object), and the type of the object (For example, whether the object is an IC or a crystal). This attribute may be indicated by information corresponding to the content of the attribute (for example, “crystal” or the like), or the attribute may be indicated according to a predetermined rule (for example, crystal corresponds to “X”). "X" when there is a rule to do this). The association between the object identifier and the attribute may be, for example, an association using a predetermined table of the object identifier and information indicating the attribute, or the object identifier itself may be Correspondence by including information indicating an attribute may be used. By using this circuit information, a so-called circuit diagram (for example, the diagram shown in FIG. 7) can be constructed.

The design review information storage unit 12 stores design review information. here,
The design review information is information having an attribute of a design review object for each of one or more design review items related to circuit board design. This design review information has display method information associated with the attributes of the design review object. In addition, each design review item has review point information. The display method information is information indicating a display method related to the design review object. The review point information is information indicating the points (points to keep in mind) when performing a design review on a design review object. With this review point information, which object should be subjected to a design review and what kind of It will be shown whether design review should be performed with this point in mind. The design review item is an item for performing a design review on the designed board. The design review object is an object on which a design review is performed. Further, the display method indicated by the display method information indicates how to display the design review object on the display or print (printed material). This display method is, for example, a method of displaying a design review object in an emphasized manner. Specifically, a method of displaying a predetermined object in a predetermined color (for example, display in red or blue) Etc.), a method for displaying only a predetermined object, a method for blinking only a predetermined object, a method for displaying other than the object lightly, a method for displaying an enlarged image centering on a predetermined object, etc. There is. The design review information may include design instruction information for each design review item. The design instruction is an instruction related to board design for generating board information from circuit information. This design instruction information may be the same information as the review point information, or may be different information. The different information is, for example, an instruction that clearly indicates a specific circuit element or the like (for example, “make the wiring from X001 to IC8001 the shortest”).

  The board information storage unit 13 stores board information. Here, the board information is information having an object identifier and a position on the board of the object identified by the object identifier in association with each other. By using this substrate information, a so-called substrate pattern diagram (for example, the diagram shown in FIG. 10) can be constructed. Here, the substrate pattern diagram is a diagram showing a wiring pattern on the substrate and circuit elements and the like arranged on the wiring pattern. However, when displayed based on the display method indicated by the display method information, predetermined circuit elements, wirings, and the like may not be displayed. This board information is designed by the board CAD unit 19 based on the circuit information.

  The circuit information storage unit 11, the design review information storage unit 12, and the board information storage unit 13 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or the like). The storage in the circuit information storage unit 11 or the like may be temporary storage in RAM or the like such as circuit information read from an external storage device, or may be long-term storage in a magnetic disk or the like. Further, the two or more storage units of the circuit information storage unit 11, the design review information storage unit 12, and the board information storage unit 13 may be realized by the same recording medium. In that case, for example, an area in which circuit information is stored becomes the circuit information storage unit 11.

  The specifying unit 14 specifies an object identifier corresponding to the design review object based on the circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 11 and the design review information stored in the design review information storage unit 12. To do. This specification may be performed, for example, by extracting (acquiring) the object identifier from the circuit information, or by setting a predetermined flag for the object identifier in the circuit information. Does not matter. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the specifying unit 14 specifies the object identifier by extracting the object identifier.

The input receiving unit 15 receives an input such as a predetermined instruction. For example, the input receiving unit 15 may receive an input from an input device (for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc.), or may receive an input transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line.

  Based on the object identifier specified by the specifying unit 14 and the board information stored in the board information storage unit 13, the image configuration unit 16 creates a design review image that is an image including the design review object on the board. Constitute. The design review image is configured such that a design review object included in the design review image is displayed based on display method information corresponding to the design review object. Further, the screen configuration unit 16 also configures a review point image, which is an image indicating the review point, based on the review point information corresponding to the attribute of the design review object. The design review image and the review point image may be the same image or different images. Here, the same image is, for example, a case where a part of a certain image is a design review image and the other part is a review point image. The design review image is displayed on a display device or printed out by a printer, so that the person who sees it can easily check the position of the design review object and the relationship with other objects. It shall be configured so that it can.

  The output unit 17 outputs the design review image configured by the image configuration unit 16. Also, the review point image constructed by the image construction unit 16 is output. Here, the output may be, for example, display on a display device (for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display), transmission to a predetermined device via a communication line, or printing by a printer. The output unit 17 may or may not include an output device (for example, a display device or a printer). The output unit 17 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives these devices. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the output unit 17 performs display on a display device.

  In the present embodiment, a case where the output unit 17 outputs a review point image configured by the screen configuration unit 16 will be described. The output unit 17 may output the design review image and output based on the review point information corresponding to the attribute of the design review object. That is, for example, the output unit 17 may output a voice (for example, a voice that reads out the text of the review point information) based on the review point information.

  The circuit CAD unit 18 receives the input from the user input to the input unit 18a, configures a circuit diagram on the screen of the display unit 18b, and generates circuit information corresponding to the configured circuit diagram. The circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 11 is generated by the circuit CAD unit 18.

  The input unit 18a is input by a user and is, for example, a keyboard or a mouse. The display unit 18b displays a circuit diagram and the like, and is, for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

  The board CAD unit 19 reads information related to connection of circuit elements and the like from the circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 11 by receiving an input from the user input to the input unit 19a. Subsequently, based on the read information, a predetermined operation is performed on the screen of the display unit 19b to configure a substrate pattern diagram. The board information stored in the board information storage unit 13 is generated by the board CAD unit 19.

  The input unit 19a is input by a user, and is, for example, a keyboard or a mouse.

  The display unit 19b displays a substrate pattern diagram and the like, and is, for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

  The design review item discriminating unit 51 discriminates which design review item has been selected in accordance with an instruction from the user received by the input receiving unit 15. Then, the determination result is passed to the specifying unit 14. The selection of the design review item may be a selection of one design review item or two or more design review items.

  Next, the operation of the design review output apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described using the flowcharts of FIGS.

  (Step S101) The input receiving unit 15 determines whether an instruction to display design review items has been received. If an instruction to display the design review item is received, the instruction is passed to the image construction unit 16 and the process proceeds to step S102. If not, the process of step S101 is repeated until the instruction is received. .

  (Step S <b> 102) Upon receiving an instruction to display design review items from the input receiving unit 15, the image construction unit 16 reads out each design review item from the design review information stored in the design review information storage unit 12. Then, an image for displaying a list of the read design review items is constructed. The output unit 17 displays the image configured by the image configuration unit 16 on the display device.

  (Step S103) The input receiving unit 15 determines whether an instruction to select any design review item has been received for the display of the list of design review items in step S102. When an instruction to select any design review item is received, the instruction is passed to the design review item determination unit 51. The design review item discriminating unit 51 discriminates which design review item has been selected in accordance with an instruction from the user received by the input receiving unit 15. The determination result is passed to the specifying unit 14, and the process proceeds to step S104. If the input receiving unit 15 has not received an instruction to select a design review item, the process of step S103 is repeated until the input is received.

  (Step S <b> 104) The design review information storage unit 12 determines the attributes of the design review object corresponding to the design review item selected by the user according to the determination result received from the design review item determination unit 51. Obtain from memorized design review information. Based on the attribute, the object identifier in the circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 11 is specified. Details of this processing will be described later.

  (Step S <b> 105) The image construction unit 16 designs the design review corresponding to the identified object identifier based on the object identifier identified by the identifying unit 14 and the board information stored in the board information storage unit 13. Construct a design review image that includes the object. Here, the structure of the design review image is made based on the display method corresponding to the design review item indicated by the selection result in step S103. A review point image based on the review point information corresponding to the design review item indicated by the selection result is also configured. Then, the design review image and the review point image are transferred to the output unit 17 and displayed on the display device. Then, the process returns to step S101.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt.

Next, details of the processing in step S104 of the flowchart of FIG. 2 will be described using the flowchart of FIG.

  (Step S201) The specifying unit 14 receives a determination result regarding which design review item is selected from the design review item determination unit 51, and designates the attribute of the design review object corresponding to the selected design review item. Obtain from information.

  (Step S202) The identification unit 14 sets the count I to 1.

  (Step S203) The identifying unit 14 determines whether or not the attribute acquired in Step S201 has a predetermined relationship with the attribute of the record of ID = I in the circuit information. Here, the predetermined relationship is, for example, a case of matching or a case of inclusion. The inclusion relationship is, for example, the case where the attribute acquired in step S201 is “analog” and the attribute of the record with ID = I is “analog high frequency”. In this case, it is determined that “analog high frequency” is included in “analog”. The determination as to whether or not a predetermined relationship exists may be made based on a predetermined rule held by the specifying unit 14 (for example, a rule that a semiconductor element includes a diode and a transistor). Alternatively, it may be performed by determining a partial match of the character string related to the attribute. If the relationship is a predetermined relationship, the process proceeds to step S204. If the relationship is not a predetermined relationship, the process proceeds to step S205.

  (Step S204) The specifying unit 14 specifies the object identifier of the record of ID = I in the circuit information. This specification is performed, for example, by extracting the object identifier from the circuit information.

  (Step S205) The specifying unit 14 determines whether or not the record of ID = I in the circuit information is the last record in the circuit information. If it is the last record, the process ends. If not, the process proceeds to step S206.

  (Step S206) The identifying unit 14 increments the count I by one. Then, the process returns to step S203.

  Next, the operation of the design review output device according to this embodiment will be described using a specific example. In addition, especially with recent demands for digitalization and miniaturization of various products, circuit design is usually performed by mixing conventional analog technology and digital technology. However, since the digital signal contains many signal components that have a large influence on the analog signal, noise will appear on the analog signal when both wirings are close to each other. If noise is included in an analog signal, it is difficult to correct it unlike a digital signal. For example, in the case of a video signal, an audio signal, etc., the noise is reproduced in a perceptible manner. Therefore, it is desirable to design the circuit (wiring) related to analog and the circuit (wiring) related to digital as close as possible. It is known that the intensity of noise that enters an analog wiring from a digital wiring is inversely proportional to the square of the distance of the wiring. From this point of view, it is very important to conduct a design review especially for digital / analog wiring. Therefore, in this specific example, it is assumed that “separate analog wiring and digital wiring” is selected in a design review item described later.

  In this specific example, it is assumed that the circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 11 is as shown in FIG. In the circuit information of FIG. 4, each record includes a classification of an object, an object identifier, an attribute, and an attribute value. As attributes, when the classification of the object is “circuit element”, “name” corresponds to “graphic”. Here, the name corresponds to the product number of the circuit element, and even if the object identifiers are different, the same name is used in the case of the same circuit element. The graphic is a graphic used when the circuit element is displayed in a circuit diagram. It is assumed that the graphic data is stored in the circuit information storage unit 11. When the classification of the object is “circuit element pin”, the “wiring object identifier” corresponds to the attribute. With this wiring object identifier, it is possible to know which wiring the pin of the circuit element is connected to. When the classification of the object is “wiring”, “netkind” corresponds to the attribute. With this netkind, the type of wiring can be known. For example, if netkind is “clock”, it is understood that the wiring is a wiring used for supplying a clock signal, and if netkind is “digital”, a digital signal flows through the wiring. I understand.

The design review information stored in the design review information storage unit 12 is assumed to be as shown in FIG. In the design review information in FIG. 5, a record is configured for each design review item, and each review item includes “review point information”, “design review target attribute”, and “display method information”. include. The review point information is information indicating an instruction (know-how) regarding the design review. The attribute of the design review object is an attribute of the design review object. A design review object having this attribute is an object of design review. The display method information is information indicating a method for displaying the design review object.

  Further, it is assumed that the board information stored in the board information storage unit 13 is as shown in FIG. FIG. 6A is information regarding circuit elements included in the board information. In FIG. 6A, each record includes a “graphic identifier”, “object identifier”, “arrangement plane”, “angle”, “X”, and “Y”. The graphic identifier is an identifier for identifying the graphic of the circuit element displayed in the board pattern diagram. It is assumed that the graphic data identified by the graphic identifier is stored in the board information storage unit 13. The arrangement surface indicates the surface of the substrate on which circuit elements and the like are arranged. The surface of the substrate may be one of the front surface or the back surface of the substrate, or may be two surfaces, the front surface or the back surface of the substrate. It may be a layer. The angle is an angle when a graphic corresponding to the graphic identifier is displayed. X and Y are coordinate values indicating the display position when the graphic corresponding to the graphic identifier is displayed, and correspond to the value on the X axis and the value on the Y axis, respectively. Here, the origin is set at the lower left of the substrate, the X axis is the horizontal axis, and the Y axis is the vertical axis.

FIG. 6B is information regarding the wiring included in the board information. In FIG. 6B, each record includes “object identifier”, “type”, “arrangement plane”, “thickness”, “X”, “Y”, “X ′”, “ Y ′ ”. The type indicates the type of wiring, “line” indicates a line, and “circle” indicates a circular surface. The thickness indicates the thickness of the line or the radius of the circle. In X, Y, X ′, and Y ′, X and X ′ correspond to values on the X axis, and Y and Y ′ correspond to values on the Y axis. If the type is "line"
“X, Y” is the starting point, “X ′, Y ′” is the end line, and when the type is “circle”, “X, Y” is the center point of the circle.

  FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram corresponding to the circuit information shown in FIG.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the design review output device according to the present embodiment. It is assumed that the screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed by the user operating a PC (Personal Computer). When the user operates the mouse and clicks the “Yes” button, the input receiving unit 15 determines that an instruction to display the design review item has been received (step S101), and the instruction is received from the image composing unit. 16 The image configuration unit 16 refers to the design review information shown in FIG. 5 stored in the design review information storage unit 12, and configures an image for displaying a list of design review items. Then, the output unit 17 displays the image (Step S102). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing display of a list of the design review items. Here, in FIG. 9, “review point information” included in the design review information is displayed. It is assumed that the user clicks a “select” button corresponding to the review point “separate analog wiring and digital wiring”. Then, the input reception unit 15 passes the selection instruction to the design review item determination unit 51.

  The design review item discriminating unit 51 discriminates that the first design review item, that is, the design review item with ID = 1 is selected (step S103), and specifies the object identifier for the design review item with ID = 1. Tell the specific unit 14 to that effect. Then, the specifying unit 14 specifies an object identifier corresponding to the selected design review item (step S104).

  More specifically, the specifying unit 14 refers to the design review information and acquires the attribute of ID = 1, that is, “digital” and “analog” (step S201). The specifying unit 14 first refers to the record of ID = 1 of the circuit information and determines that “analog” and “digital” are not included as attributes of ID = 1 (steps S202 and S203). Next, the specifying unit 14 also determines whether “analog” and “digital” are included in the records after ID = 2 of the circuit information (steps S205, S206, and S203). Since the attribute value of the record with ID = 15 in the circuit information is “digital”, the specifying unit 14 has a predetermined relationship between the attribute “digital” of the design review object and the attribute of the record with ID = 15 in the circuit information. In other words, the object identifier “NET103” is extracted from the record (step S204). In this way, whether or not “analog” and “digital” are included in each record of circuit information is determined up to the last record of circuit information (steps S203 to S206). Finally, the specifying unit 14 includes object identifiers “NET103” and “NET104” corresponding to the attribute “digital”, and object identifiers “NET106”, “NET107”, “NET109” corresponding to the attribute “analog”, It is assumed that “NET110” has been extracted (step S204).

The specifying unit 14 passes the extracted object identifier to the image construction unit 16. Then, the image construction unit 16 reads display method information and review point information indicating that analog is displayed in blue and digital is displayed in red from the record of ID = 1 of the design review information. Then, the board information is read from the board information storage unit 13, and a design review image showing a board pattern diagram is constructed based on the board information. Design review objects identified by the object identifiers “NET103” and “NET104” corresponding to digital received from the specifying unit 14 are displayed in red, and object identifiers “NET106”, “NET107”, “ The design review image is configured so that the design review objects identified by “NET 109” and “NET 110” are displayed in blue. Other circuit elements and wiring constitute an image so as to be displayed in black. A review point image based on the review point information is also configured. Then, the design review image is transferred to the output unit 17 and displayed on the display of the PC (step S105). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the design review image 100 and the review point image 200 displayed on the display. In FIG. 10, digital wirings 101 and 102 are displayed in red, and analog wirings 103, 104, 105, and 106 are displayed in blue. The user who sees this display can easily confirm whether or not the blue wiring and the red wiring are separated. In this case, since the analog wiring and the digital wiring are separated, it can be determined that the board is appropriately designed. When the user clicks the “OK” button, the display returns to the display in FIG.
As another example of displaying the analog wiring and the digital wiring, FIG. 11 which is an example of the display regarding the digital / analog wiring is shown. In the above example, when “separate analog wiring and digital wiring” is not selected as the review point information, as shown in FIG. 11A, the analog wiring and digital wiring in the circuit are beginners at first glance. Is completely indistinguishable. However, when “separate analog wiring and digital wiring” is selected, a beginner has a problem that noise is likely to be placed at a position where the analog wiring is close to the digital wiring as shown in the vicinity of the broken line circle in FIG. 11B. It becomes possible to grasp clearly instantly.

  The process related to the design review item related to the crystal and the design review item related to the IC is performed in the same manner as the case of the design review item related to the digital and analog wiring. In this case, in the circuit information, a record whose object identifier starts with “X” corresponds to a crystal, and a record whose object identifier starts with “IC” corresponds to an IC. Here, in the case of the design review item related to the IC, since “surface” is included in the attribute, the image identifier 16 includes the object identifier “IC8001” specified by the specifying unit 14 in “surface”. It is confirmed by referring to the board information. In this case, it can be seen from the board information in FIG. 6A that the design review object corresponding to the object identifier “IC8001” is located on the surface (TOP), so as in the case of other design review items, Assume that the design review image is structured.

  As described above, in the design review output device according to the present embodiment, a design review image including a design review object corresponding to a design review item can be configured and output, so that the design review can be performed quickly and accurately. It can be done. That is, since the person who performs the design review can find out the position of the design review object on the substrate earlier, the design review can be performed more quickly. In addition, by highlighting and displaying the design review object, it is possible to prevent the design review object from being overlooked, and to perform a more accurate design review.

  In particular, by constructing a design review image including a design review object based on the display method information, the design review object can be emphasized and displayed according to the display method information. And can be easily distinguished. As a result, oversight of the design review object can be prevented in the design review.

  In addition, by performing output based on review point information, design reviewers can know design review items and prevent items from being overlooked. A review can be performed. In addition, since the review points can be used to know what points to check, even a beginner can perform a design review.

  Further, the user can display a design review corresponding to a predetermined design review item via the design review item determination unit 51 and the output unit 16. Therefore, the user can perform a design review only for a desired design review item.

  In the present embodiment, the case has been described in which the object identifier is specified after the design review item is selected and the design review object is displayed. On the other hand, for example, object identifiers are specified for all or a plurality of design review items in advance. Subsequently, a design review item may be selected, and the selected design review object may be displayed. In this case, the design review item determination unit 51 may pass the determination result to the image construction unit 16 or the output unit 17.

  The output unit 17 may finally perform output according to the determination result by the design review item determination unit 51, and it does not matter how the output according to the determination result is made. That is, an output according to the determination result may be performed by the specifying unit 14 specifying according to the determination result. Further, the image composing unit 16 may configure the image according to the determination result, and the output corresponding to the determination result may be performed. Alternatively, the output according to the determination result may be performed by the output unit 17 outputting the design review image or the like according to the determination result.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment, the case where the design review information storage part 12 memorize | stores both display method information and review point information was demonstrated. However, the design review information storage unit 12 may not store either one or both of them. When the design review information storage unit 12 does not store the review point information, the output based on the review point information is not performed. When the design review information storage unit 12 does not store the display method information, the image construction unit 16 displays the design review target specified by the specifying unit 14 by a predetermined method. It is assumed that this image is constructed. For example, an image for emphasizing and displaying the design review object specified by the specifying unit 14 is configured. Here, highlighting the display means, for example, displaying the object in a color different from that of the other object, displaying only the design review object without displaying the other object, or design review object. Only the image is darkly displayed, and is set in advance by the image construction unit 16.

  In the specific example of the present embodiment, first, the image construction unit 16 confirms in which layer of the substrate the predetermined design review object exists based on the substrate information. Then, when the layer in which the design review target exists and the layer indicated by the attribute of the design review target match indicated by the board information, a design review image including the design review target is configured. Explained. On the other hand, the image construction unit 16 may perform the same based on information other than the board information layer. For example, if the attribute of the design review object includes the position of the object on the board and the position indicated by the attribute and the position indicated by the board information have a predetermined relationship, You may make it comprise the design review image containing a design review target object. As used herein, the “case of having a predetermined relationship” is, for example, a case of matching or a case of matching within a predetermined error range.

  In the present embodiment, the configuration including the circuit CAD unit 18 and the substrate CAD unit 19 has been described. However, both or one of them may not be provided. Alternatively, both or either the circuit CAD unit 18 and the substrate CAD unit 19 are configured as devices different from the design review output device according to the present embodiment, and the circuit information storage unit 11 or the substrate information storage unit 13 may be configured to exchange information via a predetermined communication line or a predetermined recording medium. In addition, the circuit units 18 and the input units 18a and 19a and the display units 18b and 19b connected to the circuit CAD unit 18 and the substrate CAD unit 19 also capture circuit information and substrate information via a predetermined communication line or a predetermined recording medium. For example, some or all of them may not be provided. Further, the output unit 17 may be used as a display unit or the like, and the input received by the input receiving unit 15 may be used as a user input.

(Embodiment 2)
A design review system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the design review system according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 12, the design review system includes a design review support device 20, a circuit design device 30, and a board display device 40.

  The design review support device 20 includes a design review information storage unit 21, an attribute information output unit 22, an identifier reception unit 23, a substrate layer information acquisition unit 24, a substrate layer information storage unit 25, an input reception unit 26, An object display information generating unit 27, an object display information storage unit 28, an object display information output unit 29, and a design review item determination unit 52 are provided.

  The design review information storage unit 21 stores design review information in the same manner as the design review information storage unit 12 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted.

  The attribute information output unit 22 outputs the attribute information to the circuit design device 30. Here, the attribute information is information indicating the attributes of the design review object. This attribute information may be, for example, information including the attributes of the design review object as it is, or an object identifier corresponding to the attribute of the design review object is output to the design review support apparatus 20. It may be a command.

  The identifier receiving unit 23 receives the object identifier from the circuit design device 30. The object identifier received by the identifier receiving unit 23 is output from the circuit design device in response to the output of the attribute information by the attribute information output unit 22, and identifies the design review object corresponding to the attribute indicated by the attribute information. This is an object identifier.

  Here, the output of the attribute information and the output of the object identifier are the exchange of attribute information and the object identifier performed between the design review support apparatus 20 and the circuit design apparatus 30. Does not matter. For example, the attribute information output unit 22 may pass the attribute information to the circuit design device 30 by transmitting or passing it as an argument when the circuit design device 30 is activated. Further, the attribute information output unit 22 may write the attribute information in a predetermined memory, and the circuit design device 30 may read and send the attribute information from the memory, thereby transferring the attribute information.

  The substrate layer information acquisition unit 24 acquires substrate layer information from the substrate information stored in the substrate information storage unit 41 included in the substrate display device 40. Here, the board layer information is information indicating the layer of the circuit board on which the object is located. With this substrate layer information, it is possible to know in which layer the predetermined object exists. The layer of the circuit board is, for example, the front surface or the back surface of the circuit board, and sometimes includes one or more layers between the front surface and the back surface. Note that the timing of acquiring the substrate layer information by the substrate layer information acquisition unit 24 is as long as the substrate layer information and the substrate information match when the substrate layer information is used by the object display information generation unit 27. It may be a proper timing. For example, it may be triggered by a predetermined event (for example, a change in board information or activation of the design review support device 20), or may be every predetermined period.

  The substrate layer information storage unit 25 stores the substrate layer information acquired by the substrate layer information acquisition unit 24. The substrate layer information storage unit 25 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.). The storage in the substrate layer information storage unit 25 may be temporary storage in a volatile recording medium such as a RAM, or may be long-term storage in a nonvolatile recording medium.

  The input receiving unit 26 receives a predetermined input as in the case of the input receiving unit 15 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted.

  The target object display information generating unit 27 generates target object display information that is information including the target object identifier received by the identifier receiving unit 23. This object display information can constitute a design review image including a design review object on the substrate based on this information. The object display information includes display method information included in the design review information. The display method information may be included in the object display information as a display command, for example. The display method information included in the object display information corresponds to the object identifier included in the object display information. The object display information also includes review point information included in the design review information. The review point information included in the object display information corresponds to the object identifier included in the object display information. The object display information includes information that can display a list of design review items. The target object display information generation unit 27 accumulates the generated target object display information in the target object display information storage unit 28.

  The object display information storage unit 28 stores the object display information generated by the object display information generation unit 27 temporarily or in the long term. The object display information storage unit 28 can be realized by a predetermined recording medium (for example, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.).

  The object display information output unit 29 outputs the object display information stored in the object display information storage unit 28 to the substrate display device 40. Here, also in the output of the object display information, the object display information may be exchanged between the design review support device 20 and the substrate display device 40. That is, the form of transmission / reception is not limited as in the case of outputting attribute information. The object display information output unit 29 also outputs information indicating each design review item in order for the base display device 40 to display a list of design review items.

  The design review item determination unit 52 determines which design review item has been selected in accordance with an instruction from the user received by the input reception unit 26. Then, the determination result is passed to the object display information output unit 29. The selection of the design review item may be a selection of one design review item or two or more design review items.

  The circuit design device 30 is a device that designs a circuit, and includes a circuit information storage unit 31, a processing unit 32, a circuit CAD unit 33, an input unit 34, and a display unit 35. The circuit information storage unit 31 stores circuit information similarly to the circuit information storage unit 11 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. The circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 31 is information indicating the configuration of the circuit designed by the circuit design process. The processing unit 32 extracts the object identifier corresponding to the attribute information output from the attribute information output unit 22 from the circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 31, and sends the object identifier to the identifier receiving unit 32. Output. Also, processing related to circuit design and the like in the circuit design device 30 is performed. The circuit CAD unit 33 is the same as the circuit CAD unit 18 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. The input unit 34 and the display unit 35 are also the same as the input unit 18a and the display unit 18b in the first embodiment, respectively, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The substrate display device 40 includes a substrate information storage unit 41, a display unit 42, a substrate CAD unit 43, and an input unit 44. The board information storage unit 41 stores board information designed by the board CAD unit 43 based on the circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 31. The display unit 42 displays a substrate pattern diagram based on the substrate information on a predetermined display device. Note that the display unit 42 may or may not include a display device (for example, a CRT or a liquid crystal display) that performs display. The display unit 42 may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives a display device. The substrate information storage unit 41, the substrate CAD unit 43, and the input unit 44 are the same as the substrate information storage unit 13, the substrate CAD unit 19, and the input unit 19a in the first embodiment, respectively. Omitted.

  Next, the operation of the design review system according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the design review support apparatus 20 according to this embodiment.

  (Step S301) The input receiving unit 26 determines whether an instruction to display a list of design review items has been received. If the instruction is accepted, the instruction is passed to the object display information generation unit 27 and the process proceeds to step S302. If not, the process proceeds to step S308.

  (Step S <b> 302) The target object display information generation unit 27 determines whether the target object display information is stored in the target object display information storage unit 28. If the object display information is stored, an instruction to output information necessary for displaying the list of design review items is passed to the object display information output unit 29, and the process proceeds to step S307. In this case, an instruction to output attribute information is given to the attribute information output unit 22, and the process proceeds to step S303.

  (Step S303) The attribute information output unit 22 reads the attribute of the design review object corresponding to each design review item from the design review information stored in the design review information storage unit 21.

  (Step S304) The attribute information output unit 22 configures attribute information based on the read attribute, and outputs the attribute information to the processing unit 32.

  When the processing unit 32 receives the attribute information output from the attribute information output unit 22, the processing unit 32 refers to the circuit information storage unit 31 for the target identifier of the design review target corresponding to the attribute indicated by the attribute information. Extract by Then, the extracted object identifier is output to the identifier receiving unit 23.

  (Step S <b> 305) The identifier receiving unit 23 determines whether an object identifier has been received from the circuit design device 30. If the object identifier is received, the object identifier is passed to the object display information generating unit 27 and the process proceeds to step S306. If not, the process of step S305 is repeated until the object identifier is received. .

  (Step S <b> 306) The target object display information generating unit 27 generates target object display information based on the target object identifier received from the identifier receiving unit 23. In generating the object display information, the object display information generation unit 27 uses display method information and review point information included in the design review information. If the design review information includes an attribute related to the layer of the circuit board, the object display information is generated based on the board layer information stored in the board layer information storage unit 25. Specifically, the layer of the substrate indicated by the attribute (attribute included in the design review information) corresponding to the received object identifier, and the layer (layer indicated by the substrate layer information) corresponding to the object identifier in the substrate layer information The object display information is generated using the object identifier that matches with (). Then, the generated object display information is accumulated in the object display information storage unit 28, and an instruction to output information necessary for displaying a list of design review items is processed based on the object display information. It passes to the object display information output unit 29.

  (Step S307) The object display information output unit 29 outputs information necessary for displaying a list of design review items to the board display device 40. Then, the process returns to step S301. The display unit 42 displays a list of design review items on a predetermined display device based on the information output by the object display information output unit 29.

  (Step S308) The input receiving unit 26 determines whether an instruction to select any design review item has been received. When the instruction is accepted, the instruction is transferred to the design review item determination unit 52. The design review item discriminating unit 52 discriminates which design review item is selected in accordance with an instruction from the user accepted by the input accepting unit 26, and passes the discrimination result to the object display information output unit 29. The process proceeds to step S309. If the input receiving unit 26 has not received an instruction to select a design review item, the process returns to step S301.

  (Step S309) The object display information output unit 29 outputs the object display information corresponding to the design review item selected by the user to the display unit 42 according to the determination result received from the design review item determination unit 52. . Then, the process returns to step S301. The display unit 42 displays the design review object related to the selected design review item on a predetermined display device based on the object display information output from the object display information output unit 29 by a corresponding display method. To do. Moreover, the display based on the review point information regarding the selected design review item is also performed.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 13, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt. Further, in this flowchart, when the object display information is stored, the design review item is displayed. However, in the case where the substrate information is newly generated and the object display information is newly generated, the object display information can be generated even if the object display information is stored. Good. Alternatively, in that case, the object display information stored in the object display information storage unit 28 may be deleted.

Next, the operation of the design review system according to the present embodiment will be described using a specific example. In this specific example, it is assumed that the design review information stored in the design review information storage unit 21 is as shown in FIG. The circuit information stored in the circuit information storage unit 31 is assumed to be as shown in FIG. Further, it is assumed that the board information stored in the board information storage unit 41 is as shown in FIG. Since FIG. 4 to FIG. 6 are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted. Further, it is assumed that the object display information storage unit 28 does not store the object display information.

  Assume that the design review support apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment and the display device that the display unit 42 displays are as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the PC main body corresponds to the design review support apparatus 20, and the display corresponds to a display device on which the display unit 42 performs display. The design review support device 20, the circuit design device 30 and the board display device 40 may be connected by a predetermined line (not shown). Alternatively, the design review support device 20, the circuit design device 30, and the board display device 40 may be integrally realized by a CPU and a memory of the PC main body, a program that is read and executed by the CPU, and the like.

  First, an operation in which the substrate layer information acquisition unit 24 acquires the substrate layer information will be described. The substrate layer information acquisition unit 24 refers to the substrate information shown in FIG. 6 and acquires substrate layer information composed of an object identifier and information indicating an arrangement surface corresponding to the object identifier from the substrate information. To do. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the acquired substrate layer information. As shown in FIG. 14, the substrate layer information is used to know on which layer (here, only the front surface (TOP) and the back surface (BOTTOM)) the object corresponding to a certain object identifier is located. Can do.

  It is assumed that the screen shown in FIG. 8 is displayed by the user operating the keyboard and mouse shown in FIG. When the user operates the mouse and clicks the “Yes” button, the input receiving unit 26 determines that an instruction to display a list of design review items has been received (step S301), and a list of design review items. Is sent to the object display information generating unit 27. At this time, since the object display information is not stored, the object display information generation unit 27 refers to the object display information storage unit 28 and determines that the object display information is not stored (step S302), the attribute information output unit 22 is instructed to output the attribute information.

  Then, the attribute information output unit 22 reads the attributes “analog, digital”, “crystal”, and “IC (surface)” for each design review item from the design review information shown in FIG. 5 (step S303). . And the attribute information which is a command which acquires the object identifier corresponding to those attributes is comprised. The attribute information output unit 22 has a method of configuring a command corresponding to the attribute shown in FIG. 15, and configures attribute information based on the method. Specifically, the command “Select (netkind, analog)” and “Select (netkind, digital)” are configured for the attribute “analog, digital”, and the command “Select (refid” is specified for the attribute “crystal”. , “X *”) ”and a command“ Select (refid, “IC *”) ”for the attribute“ IC (surface) ”. The “surface” of the attribute “IC (surface)” is used after receiving the object identifier, and is not included in the attribute information command. Further, here, a case has been described in which the command is configured by referring to a table, but the command may be configured using a predetermined function.

When the attribute information output unit 22 outputs the attribute information (command) to the processing unit 32 in association with the ID of each design review item (record) of the design review information (step S304), the processing unit 32 displays the circuit information. With reference to the circuit information shown in FIG. 4 stored in the storage unit 31, processing corresponding to the received command is performed. For example, for the commands “Select (netkind, analog)” and “Select (netkind, digital)”, the object identifier “NET106, NET107, NET109, NET110” of the record whose attribute value corresponding to the attribute “netkind” is “analog”. Alternatively, the object identifiers “NET103, NET104” of the record whose attribute value is “digital” are extracted. For the command “Select (refid,“ X * ”)”, the object identifier “X001” whose object identifier starts with “X” is extracted. For the command “Select (refid,“ IC * ”)”, the object identifier “IC8001” whose object identifier begins with “IC” is extracted. This is because the object identifiers corresponding to the circuit elements “crystal” and “IC” are set to start with “X” and “IC”, respectively.

  When the processing unit 32 extracts those object identifiers, the processing unit 32 outputs the extracted object identifiers to the identifier receiving unit 23 in association with the IDs of the design review items. That is, in association with ID = 1, the object identifiers “NET106, NET107, NET109, NET110” corresponding to analog and the object identifiers “NET103, NET104” corresponding to digital are output. Further, the object identifier “X001” is output in association with ID = 2, and the object identifier “IC8001” is output in association with ID = 3.

  When the identifier receiving unit 23 receives the object identifier output from the processing unit 32 (step S305), the identifier receiving unit 23 passes the object identifier to the object display information generating unit 27. When the object display information generating unit 27 receives the object identifier from the identifier receiving unit 23, the object display information generating unit 27 designs the display method information corresponding to the ID of the design review item associated with the object identifier and the review point information. Obtained from the review information storage unit 21. The design review item with ID = 3 has an attribute related to the layer of the board (that is, an attribute indicating that the design review object is located on the surface of the board), and therefore the design review corresponding to the object identifier “IC8001”. Whether or not the object is located on the surface of the substrate is determined with reference to the substrate layer information. In the board layer information of FIG. 14, the object identifier “IC8001” is located on the board surface (TOP), and therefore the object display information generation unit 27 continues to generate the object display information. On the other hand, if the substrate layer information indicates that the object identifier “IC8001” is located on the back side of the substrate, the object display information generation unit 27 discards (deletes) the object identifier “IC8001”. The object display information relating to the object identifier is not generated.

  The object display information generation unit 27 has a display command generation function, which is a function for generating a display command corresponding to the display method, associated with the display method. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a correspondence between a display method and a display command generation function. By substituting the object identifier as an argument of this function, the object display information generating unit 27 generates a display command. For example, since the IC is to be displayed in red, the display command “Setcolor (IC8001, red)” is generated by using Func02 (IC8001). Then, object display information having review point information and a display command is generated for each design review item (step S306). FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating the object display information generated by the object display information generation unit 27. In FIG. 17, the object identification information includes the attributes and display method of the design review object, but these pieces of information are displayed for convenience of explanation and may not be included in the object display information. . Also, the object identifier may not be included in the object display information because the object identifier is included in the display command. Here, that the display command includes the object identifier may include that the display command includes the object identifier as it is, and is included in the display command by performing a predetermined conversion or the like on the object identifier. It may be.

The target object display information generation unit 27 accumulates the generated target object display information in the target object display information storage unit 28. In addition, the object display information generation unit 27 gives an instruction to the object display information output unit 29 to output information necessary for displaying a list of design review items. Then, the target object display information output unit 29 reads out “design review target object attributes” for each design review item from the target object display information stored in the target object display information storage unit 28 and displays them on the display unit 42. Output (step S307). As a result, the display unit 42 displays a list of design review items similar to FIG. 9 on the display device (the display of the PC shown in FIG. 8). When “review point information” is not included in the object display information, “design review object attributes” or the like may be output to the display unit 42 to display the information.

  It is assumed that the user selects “Crystal” in the list display of design review items. That is, if the “select” button corresponding to the crystal is clicked, the selection instruction is received by the input receiving unit 26 (step S308), and is passed to the design review item determining unit 52. Then, the design review item determination unit 52 determines that the second design review item, that is, the design review item with ID = 2, is selected, and passes the determination result to the object display information output unit 29. As a result, the object display information output unit 29 includes object display information corresponding to crystal, that is, display command “Select (X001)” from the design review item corresponding to ID = 2, and review point information. The target object display information is read out, and the target object display information is output to the display unit 42 (step S309). Then, the display unit 42 performs display according to the received display command “Select (X001)” and display based on the review point information. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a substrate pattern diagram 300 including a design review object displayed on the display and a display 400 based on the review point information. In the substrate pattern diagram 300, the crystal 301 is selectively displayed (for example, highlighted). This selection display may be, for example, changing the color between the crystal 301 and another object, or blinking the crystal 301 or displaying it darker than the other object. Any display method can be used as long as it can be distinguished from other objects. The user can know that the wiring of the crystal 301 is long in the substrate pattern diagram 300 by viewing the display of FIG. Therefore, the user must again perform processing by the substrate CAD unit 43 that generates substrate information from circuit information. When the user clicks the “list” button, the display returns to the display of FIG. 9 (steps S301, S302, S307), and when the user clicks the “end” button, the display returns to the display of FIG.

  In this specific example, the case where the attribute information output unit 22 generates a command corresponding to the attribute has been described, but the command corresponding to the attribute may be stored in the design review information storage unit 21 in advance.

  As described above, the design review system according to the present embodiment outputs attribute information and generates object display information including the object identifier of the design review object received according to the output of the attribute information. Output. Therefore, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and the design review can be easily performed only by adding the design review support device 20 according to the present embodiment to the circuit design device 30 and the substrate display device 40. A system can be built.

  In addition, the object display information corresponding to the design review item selected by the user can be output from the object display information output unit 29. Therefore, the user can perform a design review only for a desired design review item.

  In the present embodiment, the display unit 42 in the board display device 40 displays a board pattern diagram including a design review object based on the object display information received from the object display information output unit 29. Explained. In addition, it replaces with the board | substrate display apparatus 40, and is provided with the output part which outputs the design review image (board | substrate pattern figure) containing the image on the board | substrate of a design review object based on target object display information and board | substrate information. Alternatively, a substrate output device may be used. The output unit is a transmission unit that transmits a design review image to a predetermined apparatus, a printer that prints the design review image, or the like. The output unit may or may not include an output device (such as a printer or a modem) that performs the output. The output unit may be realized by hardware, or may be realized by software such as a driver that drives the output device.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the display method information and the review point information are included in the design review information has been described. However, either or both of them may not be included in the design review information. In this case, the object display information does not include information corresponding to the display method information or the like.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case has been described in which the design review information has an attribute related to the board layer, but the design review information may not have the attribute related to the board layer. When the design review information does not have an attribute related to the board layer, the design review support apparatus 20 may not include the board layer information acquisition unit 24 and the board layer information storage unit 25.

  In the present embodiment, the object display information generation unit 27 generates object display information regarding each design review item included in the design review information storage unit 21, and then the object display information output unit 29 The case where the object display information is output for each review item has been described. On the other hand, the target object display information generation unit 27 may generate target object display information only for a predetermined design review item, for example, in response to an input from the user. In this case, the design review item determination unit 52 may pass the determination result to the object display information generation unit 27 or the like.

  Further, although cases have been described with the present embodiment where the attribute information is a command, this is merely an example, and the attribute information may simply include information indicating an attribute. In this case, in the circuit design device 30, the processing unit 32 extracts the object identifier corresponding to the attribute and passes it to the identifier receiving unit 23.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the display command is included in the object display information has been described. However, this is merely an example, and the object display information may include, for example, an object identifier corresponding to the design review object. Alternatively, the object identifier and the display method information may be included. It may only be included. When only the object identifier is included in the object display information, the object display information generation unit 27 merely configures the object display information including the object identifier received by the identifier reception unit 23. This is also referred to as generation of object display information. When only the object identifier is included in the object display information, the design review object identified by the object identifier is displayed on the board display device 40 by a predetermined display method. . The predetermined display method is, for example, a method of highlighting the display such as changing the display color of the design review object corresponding to the received object identifier, blinking, or displaying in the center. .

  Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which the design review support apparatus 20 receives an object identifier from the circuit design apparatus 30 and outputs object display information having at least the object identifier. However, for example, the design review support apparatus 20 may be an apparatus that only outputs attribute information that is information indicating the attribute of the design review object in the design review item. In this case, the circuit design device 30 that has received the attribute information extracts an object identifier corresponding to the attribute, and the extracted object identifier is passed to the substrate display device 40, whereby the substrate display device 40 The design review object will be displayed. The circuit design device 30 and the substrate display device 40 may be configured as the same device.

  In the design review support apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment, the substrate layer information acquisition unit 24 that acquires the substrate layer information from the substrate information storage unit 41, and the substrate layer information storage unit 25 that stores the substrate layer information; The case where it is provided was described. On the other hand, the design review support apparatus 20 may be configured to include a board information acquisition unit that acquires board information from the board information storage unit 41 and a board information storage unit that stores the board information. Then, the object display information generating unit 27 includes the board information acquired by the board information acquiring unit and attributes related to the board included in the attributes of the design review target (for example, the design review target on the board). The object display information may be generated using an attribute relating to the position of the object. In this case, the board information acquired by the board information acquisition unit is information regarding the object on the circuit board, and may be the same as the board information stored in the board information storage unit 41. Alternatively, it may be a part of the board information. For example, only the information related to the object identifier and the position may be acquired from the board information stored in the board information storage unit 41.

  In the present embodiment, the circuit design device 30 includes the circuit CAD unit 33 and the substrate display device 40 includes the substrate CAD unit 43. However, the circuit design device 30 does not include the circuit CAD unit 33. May be. Further, the substrate display device 40 may not include the substrate CAD unit 43. Further, both or one of the circuit CAD unit 33 and the substrate CAD unit 43 is configured as a device different from the circuit design device 30 according to the present embodiment, and the circuit information storage unit 31 and the substrate information storage Information may be exchanged with the unit 41 via a predetermined communication line or a predetermined recording medium. Also, the input units 34 and 44 and the display unit 35 connected to the circuit CAD unit 33 and the substrate CAD unit 43 may not be provided with some or all of them.

  In each of the above embodiments, the design review output device and the design review system may be configured as a system including a plurality of devices, or may be configured as a stand-alone single device. Here, when configured as a system, the apparatuses may be connected via a wired or wireless communication line.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where display or the like is performed for each design review item has been described, but a plurality of design review items may be displayed or the like simultaneously. For example, when analog wiring is displayed in blue, digital wiring is displayed in red, crystal is displayed in yellow, and IC is displayed in green, each can be distinguished even if they are displayed simultaneously. In order to obtain them, those design review objects may be displayed simultaneously.

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, a design review object that was not included in the design review image configured one time before may be displayed. That is, the difference from the previous design review image may be displayed. For example, in the object display information shown in FIG. 17, a “previous extraction flag” is set in association with each object identifier. When the object display information generating unit 27 newly accumulates the object display information in the object display information storage unit 28, the previous extraction flag corresponding to the object identifier accumulated so far is set to “1”. Set. Further, “0” is set to the previous extraction flag corresponding to the object identifier newly accumulated at that time. In this case, for example, when only the design review object corresponding to the object identifier newly received by the identifier receiving unit 23 is to be displayed, the display corresponding to the object identifier whose previous extraction flag is “0” is displayed. You only have to do it.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, the case where the design review image and target object display information regarding the design review item selected by the input which the input reception parts 15 and 26 received were output was demonstrated. However, this is only an example, and for example, a design review image and object display information regarding each design review item may be output at a predetermined timing. The timing may be, for example, every predetermined period (for example, every minute), may be triggered by a predetermined event, or may be other timing.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, the case where each design review item is selected after the list of design review items is displayed has been described. However, this is only an example. For example, an instruction to output a design review image or object display information regarding each design review item without displaying a list may be received, or, as described above, each design may be received. You may make it output the design review image and target object display information regarding a review item for every predetermined period.

  In each of the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing by a single device (system), or by distributed processing by a plurality of devices. May be.

  In each of the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory. The software that realizes the design review output device in the above embodiment is the following program. In other words, the program stores, for each of one or more design review items relating to circuit information, which is information having a target object identifier for identifying a target object in a circuit and an attribute of the target object in association with each other, and circuit board design. A specifying step of specifying the object identifier corresponding to the design review object based on design review information which is information having an attribute of the design review object that is an object to be subjected to the design review; On the substrate, based on the object identifier specified in the step, and substrate information that is information having the object identifier and the position on the substrate of the object identified by the object identifier in association with each other. An image composing step for constructing a design review image, which is an image including the design review object, and the image An output step of outputting the design review image constructed in the configuration step is for to run.

  Moreover, the software which implement | achieves the design review assistance apparatus in the said embodiment is the following programs. In other words, this program is based on the design review information, which is information having the attributes of the design review target, which is the target for the design review, for each one or more design review items related to the circuit board design of the circuit. This is for executing an attribute information output step of outputting attribute information which is information indicating the attribute of the design review object.

  Further, the program includes an identifier receiving step of receiving, on the computer, an object identifier for identifying the design review object corresponding to the attribute of the design review object indicated by the attribute information in response to the output of the attribute information. , An object display information generating step for generating object display information that is information including the object identifier received in the identifier receiving step, and an object for outputting the object information generated in the object information generating step The display information output step may be further executed.

In the above program, in an output step for outputting information, a reception step for receiving information, etc., processing performed by hardware, for example, processing performed by a display device, a modem, an interface card, etc. in the output step (in hardware) Processing that is only performed) is not included.

  This program can be given to a computer using a computer-readable medium. Various media such as a recording medium and a transmission medium can be used as the computer-readable medium. When the program is provided to a third party, the program can be provided by distributing the recording medium, or can be provided through a telecommunication line such as the Internet. When providing it through an electric communication line, for example, a program command is expressed by an electric signal, an optical signal, a magnetic signal, etc., and the signal is placed on a carrier wave and transmitted, so that a coaxial cable, a copper wire, an optical fiber, etc. The program can be provided through a communication line using a transmission medium such as Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  In each of the above embodiments, the design review output device and the design review support device 20 may be configured stand-alone, or may be configured as a system via a communication line or the like.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 19, the design review output apparatus stores CPU 62 connected to each other via a bus 61, circuit information, board information, design review information, circuit CAD program, board CAD program, and design review program. Stand-alone device comprising a storage unit 63, a memory 64 used when executing a program, an input receiving unit 15 connected to a keyboard and a mouse, and an output unit 17 connected to a display It may be. Here, when the CPU 62 executes the circuit CAD program and the board CAD program, the circuit CAD unit 18 and the board CAD unit 19 are realized, and when the design review program is executed, the specifying unit 14 and the image configuration unit 16 are realized. Thus, the design review item determination unit 51 and the like are realized. Here, the case where each component is realized by software has been described, but a stand-alone device may be configured by realizing each component as hardware. Further, although the design review output device according to the first embodiment has been described with reference to FIG. 19, the design review support device 20 according to the second embodiment, the design review support device 20, the circuit design device 30, and the board display device 40 are arbitrarily selected. Two or more devices may be configured as stand-alone devices in the same manner as in FIG.

  Also, for example, as shown in FIG. 20, the system may be configured by connecting the design review output device 10 and one or more terminal devices 70 via a communication line 60 such as the Internet or an intranet. . In this case, when the user operates the terminal device 70, input to the design review output device 10 is performed, and a design review image or the like is transmitted from the design review output device 10 to the terminal device 70 via the communication line 60. It is assumed that the terminal device 70 performs display or printout. Here, the design review output device according to the first embodiment has been described. However, the design review support device 20 according to the second embodiment, any two or more of the design review support device 20, the circuit design device 30, and the substrate display device 40 are described. The apparatus may be configured as a system in the same manner as in FIG.

  As described above, the design review output device or the like according to the present invention can appropriately perform the design review of the circuit board, and is useful as a system for performing the design review of the designed board. .

The block diagram which shows the structure of the design review output apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the design review output apparatus by the embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the design review output apparatus by the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the circuit information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the design review information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the board | substrate information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the circuit diagram in the embodiment The schematic diagram which shows an example of the external appearance of the design review output apparatus in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display regarding the digital / analog wiring in the embodiment The block diagram which shows the structure of the design review system by Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the design review assistance apparatus by the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the board | substrate layer information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the attribute and command in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the display method and display command generation function in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the target object display information in the embodiment The figure which shows an example of the display in the embodiment Diagram showing an example of a stand-alone configuration Diagram showing an example of system configuration

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Design review output device 11, 31 Circuit information memory | storage part 12, 21 Design review information memory | storage part 13, 41 Board | substrate information memory | storage part 14 Identification | identification part 15, 26 Input reception part 16 Image structure part 17 Output part 18, 33 Circuit CAD part 18a , 19a, 34, 44 Input unit 19, 43 Substrate CAD unit 20 Design review support device 22 Attribute information output unit 23 Identifier reception unit 24 Substrate layer information acquisition unit 25 Substrate layer information storage unit 27 Target object display information generation unit 28 Target object Display storage unit 29 Object display information output unit 30 Circuit design device 32 Processing unit 40 Substrate display device 42, 18b, 19b, 35 Display unit 51, 52 Design review item discrimination unit

Claims (22)

A circuit information storage unit storing circuit information having an object identifier for identifying an object in the circuit and an attribute of the object,
A design review information storage unit storing design review information having an attribute of a design review target, which is a target of design review, for each of one or more design review items related to circuit board design;
Based on the circuit information and the design review information, a specifying unit that specifies the object identifier corresponding to the design review object;
A board information storage unit that stores board information having a target object identifier and a position of the target object identified by the target object identifier in association with each other;
Based on the object identifier specified by the specifying unit and the board information, an image constituting unit that constitutes a design review image that is an image including the design review object on a board;
An output unit that outputs the design review image formed by the image configuration unit. A design review item discriminating unit that discriminates which design review item is selected according to an instruction from the user,
The design review output device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs the design review image corresponding to the design review item determined to be selected by the user by the design review item determination unit. The design review information has display method information indicating a display method related to the design review object in association with the attribute of the design review object,
The design review output device according to claim 1, wherein the image configuration unit configures the design review object on the design review image based on the display method information corresponding to an attribute of the design review object. Attributes of the object include analog and digital,
The display method information indicates a method for displaying analog and digital in such a manner that they can be distinguished from other design review objects, respectively.
The image configuration unit configures a design review object having an analog attribute and a design review object having a digital attribute on the design review image so as to be distinguishable from other design review objects. Item 4. The design review output device according to Item 3. The design review information includes review point information indicating a review point regarding the design review object for each design review item,
The design review output device according to claim 3, wherein the output unit outputs the design review image and also outputs the review point information corresponding to the design review object. A design review information storage unit storing design review information having an attribute of a design review target, which is a target of design review, for each of one or more design review items related to circuit board design;
An attribute information output unit for outputting attribute information indicating attributes of the design review object;
Design review support device with In response to the output of the attribute information, an identifier receiving unit that receives an object identifier that identifies the design review object corresponding to the attribute of the design review object indicated by the attribute information;
An object display information generating unit that generates object display information including the object identifier received by the identifier receiving unit;
The design review support apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: an object display information output unit that outputs the object information generated by the object information generation unit.   The design review support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the attribute information is a command for outputting the object identifier corresponding to the attribute of the design review object to the design review support apparatus. A board layer information storage unit storing board layer information indicating a layer of the circuit board on which the object is located;
The attributes of the design review object include attributes related to the layer where the design review object is located,
The target object display information generating unit includes the layer where the design review target object indicated by the attribute corresponding to the target object identifier among the target object identifiers received by the identifier receiving unit, and the board layer information indicates The design review support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object display information including the object identifier that matches the layer where the design review object is located is generated. A board information storage unit that stores board information related to the object on the circuit board;
The attributes of the design review object include attributes related to the substrate of the design review object,
The design review support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object display information generation unit generates object display information using the board information and an attribute related to the board of the design review object. The design review information has display method information related to a display method of the design review object in association with the attribute of the design review object,
The design review support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object display information generation unit generates the object display information including the display method information corresponding to the object identifier included in the object display information.   The object display information is a command for displaying the object identified by the object identifier included in the object display information by a display method indicated by the display method information corresponding to the object identifier. The design review support apparatus according to claim 11.   The design review support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object display information output unit outputs the object display information for each design review item. A design review item discriminating unit that discriminates which design review item is selected according to an instruction from the user,
The design review support apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the target object display information output unit outputs the target object display information corresponding to the design review item determined to be selected by the user by the design review item determination unit. The design review information includes review point information indicating a review point regarding the design review object for each design review item,
The design review support apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the object display information generation unit generates object display information including the review point information corresponding to the object identifier included in the object display information. The design review support device according to any one of claims 7 to 15,
Circuit information having a target identifier for identifying a target in the circuit and an attribute of the target is stored, and the target identifier corresponding to the attribute information output from the attribute information output unit A circuit design device that outputs to the design review support device, a board identifier having a target identifier and a position on the board of the target identified by the target identifier in association with each other, A board output device that outputs a design review image, which is an image including the design review object on a board, based on the object display information and the board information output from the object display information output unit; Design review system with A design review, which is a design review object for each of one or more design review items related to circuit information and circuit information having a target object identifier for identifying a target object in a circuit and an attribute of the target object A identifying step for identifying the object identifier corresponding to the design review object based on design review information having attributes of the object;
Based on the object identifier identified in the identifying step, and board information having the object identifier and the position of the object identified by the object identifier in association with each other on the board, An image composing step that constitutes a design review image that is an image including the design review object;
An output step of outputting the design review image configured in the image configuration step.   For each one or more design review items related to circuit board design, output attribute information indicating the attributes of the design review object based on the design review information having the attributes of the design review object that is the object of the design review. A design review support method including an attribute information output step to perform. An identifier receiving step for receiving an object identifier for identifying the design review object corresponding to the attribute of the design review object indicated by the attribute information in response to the output of the attribute information;
An object display information generating step for generating object display information including the object identifier received in the identifier receiving step;
The design review support method according to claim 18, further comprising: an object display information output step of outputting the object information generated in the object information generation step. On the computer,
A design review, which is a design review object for each of one or more design review items related to circuit information and circuit information having a target object identifier for identifying a target object in a circuit and an attribute of the target object A identifying step for identifying the object identifier corresponding to the design review object based on design review information having attributes of the object;
Based on the object identifier identified in the identifying step, and board information having the object identifier and the position of the object identified by the object identifier in association with each other on the board, An image composing step that constitutes a design review image that is an image including the design review object;
An output step of outputting the design review image configured in the image configuration step. On the computer,
For each one or more design review items related to circuit board design, output attribute information indicating the attributes of the design review object based on the design review information having the attributes of the design review object that is the object of the design review. A program for executing the attribute information output step. On the computer,
An identifier receiving step for receiving an object identifier for identifying the design review object corresponding to the attribute of the design review object indicated by the attribute information in response to the output of the attribute information;
An object display information generating step for generating object display information including the object identifier received in the identifier receiving step;
The program according to claim 21, further causing an object display information output step of outputting the object information generated in the object information generation step.

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