JP2006252285A - Printed board design device and printed board design method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printed board design device and a printed board design method capable of efficiently performing the design work of a plurality of printed boards constituting one function or a system. <P>SOLUTION: This device comprises a reading means reading the circuit connection information of printed boards; a connection information composing means composing, out of circuit connection information of a plurality of printed board, information for a part and a part terminal to be connected to the other printed board into one piece of connection information; a mount design information storage means storing the composed connection information and information for the entire printed board; a board-to-board connection information storage means storing information for a part and a part terminal to be mutually connected; a connection information dividing means dividing the composed connection information to individual pieces of circuit connection information; an arrangement processing part performing the arrangement processing of printed board based on the composed connection information and the divided circuit connection information; and a wiring processing part performing the wiring processing of printed board based on the composed connection information and the divided circuit connection information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a printed circuit board design apparatus and a printed circuit board design method, and more particularly to a printed circuit board design apparatus and a printed circuit board design method for designing a printed circuit board that constitutes one function or system by a plurality of sheets.

  Conventionally, a printed circuit board design apparatus for designing a printed circuit board has a feature that a single printed circuit board can be made into a block and converted into an object so that a plurality of workers can work on the same circuit board in parallel. is doing. According to the prior art, for example, there is provided a board design method that enables a CAD design for each part by dividing one printed board for each function.

  This board design method will be described in more detail. For example, component data used in the CAD system, which is used in each design process, is integrated to form a component database. That is, in the CAD system used in each of the circuit design process, the mounting design process for arranging the parts determined in the circuit design process, and the circuit board design process from the circuit design data and the mounting design data, respectively. A parts database is constructed by integrating parts data to be used. In addition, the design data output from the CAD system is configured in a common format.

  In addition, a partial circuit unit obtained by dividing the circuit is an object. Then, circuit design, mounting design, and pattern design are performed in object units, and design data such as circuits, component arrangements, patterns, and design constraints are held in object units.

  Next, the design operation will be described. First, in the circuit design of one printed circuit board, a circuit unit is divided into an arbitrary number (for example, n) objects in design. Next, circuit design and mounting design are performed on the object 1. At this time, if the objects are not independent, the mounting design is provisional mounting. Thereafter, when pattern design is performed, design constraint information such as pattern wiring length limitation is referred to, and design according to the design constraint condition is performed.

  Also in this case, if the pattern object and the constraint object are not independent, the pattern design becomes a temporary pattern. Then, when the design of the object 1 is completed, the design of the object 2 is performed in the same manner as described above. Thereafter, the same operations as described above are performed up to object 3, object 4,. In this way, one printed circuit board is divided into a plurality of objects, and the design is completed when all the divided objects have been designed, and there is no provisional design information on the objects that were not independent at this time ( For example, see Patent Document 1). According to such a conventional printed circuit board design method, one printed circuit board is divided into an arbitrary number of objects, and the design is performed in object units in parallel by designing the object in a single printed circuit board. Can be done.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-184908 (FIGS. 3 and 5)

  By the way, in a large-scale system, it is common to be composed of a plurality of printed circuit boards. When trying to design a printed circuit board of a large-scale system by the above-described conventional printed circuit board design method, there is a problem that it is difficult to design a printed circuit board that optimally observes mounting conditions and design constraint conditions. In addition, if the design of one or a plurality of printed circuit boards among a plurality of printed circuit boards constituting a large-scale system is not completed, the mounting conditions and design constraint conditions in accordance with the design results cannot be confirmed and reset. If this is not completed, the design of the remaining printed circuit board cannot be started, which increases the design period.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a printed circuit board design apparatus and a printed circuit board design method capable of efficiently performing a design work of a printed circuit board that constitutes one function or system by a plurality of sheets. The purpose is to obtain.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present invention is a printed circuit board design apparatus that designs a printed circuit board constituting a predetermined apparatus by connecting a plurality of sheets. , A reading means for reading circuit connection information of a printed circuit board, and connection information for combining information on components and component terminals mutually connected to other printed circuit boards among the circuit connection information of a plurality of printed circuit boards into one connection information Combining means, mounting design information storing means for storing combined connection information and general printed circuit board information, inter-board connection information storing means for storing information of components and component terminals connected to each other, and combined connection information Connection information dividing means for dividing the circuit board into individual circuit connection information, and a printed circuit board placement process based on the combined connection information and the divided circuit connection information. An arrangement processing unit that performs, characterized in that it and a routing processing unit that performs routing processing of the printed circuit board on the basis of the synthesized connection information and divided circuit connection information.

  According to the present invention, various circuit connection information of a plurality of printed circuit boards is combined into one, and has a function of dividing it into a plurality as necessary, so that circuit connection information can be arbitrarily switched and arranged by interconnection. Information, wiring information, and design constraint information can be collectively managed, and a printed circuit board constituting a single function or system can be efficiently designed with a plurality of pieces. This makes it possible to efficiently perform design work for printed circuit boards that make up a single function or system with multiple boards, realizing efficient design work, shortening the design period, realizing short delivery times, and low There is an effect that the cost can be improved and the design quality can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a printed circuit board design apparatus and a printed circuit board design method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following description, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it can change suitably.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram showing a functional configuration of a printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a mounting design unit 11, an integrated management unit 12, a mounting design information storage unit 13, an inter-board connection information storage unit 14, and a circuit connection. An information composition processing unit 15, a circuit connection information division processing unit 16, a constraint condition calculation unit 17, a sharing control unit 18, an exclusive control unit 19, a data management unit 20, and an output unit 21 are configured. Has been.

  The mounting design unit 11 is a mounting design means that has a circuit information reading function, a component placement function, a pattern wiring function, a physical information output function, and the like that are included in a known printed circuit board design apparatus. The integrated management unit 12 is a management module that manages and controls processing for handling various types of information on an arbitrary number of printed circuit boards, which is a main feature of the present invention.

  The mounting design information storage unit 13 is a management module that stores information such as the layer configuration of the entire printed circuit board, parts, wiring patterns, and design constraint conditions. The mounting design information storage unit 13 also stores connection information synthesized by the circuit connection information synthesis processing unit 15. The board-to-board connection information storage unit 14 is a management module that stores information on components and component terminals connected to each other among circuit connection information of a plurality of printed boards.

  When there is information to be connected between printed circuit boards based on the circuit information read by the mounting design unit 11, the circuit connection information synthesis processing unit 15 converts the circuit connection information into one connection information. Are combined and stored in the mounting design information storage unit 13, and the component and component terminal information when combined are stored in the inter-board connection information storage unit 14. The circuit connection information division processing unit 16 is a division processing means used when restoring the circuit connection information stored in the mounting design information storage unit 13 and the inter-board connection information storage unit 14.

  The constraint condition calculation unit 17 calculates and processes circuit connection information or design constraint information of the entire apparatus given from the mounting design unit 11 in consideration of different board structures such as the board thickness and the number of layers of each printed circuit board. It is. The sharing control unit 18 shares data by sharing the mounting design information storage unit 13, the inter-board connection information storage unit 14, the constraint condition calculation unit 17, and the like when performing design work in parallel using the system according to the present invention. It is an information sharing means for performing control for use. The exclusive control unit 19 is a means for performing control to prevent sharing violation, that is, simultaneous editing of the same information, with respect to data shared by the sharing control unit 18.

  The data management unit 20 monitors the data of the entire processing of the integrated management unit 12 every time the data of each printed circuit board stored in the mounting design information storage unit 13 is to be updated. And the processing is relayed to the sharing control unit 18 and the exclusive control unit 19 as necessary, and the sharing control unit 18 and the exclusive control unit 19 share the data and perform exclusive control. The output unit 21 is a data output unit using a known technique.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a substrate configuration of an apparatus 30 that performs design by the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment. Here, one device 30 is composed of three printed circuit boards, and as shown in FIG. 2, a printed circuit board A31 having a predetermined function, a printed circuit board B32 having another predetermined function, and a printed circuit board. A 31 and a printed circuit board B 32 are electrically coupled to each other and a printed circuit board C 33 for integrating them as one device.

  Next, the operation of the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing when designing an apparatus composed of the three printed boards shown in FIG. Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIG.

  First, in the mounting design unit 11, a circuit connection information reading process for reading circuit connection information of the printed circuit board A31 which is the first printed circuit board is performed (step S101). Next, the integrated management unit 12 determines whether or not the read circuit connection information of the printed circuit board A31 includes information on components and component terminals mutually connected to other printed circuit boards (step S102).

  Here, if the above information exists in the circuit connection information of the read printed circuit board A31 (Yes in step S102), a synthesis process for combining the corresponding circuit connection information into one inter-board connection information is performed (step S103). ). Then, this is stored in the mounting design information storage unit 13, and the storing process of storing the combined components and component terminal information in the inter-board connection information storage unit 14 is performed (step S 104).

  On the other hand, if the above information does not exist in the circuit connection information of the printed circuit board A31 read in the determination in step S102 (No in step S102), the process proceeds to the next step S105 without performing the above steps S103 and S104. .

  Next, when the storing process (step S104) of the printed circuit board A31 ends, or when the above information does not exist in the circuit connection information of the printed circuit board A31 read in the determination of step S102 (No in step S102), the packaging design is performed. The unit 11 determines whether there is circuit connection information of another printed circuit board to be read (step S105).

  If it is determined in step S105 that there is circuit connection information of another printed circuit board to be read (Yes in step S105), the process returns to step S101. If it is determined in step S105 that there is no circuit connection information of another printed circuit board to be read (No in step S105), the process proceeds to step S106, which is the next design work.

  Here, as circuit connection information of another printed circuit board to be read, there are circuit connection information of the printed circuit board B32 which is the second printed circuit board and circuit connection information of the printed circuit board C33 which is the third printed circuit board. Therefore, the process returns to step S101. And said step S101-step S105 are performed with respect to the circuit connection information of printed circuit board B32, and said step S101-step S104 are further performed with respect to the circuit connection information of printed circuit board C33. And after performing step S105 with respect to the circuit connection information of the printed circuit board C33, it transfers to step S106 which is the next design work. In addition, about a series of operation | work of said S101-step S104, even after shifting to the subsequent design operation | work, it can implement again arbitrarily.

  Here, in many cases, design constraint conditions are already added to circuit connection information created by a known circuit design CAD. However, in the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment, the mounting design unit 11 is used. It is also possible to add a new design constraint condition.

  Therefore, in the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment, the mounting design unit performs a constraint condition setting process for setting a newly added design constraint condition (step S106). At this time, in the present invention, since the connection information has already been synthesized by the circuit connection information synthesis processing unit 15, it is possible to set a wiring constraint condition for each printed circuit board. It can also be set easily. Thereby, it is possible to easily design a printed circuit board with a high degree of design freedom. Here, the design constraint condition is, for example, the line length of the wiring pattern, a gap restriction with other wiring patterns existing in the vicinity, or a component gap existing in the vicinity.

  Next, the mounting design unit 11 performs an arrangement process for arranging components defined in the circuit connection information based on the combined inter-board connection information (step S107). Further, if necessary, the circuit connection information division processing unit 16 divides the combined inter-board connection information into individual circuit connection information, and performs an arrangement process based on the information. Next, the mounting design unit 11 performs a wiring process for performing wiring based on the circuit design information, the combined inter-board connection information, and the component arrangement information of the components arranged by the above arrangement process (step S108). Further, if necessary, the circuit connection information division processing unit 16 divides the inter-board connection information into individual circuit connection information, and performs wiring processing based on the information.

  In the design work by the placement process (step S107) and the wiring process (step S108), the design work is performed in consideration of the design constraint conditions. In this case, the constraint condition calculation unit 17 processes the constraint conditions for the entire apparatus and the constraint conditions for each printed circuit board. Note that the constraint conditions that are independent within one printed circuit board are processed as individual constraint conditions. Further, for design constraint conditions related to a plurality of printed circuit boards, the constraint condition calculation unit 17 calculates whether the constraint conditions of the entire apparatus are satisfied each time the design work for each printed circuit board is performed, and performs pass / fail determination. .

  Then, at the stage where the above arrangement processing (step S107) and wiring processing (step S108) are completed, output of manufacturing data, inspection data, and the like is performed using the output unit 21 using a known technique.

  As described above, the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function of synthesizing or separating the circuit connection information of one or a plurality of printed circuit boards. Therefore, the circuit connection information is arbitrarily switched, By interconnecting, arrangement information, wiring information, and design constraint information can be collectively managed, and a plurality of boards can efficiently design a printed circuit board that constitutes one function or system. In this printed circuit board design apparatus, a plurality of workers can perform the above-described individual printed circuit board design work in parallel. When performing the design work of individual printed circuit boards in parallel, the circuit connection information can be arbitrarily switched and interconnected by the function for synthesizing or separating the above-mentioned circuit connection information, and the placement information, wiring information, and design constraint information can be interconnected. Management of a plurality of printed circuit boards can be performed efficiently in parallel.

  Further, for example, when a plurality of printed circuit boards are designed in parallel, each time the data management unit 20 tries to update the data of each printed circuit board in the mounting design information storage unit 13, the integrated management unit 12. The data of the entire process is monitored and data sharing and exclusion violations are detected. Then, if necessary, the data update processing is relayed to the sharing control unit 18 and the exclusive control unit 19, and the sharing control unit 18 and the exclusive control unit 19 perform sharing and exclusive control of the corresponding data for each worker. To do. Thus, even when a plurality of printed circuit boards are designed in parallel, an accurate printed circuit board design can be performed without causing a data sharing violation.

  Therefore, according to the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present embodiment, it is possible to improve the efficiency of design work, to shorten the design period, to realize a short delivery time, to reduce the cost, and to improve the design quality. it can.

  As described above, the printed circuit board design apparatus according to the present invention is useful when designing a printed circuit board that constitutes a single function or system with a plurality of boards, and in particular, the design of each board is shared by a plurality of people. And it is suitable when working in parallel.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the printed circuit board design apparatus concerning embodiment. It is the figure which showed the board | substrate structure of the apparatus which designs with the printed circuit board design apparatus concerning embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the process at the time of designing the apparatus comprised by three printed circuit boards.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Mounting design part 12 Integrated management part 13 Mounting design information storage part 14 Inter-board connection information storage part 15 Circuit connection information synthetic | combination processing part 16 Circuit connection information division | segmentation processing part 17 Restriction condition calculation part 18 Sharing control part 19 Exclusive control part 20 Data Management unit 21 Output unit 31 Printed circuit board A
32 Printed circuit board B
33 Printed circuit board C

Claims (5)

A printed circuit board design apparatus for designing a printed circuit board constituting a predetermined apparatus by connecting a plurality of sheets,
Reading means for reading circuit connection information of the printed circuit board;
Of the circuit connection information of the plurality of printed circuit boards, connection information combining means for combining information of components and component terminals mutually connected with the other printed circuit boards into one connection information;
Mounting design information storage means for storing the synthesized connection information and information on the printed circuit board in general;
Inter-board connection information storage means for storing information on the components and component terminals connected to each other;
Connection information dividing means for dividing the combined connection information into individual circuit connection information;
An arrangement processing unit that performs an arrangement process of the printed circuit board based on the combined connection information and the divided circuit connection information;
A wiring processing unit that performs wiring processing of the printed circuit board based on the combined connection information and the divided circuit connection information;
A printed circuit board design apparatus comprising: The printed circuit board design apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising data management means for managing arrangement information, wiring information, circuit board structure information, and design constraint information as the printed circuit board information and the entire apparatus information. The printed circuit board design apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a constraint condition calculation unit configured to perform calculation processing on design constraint information of the entire apparatus based on the board structure unique to the printed circuit board. When performing the design work of the plurality of printed circuit boards in parallel,
In the design process of each printed circuit board, a sharing control unit that performs control for sharing information stored in the mounting design information storage unit and the inter-board connection information storage unit,
Exclusive control means for performing control to avoid simultaneous editing of the same information for information shared by the control of the sharing control means;
The printed circuit board design apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: A printed circuit board design method for designing a printed circuit board constituting a predetermined apparatus by connecting a plurality of sheets,
A reading step of reading circuit connection information of the printed circuit board;
Of the circuit connection information of the printed circuit board, a connection information combining step for combining information of components and component terminals mutually connected to the other printed circuit board into one connection information;
A mounting design information storing step for storing the combined connection information and information on the printed circuit board in general;
A board-to-board connection information storing step for storing information on the components and component terminals connected to each other;
A connection information dividing step of dividing the combined connection information into individual circuit connection information;
An arrangement process step for performing an arrangement process of a printed circuit board based on the combined connection information and the divided circuit connection information;
A wiring processing step for performing wiring processing of the printed circuit board based on the combined connection information and the divided circuit connection information;
A printed circuit board design method comprising:

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