TWI459874B - A method for circuit layout and a device using the same - Google Patents

Description

Circuit layout method and device

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a circuit layout method, and more particularly to a circuit layout method and apparatus for locating intersection locations of high speed signal lines in a circuit layout by positioning components.

Circuit diagrams are an important reference for the circuit layout of printed circuit boards. However, the circuit diagram usually only provides a simple connection between component/line information and each component/line, and the actual line winding or line intersection position in the circuit layout cannot be obtained from the circuit diagram. Therefore, in general, after using the circuit layout software to generate the circuit layout according to the circuit diagram, the circuit layout personnel need to set additional rules or manually adjust the winding position of the circuit in the circuit layout or the intersection position of the line to make it Meets preset circuit characteristics.

In particular, for a printed circuit board that transmits a high-speed signal, the location of the intersection of each line in the circuit layout typically needs to be associated with a through hole on the printed circuit board, and each line The location of the intersection may directly affect the timing of high speed signal transmission to each terminal. For example, suppose that due to the lack of experience of the circuit layout personnel, etc., the position selection of the line intersection in the circuit layout is not appropriate, and the high-speed signal is from the line intersection to each The timing of the terminal transmission may not be synchronized, which in turn affects the overall performance of the printed circuit board.

Therefore, how to reduce the time that the circuit layout personnel spends selecting the position of each circuit intersection in the circuit layout and reach the timing requirement of the high-speed signals of each terminal in the printed circuit board is one of the important topics of the research and development personnel in the field.

In view of this, the present invention provides a circuit layout method and apparatus that can effectively position the intersection of high-speed signal lines in a circuit layout of a printed circuit board.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a circuit layout method suitable for use in a circuit layout apparatus, the method comprising the following steps. At least one positioning component is disposed in the circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for the high-speed signal line, wherein at least one of the positioning components has a circuit component property and a board through-hole property, respectively. Setting electrical discipline rules for the circuit and associating at least one locating element with at least one intersection of the plurality of high speed signal lines. Introducing an electrical constraint rule and at least one positioning component information corresponding to the at least one positioning component to an unfinished circuit layout. Adjusting the position of at least one of the positioning elements in the unfinished circuit layout. Depending on the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout, the position of at least one intersection of the strips of high speed signal lines in the unfinished circuit layout is determined, and the completed circuit layout is generated based on the position of the at least one intersection.

In an embodiment of the invention, the step of providing at least one positioning component in the circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for the high-speed signal line further comprises the following steps. At least one circuit component in the circuit is selected, and at least one of the positioning components is named according to the component number of the at least one circuit component.

In an embodiment of the invention, the step of adjusting the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout comprises the following steps. Adjusting a position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout according to the electrical constraint rule and the at least one positioning component information.

In an embodiment of the invention, the circuit layout method further includes the following steps. Removing at least one positioning component from the completed circuit layout.

In an embodiment of the invention, the at least one positioning element comprises a through hole.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a circuit layout device, where the device includes a first module, a second module, a third module, a fourth module, and a fifth module. The first module is configured to set at least one positioning component in the circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for the high-speed signal line, wherein at least one of the positioning components has a circuit component attribute and a board through-hole property. The second module is coupled to the first module for setting an electrical constraint rule of the circuit, and associating the at least one positioning component with at least one intersection of the plurality of high-speed signal lines. The third module is coupled to the second module for introducing an electrical constraint rule and at least one positioning component information corresponding to the at least one positioning component to an unfinished circuit layout. The fourth module is coupled to the third module for adjusting a position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout. The fifth module is coupled to the fourth module for adjusting the unfinished circuit layout according to the at least one positioning component The entire position determines the position of at least one intersection of the plurality of high-speed signal lines in the unfinished circuit layout, and generates the completed circuit layout according to the position of the at least one intersection.

In an embodiment of the invention, the first module is further configured to select at least one circuit component in the circuit, and name the at least one positioning component according to the component number of the at least one circuit component.

In an embodiment of the invention, the fourth module adjusts a position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout according to the electrical constraint rule and the at least one positioning component information.

In an embodiment of the invention, the fifth module is further configured to remove at least one positioning component from the completed circuit layout.

Based on the above, after the at least one positioning component is disposed in the circuit having the cross-point topology requirement of the high-speed signal line, the electrical constraint rule of the circuit is set, and at least one intersection of the at least one positioning component and the plurality of high-speed signal lines is set. Make an association. Next, the present invention can introduce an electrical constraint rule and at least one positioning component information corresponding to the at least one positioning component to an unfinished circuit layout and adjust the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout. And determining, according to the adjusted position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout, the position of the at least one intersection of the strip of high-speed signal lines in the unfinished circuit layout, and generating the completed circuit according to the position of the at least one intersection layout.

Thereby, the present invention can position the intersection of the high-speed signal lines in the circuit layout of the printed circuit board through the positioning component, thereby effectively reducing Less circuit layout personnel spend time selecting or adjusting the intersection of high speed signal lines in the circuit layout of the printed circuit board.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

In general, when positioning the intersection point of high-speed signal lines in the layout of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), high-speed signals must be considered. Timing characteristics on transmission. In particular, for a circuit in which a high-speed signal line has a cross-point topology requirement, the timing characteristics of the high-speed signal on the transmission are liable to cause non-synchronization of the signal due to improper wiring.

For example, FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the circuit diagram 10 includes terminals 101-105, high-speed signal lines 111-116, and resistors 121-123. In order to achieve the timing requirement of the high-speed signal diverging from the intersection position of the signal line (for example, the intersection 11) to the terminals 101-105 (for example, timing synchronization requirement), in the circuit diagram 10, the terminals 101-105 and the intersection 11 are The lengths of the lines will be equal or nearly equal.

For example, as seen in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the length of the high-speed signal line 111 between the terminal 101 and the intersection 11 is actually set to the length L1 plus the length L2 (ie, L1+L2), and the terminal 102 and the intersection 11 The length of the inter-high speed signal line 112 is actually set to the length L3 plus the length L4 (ie, L3+L4), the length of the high-speed signal line 113 between the terminal 103 and the intersection 11 is actually set to the length L5 plus the length L6 (ie, L5+L6), and the high-speed signal between the terminal 104 and the intersection 11 The total length of the line 114 and the high speed signal line 115 is actually set to the length L7 plus the length L8 (i.e., L7 + L8), and the high speed signal line 114 and the high speed signal line 116 between the terminal 105 and the intersection 11 The total length of the sum is actually set to the length L7 plus the length L9 (ie, L7 + L9), then L1 + L2 = L3 + L4 = L5 + L6 = L7 + L8 = L7 + L9. Thereby, the timing at which the high speed signal is transmitted from the intersection 11 to the terminals 101 to 105 can be at or near synchronization.

Therefore, in order to make the intersection position of the high-speed signal line in the circuit layout of the printed circuit board can be quickly and correctly determined in the circuit layout stage, the embodiment of the present invention provides a circuit layout method. First, it can be in a circuit layout yet. Upon completion, a positioning component is disposed in advance of the unfinished circuit layout (hereinafter collectively referred to as an unfinished circuit layout) to represent intersections of the plurality of high-speed signal lines, and at least one of the positioning components is intersected by at least one of the high-speed signal lines Points are one-to-one associations. Then, the position of at least one of the positioning elements in the unfinished circuit layout is adjusted. Finally, determining the position of the at least one intersection of the high-speed signal line in the unfinished circuit layout according to the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout, to generate the completed circuit layout according to the above decision result (hereinafter collectively referred to as The circuit layout has been completed).

Thereby, by locating the intersection of the high-speed signal lines by the positioning elements set in advance, it is possible to effectively reduce the time that has been spent in determining or adjusting the intersection of the high-speed signal lines in the circuit layout. In addition, embodiments of the present invention further disclose circuit layout devices that can be used to implement the above circuit layout method. In order to make the content of the present invention easier to understand, the following specific embodiments are illustrative of the embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a circuit layout apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2, the circuit layout device 20 may be a computer device such as a desktop computer, a notebook or a tablet PC that can run any operating system (OS). In this embodiment, the circuit layout device 20 includes a first module 21, a second module 22, a third module 23, a fourth module 24, and a fifth module 25, wherein the second module 22 is coupled to The first module 21 , the third module 23 is coupled to the second module 22 , the fourth module 24 is coupled to the third module 23 , and the fifth module 25 is coupled to the fourth module 24 .

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a circuit layout method according to an embodiment of the invention. Hereinafter, the circuit layout device 20 and the circuit layout method of the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2 in conjunction with Fig. 3. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in step S302, the first module 21 is provided with at least one positioning component in a circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for the high-speed signal line. For example, in this embodiment, the first module 21 can first determine whether there is an intersection of high-speed signal lines in a circuit. Then, when the first module 21 determines that there is one or more intersections of high-speed signal lines in the circuit, the first module 21 sets one or more of the same number of intersections with the high-speed signal lines in the circuit. Positioning elements.

Regarding the positioning component setting manner, in the embodiment, the first module 21 is configured to set the positioning component in the circuit by way of series or serial connection. Alternatively, the first module 21 may also be replaced by a replacement. In this way, each intersection of the high-speed signal line is replaced by a positioning component, etc., and the present invention does not limit the manner in which the positioning component is disposed.

In particular, in this embodiment, each of the positioning elements may have attributes or characteristics of a general physical element such as a circuit element attribute and a board through hole attribute. Alternatively, the positioning elements may each have one of attributes or characteristics possessed by a general physical element such as a circuit element attribute or a board through hole attribute. For example, in the present embodiment, the positioning element is, for example, a through hole commonly used in a circuit layout, or various elements having no such influence on the overall operation of the circuit layout, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, in this embodiment, the first module 21 may also select at least one circuit component in the circuit, and name the at least one positioning component according to the component number/code/name of the at least one circuit component. For example, the first module 21 can name the positioning component according to the component number/code/name of the circuit component closest to or closest to a positioning component in the circuit, for example, set the component number of the positioning component. Or name, etc. In the present embodiment, the circuit elements are, for example, a resistor, a capacitor, an inductor, a chip, or other physical components, and the present invention does not limit the types of circuit components.

For example, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of naming a positioning component according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the circuit 40 includes a terminal 401, a terminal 402, high-speed signal lines 411 to 413, and a grounding point 403. After the positioning element 42 is placed (eg, serially) in the circuit 40, the positioning element 42 is disposed at the intersection 41 of the high speed signal lines 411-413. Next, to represent the intersection 41 of the high speed signal line. Assuming that the component number or name of the resistor 43 displayed and/or used in the circuit 40 is "R717", the component number or name of the positioning component 42 closest to the resistor 43 can be based on "R717" (ie, the component number of the resistor 43 or The name is set, for example, "V7" is added before "R717" to form "VR717" or the like, and "VR717" is used as the component number or name of the positioning element 42.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 again, in step S304, the second module 22 sets an electrical constraint rule of the circuit, and performs at least one intersection of the at least one positioning component and the plurality of high-speed signal lines. Association, or binding at least one positioning element to at least one intersection of a plurality of high speed signal lines. In the present embodiment, the electrical constraint rules may be electrical constraint rules applicable to various circuit layout software (eg, Allegro), and the present invention does not limit the types and implementations of electrical constraint rules.

In this embodiment, the second module 22 can define, for example, an operation of associating or binding the intersection of the positioning element with the high speed signal line in an electrical constraint rule. Alternatively, the second module 22 may also set the setting information of the optimal setting position of the intersection of each high-speed signal line according to the setting operation of the circuit layout person in the electrical constraint rule, so as to subsequently follow the electrical constraint rule. To automatically generate the corresponding circuit layout.

In step S304, in step S306, the third module 23 can import or load the electrical constraint rule set in step S304, and the at least one positioning component information corresponding to the at least one positioning component is initially generated. A circuit layout (hereinafter collectively referred to as an unfinished circuit layout). It is worth mentioning that the unfinished circuit layout mentioned here is only the circuit layout initially generated according to the topology of the circuit or the circuit, and the timing and the arrangement of the components are not considered to be related to the timing, etc. Specification requirements. In addition, the positioning component information may include information such as the component number/code/name of the positioning component and the above-mentioned circuit component attributes and/or board hole attributes.

Next, in step S308, the fourth module 24 can adjust the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout. For example, in this embodiment, the fourth module 24 can adjust the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout according to an input operation and/or automatically, so as to be in the adjusted unfinished circuit layout. The positioning element is in the proper or correct position so that in a subsequent step, the position of the intersection of the high speed signal line can be determined based on the position of the positioning element. For example, the fourth module 24 can adjust the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout according to the electrical constraint rule introduced in step S306 and the at least one positioning component information.

Then, in step S310, the fifth module 25 determines the position of at least one intersection of the high-speed signal lines in the unfinished circuit layout according to the adjusted position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout, and according to at least The position of an intersection automatically creates another circuit layout (hereinafter collectively referred to as the completed circuit layout). Thereby, the circuit layout personnel no longer need to spend a lot of extra time to adjust the intersection position of the high-speed signal lines in the circuit layout, and the circuit layout device 20 can automatically cross the high-speed signal lines by one or more positioning elements. Point to locate and produce the correct circuit layout. Alternatively, the circuit layout personnel can also know the high speed by locating components. The intersection of the signal lines is correctly set to the position, and the circuit layout operation can be completed quickly.

More specifically, when a circuit layout person uses a circuit layout software (eg, Allegro) to perform a circuit layout operation of a printed circuit board, the circuit layout software can automatically perform the associated circuit layout in accordance with the above-described electrical constraint rules. Therefore, in this embodiment, detailed information and parameters of each component/line in the completed circuit layout may be manually set in the above-mentioned electrical constraint rule by the circuit layout personnel in step S304, or may be based on the circuit topology or by the computer system. The circuit diagram is automatically calculated and set in the above electrical constraint rules.

In particular, since the above-mentioned positioning elements belong to "solid" elements (i.e., similar to elements such as resistors or wafers), and have the attributes or characteristics of the above-mentioned circuit element attributes and board-hole attributes such as general physical elements. Therefore, the relevant parameters of the above positioning elements (for example, quantity parameters and position parameters, etc.) can be clearly defined in this electrical constraint rule. Later, after the electrical constraint rules are imported or loaded, lines such as Ratsnests can be diverged from the positioning elements to assist in completing the above completed circuit layout.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a circuit layout according to an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 5, in the circuit layout 50, the intersection of the high-speed signal lines 511-514 is the intersection 51, and the position of the intersection 51 is determined according to the position of the positioning element (for example, the through hole). That is, as long as the positioning element corresponding to the intersection 51 is correctly determined and adjusted in the circuit The position in the layout 50 is no longer arbitrarily moved or deleted, and the present invention can effectively maintain the correctness of the overall architecture and signal timing of the circuit layout 50.

All in all, in the past, circuit layout personnel must gradually adjust the position of the intersection of "virtual" or "suspended on the circuit layout" high-speed signal lines so that they can operate correctly or meet the timing requirements of high-speed signals, which is not only time-consuming but also time-consuming. Labor. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the positioning component has been previously set or bound to the intersection of the high-speed signal lines, the fifth module 25 can be easily "physical" or "fixed on the circuit layout. Position the component to determine the intersection of the high-speed signal lines corresponding to the positioning component and quickly complete the correct circuit layout.

On the other hand, in order to avoid the influence of the positioning component provided by the first module 21 in the step S302 of FIG. 3 on the completed circuit layout, in an embodiment of the invention, the fifth module 25 is also optional. The ground removes the positioning component from the completed circuit layout.

For example, if the positioning component added by the first module 21 is a through hole, which does not substantially adversely affect the completed circuit layout, the fifth module 25 removes or does not remove the positioning component. can. However, in another example, assuming that the positioning component added by the first module 21 is a non-through-hole other physical component (for example, a resistor or other component such as a chip), the added physical component may have completed the circuit layout. This causes unnecessary effects, so the fifth module 25 can remove this physical component from the completed circuit layout after the completed circuit layout has been generated.

It is worth mentioning that the first module 21, the second module 22, the third module 23, the fourth module 24, and the fifth module 25 are, for example, logic circuit components. A hardware device is formed, and the above functions can be performed separately. In addition, these modules may also be firmware programs or software modules stored in the memory of the circuit layout device 20, which can be loaded into the processor of the circuit layout device 20 to perform the above functions separately. . For example, the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), and the memory is, for example, various non-volatile memories or a combination thereof, such as a read-only memory (ROM). And/or a flash memory, wherein the read-only memory is, for example, a programmable read-only memory (PROM) or an electrically alterable read only memory (electrically alterable read only memory, EAROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM) and/or electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM).

In summary, the circuit layout method and apparatus of the embodiments of the present invention can set positioning components in a circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for a high-speed signal line (the number of settings depends on the number of intersections of high-speed signal lines) After that, the electrical constraint rules of the circuit are set and the intersection of the positioning component and the high speed signal line is associated or bound. Next, the present invention can introduce the electrical constraint rule and the positioning component information corresponding to the positioning component to the unfinished circuit layout, and adjust the position of the positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout to be based on the position of the positioning component in the circuit layout. The position of the intersection of the high-speed signal line in this circuit layout is determined, and the completed circuit layout is generated accordingly.

Thereby, through the arrangement of the positioning component, the circuit layout method and device of the embodiment of the invention can position the intersection of the high-speed signal line in the circuit layout of the printed circuit board, thereby effectively reducing the cost of the circuit layout personnel in selecting or Adjusting the timing of the intersection of high-speed signal lines in the circuit layout of the printed circuit board. In addition, after the positioning component is added, the circuit layout method and apparatus of the embodiments of the present invention can also remove it to avoid affecting the original circuit layout.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10, 40‧‧‧ circuits

101~105, 401, 402‧‧‧ Terminal

111~116, 411~413, 511~514‧‧‧ high speed signal lines

121~123, 43‧‧‧resistance

11, 41, 51‧‧‧ intersection

20‧‧‧Circuit layout device

21‧‧‧ first module

22‧‧‧ second module

23‧‧‧ Third module

24‧‧‧ fourth module

25‧‧‧ fifth module

403‧‧‧ Grounding point

42‧‧‧ Positioning components

50‧‧‧Circuit layout

S302, S304, S306, S308, S310‧‧‧ steps of the circuit layout method according to an embodiment of the present invention

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a circuit layout apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow chart of a circuit layout method according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of naming a positioning component according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a circuit layout according to an embodiment of the invention.

S302, S304, S306, S308, S310‧‧‧ circuit layout method steps

Claims (10)

A circuit layout method, applicable to a circuit layout device, comprising: at least one positioning component disposed in a circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for a high-speed signal line, wherein the at least one positioning component respectively has a circuit component attribute and a circuit board a through hole property; setting an electrical constraint rule of the circuit, and associating the at least one positioning component with at least one intersection of the plurality of high speed signal lines; introducing the electrical constraint rule and at least one positioning corresponding to the at least one positioning component The component information is in an unfinished circuit layout; adjusting a position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout; determining the high-speed signal lines according to the adjusted position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout The at least one intersection is at a location in the unfinished circuit layout and a completed circuit layout is generated based on the location of the at least one intersection. The circuit layout method of claim 1, wherein the step of disposing the at least one positioning component in a circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for the high-speed signal line comprises: selecting at least one circuit component in the circuit; The at least one positioning element is named according to the component number of the at least one circuit component. The circuit layout method of claim 1, wherein the step of adjusting a position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout comprises: And adjusting the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout according to the electrical constraint rule and the at least one positioning component information. The circuit layout method of claim 1, further comprising: removing the at least one positioning component from the completed circuit layout. The circuit layout method of claim 1, wherein the at least one positioning component comprises a through hole. A circuit layout apparatus comprising: a first module for arranging at least one positioning component in a circuit having a cross-point topology requirement for a high-speed signal line, wherein the at least one positioning component respectively has a circuit component attribute and a circuit a second module coupled to the first module for setting an electrical constraint rule of the circuit, and associating the at least one positioning component with at least one intersection of the plurality of high-speed signal lines; a third module coupled to the second module for introducing the electrical constraint rule and at least one positioning component information corresponding to the at least one positioning component to an unfinished circuit layout; a fourth module coupled The third module is configured to adjust the position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout; the fifth module is coupled to the fourth module for the unfinished according to the at least one positioning component Adjusting the position of the circuit layout, determining a position of the at least one intersection of the plurality of high-speed signal lines in the unfinished circuit layout, and generating the completed according to the position of the at least one intersection Road layout. The circuit layout device of claim 6, wherein the first module is further configured to select at least one circuit component of the circuit; and the at least one positioning component according to the component number of the at least one circuit component Name it. The circuit layout device of claim 6, wherein the fourth module adjusts a position of the at least one positioning component in the unfinished circuit layout according to the electrical constraint rule and the at least one positioning component information. The circuit layout device of claim 6, wherein the fifth module is further configured to remove the at least one positioning component from the completed circuit layout. The circuit layout device of claim 6, wherein the at least one positioning component comprises a through hole.