AR0135 Fasten Your Seatbelts and check out whats n

FastenYourSeatbeltsandCheckOutWhat'sNewinAltiumDesigner6.0SummaryAR0135(v1.2)March11,2008AltiumDesigner6.0bringsahostofnewandenhancedfeaturestoimprovePCBandFPGAdesignproductivity.Thisreleaseincludesamixofmajornewfeaturesandtechnologies,combinedwithnumeroussmallerenhancements.Manyoftheenhancementsarebasedonfeedbackfromyou,theengineersanddesignersdevelopingelectronicproductsinAltiumDesigner.AltiumDesigner6.0bringsanumberofsubstantialimprovementstothePCBandFPGAdesignprocess.Almostallareasofthesoftwarehavebeenstrengthenedandenhanced.Physicalplatformdesignhasbeenupgradedtosupportthehighboarddensitiesandhigh-speedsignalingfoundintoday’sdesigns.Differentialpair,smartinteractiveandBGAescaperouting,backedupbypin/partswappingwithdynamicnetassignmentbringsanewlevelofpowertotheroutingprocess.Programmabledesignsupporthasbeenextended,withincreasedprogrammabledeviceandprocessorcoverage,andhigherlevelsofphysical-levelintegration.Supportforallboundary-scandevicesonyourboard,combinedwiththeenhancedreal-timeJTAGDeviceViewergivesyoupinstatemonitoring,rightdownontherunningboard.Thenewconfigurable8to64-bitLAX,withitsbuiltinmultiplexerandcodedisassemblycapabilitiesgreatlyenhancestheFPGAdesignprocess.WiththisreleaseitisalsosignificantlyeasiertointegrateAltiumDesignerwithcompanyengineeringandbusinessmanagementsystemscommonlyfoundinmediumandlarge-scaleorganizations.Placecomponentsdirectlyfromyourcompanydatabaseusingthenewdatabase-drivenPartLibraries,andincludedatabaseinformationdirectlyintheBillofMaterials.ThesearejustafewofthenewfeaturesinwhatwebelieveisthemostexcitingreleaseofAltiumDesigneryet.ReadontolearnmoreaboutthenewandimprovedelectronicproductdevelopmenttechnologyinAltiumDesigner6.0.SeeingisBelieving–ReadMoreandWatchVideosoftheNewFeaturesAcommonlystatedsayingisthatseeingisbelieving.Learningbywatchingandlisteningissomethingwedonaturally,andisanidealwaytolearnaboutcomputersoftware.Ifyou’dliketoreadmoreaboutAltiumDesigner6.0,aswellaswatchshortvideosaboutsomeoftheexcitingnewfeatures,thenvisittheWhat’sNewinAltiumDesigner6pageonthewebsiteandenjoytheaction.Clickthelinkbelowtoreadmoreandwatchthevideos.’snewinAltiumDesigner6.01StuffthatwillBlowYouAway!BoardInsight™Figure2.TheBoardInsightHeads-updisplay.Figure3.TheBoardInsightHovermodeshowingkeyboardshortcutsformoreinformation.Acomplex-multilayerboardmakesforavisuallydenseandoftendifficulttointerpretworkspace.ThenewBoardInsightsystemmakesiteasiertoviewandunderstandtheobjectsinyourdesign.TheBoardInsightsystemisanintegratedsetoffeaturesdevelopedtomeetyourviewmanagementneeds.ForthisreleaseBoardInsightincludesanInsightLens,heads-upcursorinformation,floatinggraphicalviews,simplifiednethighlighting,andenhancednetlabelingonobjects.InsightLensThenewInsightLensmakeslightworkofperformingadetailedexaminationofyourboard.Whiletheworkspaceremainsatalowlevelofzoomyoucancloselyinspectthesmallestdetailontheboard,magnifyingitintheInsightLens.Withitsownzoomandsinglelayershortcuts,workingwiththeInsightLenswillsoonbecomesecondnature.TurntheLensonandoffintheViewmenu,andconfigureitinthePCB–BoardInsightLenspageofthePreferencesdialog.Heads-UpDisplayDataTheHeads-Updisplaygivesyoureal-timefeedbackaboutobjectscurrentlyunderthecursorinthePCBworkspace.TheHeads-Updisplayisconfigurable,andcanincludecursorlocation,deltainformation(fromthelastmouseclick),currentlayerandcurrent-snapgrid.Aswellastheinformationcontent,thedisplayfontandcolorscanalsobeconfigured.Figure1.YoucanusetheInsightLenstocloselyexamineyourboard.Theheads-updisplaycanbeparkedanywhereonthescreenusingtheSHIFT+Gshortcut,andpickedupagainusingthesameshortcut.Thisallowsyoutohaveitmovewiththecursor,orpositionitanywhereonthescreeninafixedlocation.Heads-UpHoverModeIfyoupauseforamomentasyouaremovingthecursor,theHeads-UpdisplaywillswitchtoHovermode.InHovermodeextrainformationisdisplayed,thiscanincludeasummary,availableshortcuts,ruleviolations,net,componentandprimitivedetails.ConfiguretheHeads-UpdisplayfeatureinthePCB–BoardInsightModespageofthePreferencesdialog.FastenYourSeatbeltsandcheckoutwhat’snewinAltiumDesigner6.02PopupModeThenewBoardInsightsystem’sPopupviewisanexcellenttoolforinterrogatingobjectsunderthecursor.AclickonthemousewheelpresentsthePopupview,whichincludeslistofallcomponents,netsandviolationsunderthecursor,andagraphicaldisplayoftheobjectcurrentlychoseninthelist.FromthelistyoucanEdit,SelectorZoomonanyoftheobjects.TheBoardInsightlistcanincludeprimitiveobjects,suchaspadsandtracksthatbelongtothecomponents,netsandviolations.Thelistishierarchical,allowingyou,forexample,todrilldownforcompletedetailontheobjectscausingaviolation.UsetheSHIFT+VshortcuttheloadthePopupwithinformationaboutanyviolationsunderthecursor.SHIFT+XloadsthePop-upwithinformationaboutanynetsandcomponentsunderthecursor.ClicktheMousewheeltoopenthePop-upwithcomponents,netsandviolationscurrentlyunderthecursor.Figure4.ClickthemousewheeltodisplaytheBoardInsight’sPopupview.Figure5.TheBoardInsightpanelgivesdetailedviewofwhatiscurr