EMA Design Automation, an Electronic Design Automation solution provider, has released the EMA Constraint Manager for OrCAD, a new tool designed to facilitate the constraint-driven OrCAD design flow.
Constraint Manager for OrCAD integrates directly with OrCAD Capture to allow engineers to specify and visualize design constraints easily. The spreadsheet interface is organized into different worksheets for electrical, physical, spacing, general and other constraints. Each of these is divided into further categories; for example, the electrical constraint tab includes worksheets for wiring, vias, differential pairs and more.
For constraints that will be common to a variety of elements, Constraint Manager can save time by allowing you to specify a constraint set, or CSet, which includes constraint rules that can be applied to multiple objects. As an example, you could create a CSet and apply it to all differential pairs in your design, instead of specifying the constraints for each pair individually. Constraint Manager also includes a differential pair viewer so you can easily visualize the rules you’ve set up.
In addition, Constraint Manager for OrCAD can share constraint information with Allegro Constraint Manager, and constraints can be saved independently from a design to develop a constraint library. Altogether, the tool is meant to make it easier to set up, manage and communicate your PCB design constraints.
“At every step of the design process, design issues are compounded because of the interrelated constraints and poor communication of constraints between different functional groups,” said EMA’s CEO Manny Marcano. “Constraint Manager for OrCAD allows OrCAD Capture to be an integral part of the Cadence Allegro constraint-driven flow paradigm, providing a structured way to manage constraints across all tools in the Cadence PCB design flow. This reduces design iterations, improving design quality and time to market.”
To learn more about EMA Constraint Manager for OrCAD, visit EMA’s website. For more news in the world of PCB design, check out “Industry Partnership Aims to Streamline PCB Design.”