Altium Designer 6

1. 1 Altium Designer 6 The complete electronic product development

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3. 3 Electronic Product Development Board Level Design Manage Libraries Design to Manufacturing Programmable Devices FPGA/PCB Integration Design Management

4. 4 Board level design

5. 5 Managing libraries

6. 6 Design to manufacture

7. 7 Programmable devices

8. 8 FPGA/PCB integration

9. 9 Design management

10. 10 Board level design

11. 11 What happened to Protel? Altium, with its Protel product, pioneered Personal Computer-based board design technology. Protel was the first PCB design tool to make use of the Windows operating system. Over the years, Protel products have been used to design hundreds of thousands of printed circuit boards throughout the world, and have helped many companies and engineers reach their electronic product development goals.

12. 12 The design landscape is changing Electronic product development increasingly requires the integration of design technologies and capabilities. Developing the electronics product now involves two levels of design. Creating the physical platform on a PCB. Developing the �embedded intelligence� using programmable elements and soft-wired components. As more design intelligence is migrated to the �soft� realm, the design of the physical and programmable elements of an electronic product are converging. Board design can no longer proceed in isolation from the development of the embedded intelligence.

13. 13 Altium Designer A new brand for a new era Altium Designer has been created to unify the entire electronic product development process. Bring together the traditionally separate disciplines of board design, programmable hardware design and software development. Altium Designer incorporates all of the board technology inherent in Protel�s long heritage, and combines it with capabilities targeted at creating and implementing the embedded intelligence.

14. 14 The printed circuit board connects together the discrete components, connectors and other hardware that form the physical platform of the design. Support increasing component densities, faster signal speeds and transitions, and tighter manufacturing tolerances. Altium Designer has the proven strength in board-level system design. Integrated at the platform level with support for programmable design within an FPGA environment. This provides a complete and unified system. Board level design

15. 15 Integrated design environment Unifies the process of board design by providing a single, integrated environment for capturing design data, verifying the performance of the circuit, and designing the PCB. All design data is managed under a single PCB project. Ensuring data integrity and eliminating the need to manually recreate or propagate design data between different applications. Natively supports the integration of programmable devices into the physical platform by unifying the board and FPGA design processes. Optimum board routing solutions with FPGA devices while automatically maintaining I/O synchronization. Saves design time, minimizes errors and potentially lowers manufacturing costs.

16. 16 Full constraint driven design Effectively define and apply physical constraints to the board layout is crucial to achieving high production yields. Provides a comprehensive set of design rules cover all aspects of the board design. From electrical and routing constraints through to signal integrity. Altium Designer�s hierarchical rules system provides the power and flexibility to completely control all crucial parameters in the design. Develop boards correct by design

17. 17 Precise design rules scope

18. 18 Develop boards correct by design Precise design rules scope A flexible query system to define the rule objects. More precise control over rule targeting. Multiple rules of the same type targeted to different sets of objects, providing hierarchical constraint definition. Navigate through the defined rules and have Altium Designer highlight the objects targeted. Simply right-click on an object to find out exactly which rules are applicable to it.

19. 19 Develop boards correct by design Maintaining the accuracy of source schematics PCB re-design cost time and money, so finding design errors early is essential. Project compilation to the capture process to ensure the integrity and consistency of the source files within a project. The system ensures that you are alerted to errors and potential design problems as you design. With Altium Designer you can capture your application with the confidence and that the integrity is maintained throughout the design process.

20. 20 Maintaining the accuracy of source schematics

21. 21 Complete design synchronization Altium Designer�s unified environment supports full and automatic synchronization of your entire board project. Allows to manage the flow of changes between the PCB design and the source schematics. Synchronization is bi-directional. From schematic and PCB level. Fully document any changes by generating engineering change order reports during synchronization. Develop boards correct by design

22. 22 Navigating design data Brings clarity to design navigation with a variety of ways to filter, display and edit your design data. Interactively browse through components, nets or violations within schematic or PCB documents Further drill down through the hierarchy to highlight the individual primitives associated with objects. As you hover the cursor within the PCB design, essential information is displayed about the underlying objects. Develop boards correct by design

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24. 24 Bring structure to design process Supporting a hierarchical approach to complex design. Both top-down and bottom-up. No limit to the number of sheets and the depth of hierarchy. Easy navigate connectivity up and down the hierarchy and trace a single connection through the entire design. Handling repeated circuit blocks Reference a single sub-sheet multiple times by including a repeat parameter in the referencing sheet symbol. Single edit source schematic and recompile to propagate the edits to all repeated blocks. Altium Designer will automatically propagate channel instantiation through to the PCB layout.

25. 25 Layout and route the PCB Altium Designer supports the propagation of the hierarchical structure from capture through to board layout and routing. The system preserves the functional partitioning into the physical realm, and scope physical constraints to drive the layout and routing process. Automatically generate component and net classes based on the schematic sheet hierarchy, then use within the PCB editor to create targeted design rules. Schematic structure can be used to drive the creation of component placement rooms. Altium Designer�s high level of integration between schematic capture and PCB design allows design intent to be preserved and propagated as you move from the conceptual to the physical phase of the board design.

26. 26 Layout and route the PCB Complete interactive routing system A large portion of the board design is routing the connections. As board real estate shrinks and component and pin densities increase, the routing challenge becomes tougher. You need to be able to squeeze the most from every square millimeter of routing space. Altium Designer provides a complete interactive routing solution that combines rules-driven, versatile interactive routing modes, predictive track placement and dynamically optimized connectivity to allow you to efficiently tackle any routing challenge.

27. 27 Layout and route the PCB Versatile routing modes Altium Designer will push existing tracks out of the way, under full design rule compliance, to make room. To re-route a track simply route the new path and Altium Designer will automatically remove redundant copper, making design rework fast and efficient. Altium Designer will enforce the defined clearance constraints, preventing you from creating rule violations Automatic BGA escape routing function, fan-out and place stub tracks on all used pins of the device to make connection paths accessible around the periphery of the component.

28. 28 Layout and route the PCB Autorouting Altium�s Situs Topological Autorouter engine. The Situs engine, topological mapping provides greater flexibility in route path determination and allows non-orthogonal routing corridors to be more efficiently exploited. Includes full bi-directional support for the SPECCTRA autorouter. Control the mapping of Altium Designer via rules to SPECCTRA pad stacks, and propagate net classes to SPECCTRA to allow efficient generation of class-based routing constraints.

29. 29 High speed design Increasing clock speeds and fast serial interconnections are bringing high-speed design considerations into mainstream board development. High-speed signal propagation places particular demands on the physical design. Altium Designer supports high-speed design with targeted design rules, complete system-level support for managing differential signals, and integrated signal integrity analysis.

30. 30 Differential signaling is being increasingly used i.e. FPGA extensive LVDS capabilities. This is to improves reflection noise, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and power consumption. Define differential signal pairs at the schematic or PCB level. Altium Designer will propagate and synchronize the definitions throughout the project. With linked FPGA and PCB projects, Altium Designer automatically maps a differential signal defined as within the FPGA project to appropriate signal pairs in the physical design. PCB editor includes interactive routing support for differential signals, under full design rule compliance. Differential Signals

31. 31 Differential Signals Routing

32. 32 The fast edge transitions logics are making signal integrity analysis a part of the physical design. FPGAs can present problems. The wide range of programmable I/O characteristics available on these devices complicates the process of correctly terminating signal lines to prevent excessive reflections. Perform signal integrity analysis at the capture stage and during board layout. Identify potential problem areas, determine the correct termination strategy and add the necessary components to the design before moving to PCB layout. Full impedance, signal reflection and crosstalk analysis can be run on final board to check the real-world performance after layout is complete. Signal integrity screening is built into the Altium Designer design rules system, allowing to check for potential signal integrity violations as part of the normal board DRC process. Managing Signal integrity

33. 33 Signal Integrity Analysis

34. 34 Mixed-signal circuit simulation Mixed-signal circuit simulation is a unified part of the capture process, and is fully integrated with the schematic editing environment. Supports both standard SPICE 3f5/XSpice and PSpice models. Full array of simulation analyses, advanced temperature and parameter sweeping, Monte Carlo component tolerance sweeps, pole-zero analysis and noise analysis. Simulation results display in the integrated waveform viewer. Perform mathematical post-processing of simulation results, overlay waveforms, display different simulation types on a single graph and export the waveform data.

35. 35 Managing component and library

36. 36 Manage component information Choosing an obsolete or out-of-stock component can lead to lengthy production delays and cost overruns. Problems are not identify during design and may not be picked up until the project is in the manufacturing stage. Altium Designer provides comprehensive component data management and information resources. Allow to maintain control part usage, regardless of the size or demands of your organization. Option to implement a full database-driven component information system, with company MRP or ERP. Option to deploy stand-alone integrated libraries. This is the flexibility to deploy Altium Designer to suits the needs of design processes and company structure

37. 37 Implement database driven The capability to dynamically place components directly from a database library. Accessed from any ODBC-compliant data source such as a Microsoft Access database, Excel spreadsheet. Also support connection directly to OrCAD� CIS databases. Bring all relevant component parameters into the board design as you place components. Such as availability, cost and suppliers. Librarians can ensure that only verified component models are used by the design team, effectively enforcing design data integrity throughout the project. Provides full synchronization of database library data with parts, include up-to-date, used in your schematic design. Such as BOM, part list etc.

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39. 39 Integrated library Altium Designer supports design with stand-alone integrated libraries that consolidate all relevant models, such as footprints and simulation sub-circuits. Also contain simulation and signal integrity models and 3D CAD When you compile an integrated library, all models are extracted from the sources and merged into a single, portable format. You can then deploy the integrated library for use in the end design. Maintain the integrity of your source libraries. Components in integrated libraries can also include database-linked parameters. Dynamically link your integrated libraries to component management systems. Allows to store complete component data with your project for archiving. Automatically extract all component information from your project to create a project specific integrated library The integrated library format allows you to control the deployment of stand-alone component sources, and lets you manage component data without the need for a full database component information system.

40. 40 Find components easily Quickly find a specific component. A versatile search options pinpoint the component in stand-alone libraries or within a database-driven component information system. Instantly selected and browsed from within the Altium Designer library panel with display the schematic symbol and any available footprint or 3D model information. Altium Designer supports the use of complex queries across all component parameters Query results can be browsed as individual libraries, with symbols and footprints dynamically displayed as you move through the component list.

41. 41 Generate full librarydocumentation Altium Designer can generate a comprehensive report detailing all the components in a specified library. Reports can be generated as a Microsoft� Word document or in HTML format, and can contain comprehensive component parameter, pin and model information and preview images of schematic symbols, PCB footprints and 3D models. HTML reports provide a hyperlinked list of all components in a library, and can be easily deployed on an intranet or via the web. Altium Designer library reporting features combined with support for database-driven and integrated stand-alone library formats allows complete and versatile management of all vital component data, and facilitates the effective and efficient control and propagation of library information throughout your entire organization.

42. 42 Design to manufacture

43. 43 Design to manufacture Delays in component procurement and miscommunication with manufacturers can lead to delays and cost overruns. The smooth transition from design to manufacture. Altium Designer helps bridge the gap between design and manufacture, and allows you to actively manage the generation and verification of all manufacturing data. Work efficiently with your manufacturing partners to ensure your manufacturing files are fault-free and completely ready for efficient fabrication and assembly.

44. 44 Design to manufacture Link design to manufacture Altium Designer link the design and manufacturing processes, edit and verify manufacturing files. Altium Designer integrates complete manufacturing file verification and editing into the design environment Altium Designer allowing to load and inspect all manufacturing data generated by the system. For check, fix a number of common fabrication problems i.e. starved thermals and solder bridging, Fully-configurable the panelization and rout paths for the board.

45. 45 Output generation panel

46. 46 Design to manufacture Centralize output file generation Multitude of output files generate. i.e. schematic prints, assembly drawings, fabrication files, drill files, pick-and-place files, test point reports and the Bill of Materials (BOM). Altium Designer configure output job document (OutJob). Any number of outputs can be configured within an output job document, and multiple output jobs can be added to a single project. Generate all outputs in a single batch process. Output jobs are stored within the project, you can regenerate output files any time. Maintaining independent output configurations and file sets for each project. Output configurations can be saved and reused in subsequent projects. Allowing to set up multiple configurations for different manufacturers.

47. 47 Design to manufacture Full range of fabrication and assembly files Altium designer offers a broad range of output formats for the manufacturing. Traditional Gerber format. With manual and fully automatic generations support. Altium Designer supports the ODB++ file format. ODB++ is the most intelligent CAD/CAM format, which is available today, and seizes the entire CAD/EDA data base, assembly in a only one, uniform database. Numerical controls boring and milling files, AUTOMATIC Pick and Place files.

48. 48 Design Verification

49. 49 Design to manufacture Generate accurate Bills of Materials Altium Designer allows you to configure the information and format of Bills of Materials (BOM), and generate BOM listings in a variety of formats. BOM generation dynamically extracts parts data from your design, including information from database parts libraries. This ensures that the BOM is always accurate. BOMs can be produced in a variety of formats for import into virtually any manufacturing system. Generate your BOM as a formatted XML, Excel worksheet, basic CSV file and HTML format for web distribution. BOM generation supports assembly variants for any defined board variant without having to manually edit BOM values.

50. 50 Design to manufacture Document your design Generate good documentation in the form of print outputs of your schematics and PCB layout is essential for smooth progress through the manufacture and test process. Altium Designer precisely define the mix of PCB layers to print, set the scaling and orientation, and preview before print it. This allows you to easily create custom printouts for fabrication proofs, mechanical output, documentation, assembly, etc. Each printed PCB layer can selectively turn off and set the print mode (draft or final) for each object type. You can even save a print in the Windows Enhanced MetaFile (EMF) for inclusion in external reports and documentation. Include prints of simulation and signal integrity waveforms as well as a range of configurable project reports that include information such as component cross referencing and project hierarchy.

51. 51 Design to manufacture Interface to mechanical CAD The ability to transfer data to and from mechanical CAD tools. Altium Designer can import or export both DXF and native AutoCAD� DWG files from the schematic or PCB editor. Altium Designer includes bidirectional for reading and writing in IDF. Altium Designer allows you to include 3D information for components, such as component body shapes for automatic extrusion. A full VRML or IGES models. Altium Designer's PCB 3D viewer to render an accurate 3D model of your board, and export the complete assembly as an IGES file.

52. 52 Design to manufacture Collaborate by sharing your design data When design move through manufacture. Design information need to share between stakeholders i.e. test engineers, engineering management, documentation specialists, manufacturers and clients. Altium Designer supports secure collaboration within stakeholders by providing a powerful Smart PDF wizard for schematic and PCB data. The Smart PDF can package entire project or selected design files as a PDF document that can be viewed on any system with Adobe� Reader� installed. The Smart PDF is bookmarked to provide complete navigation of the design, browse and highlight components and nets in schematic sheets and the PCB layout. For higher level, Altium Designer can be licensed as a free Viewer Edition for deployment in situations that need the ability to open. A Viewer Edition license allows read-only access.

53. 53 Programmable Devices

54. 54 Programmable Devices A typical electronic product today, much of the �intelligence� is embodied in the embedded software running on a microprocessor. Impact of the low-cost, high-capacity programmable devices such as FPGAs. Allow the intelligent of the design to become the soft-wired blocks of hardware implemented inside an FPGA. Altium Designer unified FPGA design and software development using the programmable fabric of an FPGA as a system platform. Work within an easily updateable soft realm where you can change software and hardware with equal ease.

55. 55 The rise of Embedded Intelligence FPGAs rapidly increase in power and capacity as costs for the devices plummet. Put true �embedded intelligence� spanning both software and programmable hardware. Shorten design cycles while adding functionality with no increase in manufacturing costs by moving functionality from the board into programmable hardware. The software, processor and peripheral hardware can all be moved inside the FPGA. All are easily changeable because the entire system exists within a �soft� realm. The bottom line is the move to a �soft� design paradigm gives you the freedom to approach electronics design in a new way.

56. 56 Design using soft-wired components The logic inside the FPGA can be changed and reconfigured, freeing from the hard-wiring components at the board level. Conventional FPGA tools typically rely on extensive HDL design experience and a working knowledge of the architecture of the target programmable device. Sourcing and instantiating large functional IP blocks can be a challenge. Altium Designer has been created to allow you to easily work with programmable devices using the same skills as the board level design. Altium Designer support ready-to-use FPGA-based components at the block level within Altium Designer�s schematic editor.

57. 57 Extensive FPGA componentlibraries Altium Designer includes extensive libraries of ready-to-use FPGA components. Components i.e. generic logic functions, counters, multiplexers, various logic gates, complete 32-bit processors and high-level peripheral devices. FPGA components are supplied as schematic symbols with pre-synthesized, pre-verified models for implement on any supported FPGAs. The components are supplied on a royalty-free basis. Work at the high level of abstraction with programmable devices. Simply drag components from a library and wire them together to create the FPGA design. Convenience of working as with off-the-shelf, ready-to-use components.

58. 58 Target any FPGA FPGA vendor-neutral design environment. Use the supplied components to construct system functionality and target the design to a wide variety of FPGAs from multiple FPGA vendors. No need to settle on particular target device before start a design. The system allows retarget design during development to any suitable FPGA supported by the system. You are not locked in to any particular FPGA vendor or device family. As new devices are released, or as device availability and cost fluctuate, you have the freedom to migrate your design across devices to capitalize on opportunities and avoid potential risks.

59. 59 Mix HDL and schematic capture When you need to create custom IP blocks yourself, Altium Designer supports the use of both VHDL and Verilog to capture design logic. Freedom to mix VHDL and Verilog sources with schematic-based FPGA components to create overall system definition. Altium Designer�s fully-featured code editor supports syntax highlighting for both VHDL and Verilog code. Allows you to choose the most appropriate capture method for each step of the design process.

60. 60 Test using FPGA-based virtual instruments FPGA-based virtual instruments, analogous to bench test instruments at the board level. Probe and stimulate interconnections within the system running on the programmable device. The virtual instruments are incorporated in your design at the schematic level and connected to the appropriate nets within the design. If design is downloaded to FPGA, Altium Designer system communicates with the instruments via a secondary JTAG chain established within the FPGA. Stimulate and interrogate circuit interactively with Soft front panels. Convenience of board-level debug to the FPGA design process and work interactively with FPGA components.

61. 61 Work with processors and embedded software The microprocessor revolutionized electronics design by moving from the hard-wired constraints to the easily changeable realm of software. Put �intelligence� of the product separate from the underlying hardware. Allow more features and functionality the product without increasing the hardware cost, component count or board real estate. FPGAs allow you to create both the software and the execution platform that it runs on. Simplify and shrink the board design by moving system processing functionality inside an FPGA. Reduce overall system design time. Change both the software and the hardware execution platform at any time in the design process. Update the entire system in the field without altering the physical hardware.

62. 62 Choose processor platform Altium Designer offers a wide choice of processor platforms, soft processors or hybrid hard-processor /FPGA devices. TSK3000 -- 32-bit RISC soft processor, general purpose 8-bit soft processors. Pre-synthesized, can be used on suitably-sized FPGA supported. Altium Designer�s TSK3000, Harvard architecture, simplified memory structure and sophisticated interrupt handling to minimize code size. Specifically designed to simplify the migration of existing 8-bit systems to the 32-bit domain systems targeted for FPGA. Connection of peripherals with Wishbone microprocessor bus.

63. 63 TSK-3000 32 bit RISC processor

64. 64 Third-party processor support The Altium Designer system includes special schematic-based components provide direct access soft processors supplied by major FPGA device vendors. These processors are targeted and optimized for specific FPGA device families and offer a higher level of performance, but lock to specific target FPGAs. �Wrapper�. Target hard processors within hybrid processor/FPGA devices, or discrete processors coupled to an external FPGA through �wrapper� core components. Gives full access to the power and performance of these devices from within the Altium Designer environment.

65. 65 Easily modify or change the execution platform Freedom to change both the software and the execution platform that it runs on throughout the development process. FPGA provide a soft-wired execution platform in which the processor, peripheral devices and glue logic can all be changed and reconfigured �on-the-fly� to accommodate design modifications. Free to choose the processing platform for specific application. Hardware- and software-level compatibility between processors and work consistent regardless of the target. Can change processors during development with minimal system re-engineering. Shorten design process, save cost, save re-engineering. Meet release schedule.

66. 66 Connect processor peripherals Peripherals/memory through the Wishbone bus. An open source standard that has been specifically designed for interconnect within a chip. The Altium Designer FPGA component libraries include configurable Wishbone interconnect components that can be used to connect both peripheral devices and memory to the processor core at the schematic level. Once placed, you can configure these devices directly on the schematic sheet. You can then simply add Wishbone-compatible peripheral and memory controller devices from the supplied FPGA component libraries to complete the processor system. The ease and simplicity that the Wishbone bus brings to system configuration allows you to rapidly define system functionality, and lets you reconfigure or add hardware functionality to the execution platform at any stage of the development process.

67. 67 Develop and debug embedded software From within the Altium Designer environment. Create and edit code, compile and simulate program and undertake complete source-level debugging on the target system. Altium Designer includes full compiler tool chains for all supported processors. Altium�s advanced Viper compiler framework. The Viper technology provides C-level code compatibility across all processor platforms, allowing you to easily migrate your application code between processors. All Altium Designer processors feature on-chip debug capabilities. Communicates with the processors via a secondary JTAG established within the FPGA. Debug software from the source code, disassembly view with full control processor execution. Altium Designer natively supports the simultaneous debugging of multiple processors, independent debug sessions for each processor running.

68. 68 �Live' with your design While you can monitor the pins of the programmable devices, you have no physical access to the signals with the operating circuit, effectively disconnected from the design. With the addition of a NanoBoard, you can process and download the design to the FPGA and dynamically interact in real-time with active devices such as the processors and Altium Designer�s virtual instruments. Iterative approach to the design of systems within FPGAs, minimizing the traditional reliance on simulation. Altium Designer transparently invoke the FPGA vendor tools for device-specific mapping and routing, and download both the hardware and software program files to the target devices. Monitor and set signals within the FPGA-based system using virtual instrument �soft� control panels, and initiate software debug sessions for all processors running in the system. Monitor the I/O pin status of the target programmable device and dynamically reflect this status to the source FPGA project schematics. A live display of the pin status of FPGAs from within the PCB editor. Even connect prototype board to the system via the NanoBoard and continue the LiveDesign process on target hardware.

69. 69 What is LiveDesign? LiveDesign is an integrated electronics system design methodology that is based on 'live' engineering inside a programmable physical hardware design space. Altium Designer and LiveDesign provide real-time communication and �hands-on� interaction between you and your design during the development process, allowing you to run real software on real hardware in real time, right from the start of the design cycle! LiveDesign replaces the need to work in simulated environments and build multiple prototypes. Develop your system by implementing it on a reconfigurable hardware platform. Once implemented, your circuit can be probed, analyzed and debugged interactively.. Furthermore, working with real hardware and software running in real time on a virtually-instrumented nano-level development board opens up opportunities to exploit the re-programmability of the platform to interactively work through design problems.

70. 70 What are the benefitsof LiveDesign? LiveDesign is the embodiment of what Altium believes mainstream engineers will need in next-generation electronic design tools in order to be able to develop their future products. Reduce development costs and time-to-market by working in a fully-integrated design/implementation/test environment Interact in �real-time� with your design throughout the development process Design hardware and software concurrently and in parallel Probe, analyze and debug your design as you would a physical prototype using FPGA-based virtual instruments Delay commitment to final hardware until late in the design cycle Update your design hardware at any time without time or cost penalties Integrate complex digital circuits, including processor-based designs, into an FPGA without the need for HDL coding or RTL-level simulation experience Develop and verify complex embedded system-on-FPGA applications and integrate them onto the target PCB � all within a single application LiveDesign offers compelling benefits for all engineers � benefits that are truly unique within the electronics design industry.

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72. 72 What makes LiveDesignpossible? LiveDesign takes advantage of the re-programmability of FPGA devices and the ready-availability of low-cost, high-capacity, high-performance FPGA�s. Altium provides this reconfigurable platform �NanoBoard� � a versatile development platform that supports multiple target devices in the form of swappable device daughter boards. LiveDesign is supported in Altium Designer with the inclusion of ready-to-use FPGA-based components, such as processor cores and peripherals, generic logic blocks and FPGA-based virtual instruments, which are used to construct the digital system. The design is downloaded to the�NanoBoard, where the system communicates with the active devices in the design, such as the processor cores and instruments, via a serial JTAG link.

73. 73 How can I evaluate Altium Designer and LiveDesign? The Altium Designer LiveDesign Evaluation Kit LiveDesign-enabled features of Altium Designer software (a 30-day unlimited Altium Designer software license). LiveDesign Evaluation Board that can be specified with either a high-capacity Altera� Cyclone� (EP1C12F324C8) or Xilinx� Spartan�-3 (XC3S1000-4FG456C) FPGA device. The Altium Designer �LiveDesign Evaluation Kit with evaluation board is priced from US $99 (plus shipping). Altium Designer LiveDesign Evaluation Kit Third-Party Development Board Edition. LiveDesign-enabled features of Altium Designer software (a 30-day unlimited Altium Designer software license). Universal JTAG Interface to their existing FPGA development board The Altium Designer LiveDesign Evaluation Kit - Third-Party Development Board Edition is priced from US $49 (plus shipping)

74. 74 Programmable Devices

75. 75 NanoBoard-NB1 features Fully compatible with Altium's LiveDesign-enabled development tools Plug-in daughter board system supports a wide range of target FPGAs Altera Cyclone (EP1C12-Q240C7) daughter board currently supplied Xilinx Spartan IIE (XC2S300E-PQ208) daughter board currently supplied Includes power pack with multiple plugs for various electrical outlet configurations Includes ribbon cable for PC connection plus other cables and connectors Extensive NanoBoard-NB1 technical hardware reference manual Peripherals include: LCD, LED array, switch array, keypad, buzzer, ADC/DAC, 256Kx8 RAM, 8M serial flash RAM, on-board serial flash RAM for FPGA config, programmable clock Ports include: PS2 mouse & keyboard, RS232, CAN, VGA, I2C, general purpose IO headers Upgradeable NanoBoard controller firmware Integrated heavy-duty NanoBoard stand

76. 76 FPGA/PCB integration

77. 77 FPGA/PCB integration Large scale programmable devices are increasingly finding their way into mainstream electronic development. They bring significant benefits to the design process, allowing functional complexity to be moved from hardwired devices into the programmable realm. Today it is crucial for design productivity that these devices be seamlessly integrated into the physical design process. In Altium Designer our proven strength in board-level system design has been integrated at the platform level with support for programmable design within an FPGA environment.

78. 78 Linking FPGAs with board-level design The extensive use of FPGAs within a system design has some compelling benefits. But time saved in the development of the FPGA circuitry does not automatically translate to faster time to market for the end product. FPGAs have the pin configurable. As well as defining the function of each pin, you can select from a wide range of electrical I/O characteristics. While this provides immense design freedom, it also leads to significant problems with incorporating these devices onto a PCB. Altium Designer solves the problems of working with large-scale programmable devices by providing seamless linking of FPGA design projects with the board design that incorporates them.

79. 79 FPGA/PCB integration

80. 80 Concurrent FPGA andPCB design Facilitate complete FPGA-PCB co-design and enables rapid development of FPGA-based applications. As FPGA development progresses, updated pin and I/O assignments can be transferred to the board design project. The physical schematic representation of the FPGA device is automatically updated to reflect the updated I/O definitions. These changes can then be flowed on to the PCB. Altium Designer abstracts FPGA design from the physical constraints used to drive the FPGA place and route process. This allows you to maintain multiple FPGA configurations within a single FPGA project. For example, one configuration targeting your FPGA development environment and another for your production board design.

81. 81 Managing I/O synchronization FPGA devices have a large number of pins whose I/O characteristics and functions are not fixed, but determined by the application programmed into them. Traditionally crucial I/O pins will be fixed by the FPGA designer, with the FPGA place and route tools free to assign the remaining pins as necessary. The result at the board level is a pin configuration that is generally far from optimal for PCB routing, and the task of propagating I/O characteristics for processes such as signal integrity analysis becomes time consuming and error prone. Altium Designer unifies the process of FPGA and PCB design, it fully supports I/O synchronization between the PCB and FPGA projects. This allows you to forward and back annotate pin assignment changes and automatically propagate I/O characteristics for signal integrity simulation and differential pair management.

82. 82 FPGA/PCB integration

83. 83 Achieve optimal routing solutions with FPGAs As you deploy FPGAs within the PCB layout, you can define sets of pins that can be interchanged at the board level. From within the PCB design you can manually swap pins to improve routing, Or Altium Designer automatically optimize the connection lines for easier board routing. Propagate pin changes back to the FPGA project, and rerun the FPGA place and route process with the new constraints. This allows you to rapidly iterate through PCB and FPGA routing options to arrive at an optimal system-level design solution. Altium Designer allows you to take full advantage of large capacity FPGAs offer. Altium Designer allows you to effectively manage the complexity FPGAs introduce at the board level, and removes the barriers to their widespread adoption with mainstream design.

84. 84 Debug JTAG devicesat the physical level Difficult to probe signal pin of high-density FPGA devices, BGA package. Altium Designer leverages the JTAG capabilities of FPGAs to allow you to dynamically investigate the status of any pins on the device without the need for physical access to the pins. JTAG boundary scan allows for transparent monitoring of the signal status on the device, the in-built, real-time JTAG Viewer allows you to easily view the state of all the pins on any JTAG supported component. Support Altium�s device-independent NanoBoard, or JTAG-equipped prototype or production board. The JTAG Viewer presents a footprint and symbol view of the target device. You can manually capture a snapshot of the pin status of the device, or have the display update dynamically as the circuit operates. Pin status can also be dynamically reflected and displayed on the source schematics for your project, and the PCB layout. With Altium Designer, you can monitor the status of critical lines in real-time as you exercise the circuit to determine correct state changes and easily see problems such as stuck signal lines.

85. 85 Design management

86. 86 Managing the entire development process Efficiently managed as a single design flow The design of the physical platform. The implementation of functionality in programmable devices. The development of the software elements. Altium Designer unifies the entire design process. Allows you to manage all aspects of development within a single, integrated design environment Altium Designer gives you a unified project and document management infrastructure that supports the convergence of traditionally separate design disciplines.

87. 87 Bringing unity tothe design process The development of electronic products is a juggling act that balances the drive to embed more and more intelligence into a design with the time needed to create, implement and test the application. In order to compete in this convergent design landscape you need to be able to efficiently manage projects and data that transcend traditional tool boundaries. Navigating product development through a landscape of loosely-connected point tools creates barriers to design efficiency, forcing you to work around data translation and project synchronization issues. Even with superficial integration between tools, you still need to deal with multiple design and project management environments in order to develop a single product. Altium Designer brings efficiency and enhanced productivity to electronic product development by providing platform-level integration of all design processes, and giving you a unified project and document management infrastructure that supports the convergence of traditionally separate design disciplines. Altium Designer allows you to bring together the discrete hardware, programmable hardware and software that make up a system, and take a design from concept to completion in less time than has previously been possible.

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89. 89 Manage all projects withina unified environment Altium Designer provides a single, unified environment for the creation and management of all of the different project types that go to make up your complete electronic product. The different project types exist in their own right and can be worked on independently, but are linked in a logical way. Because Altium Designer understands the structural links between projects, it can intelligently and automatically manage the flow of essential data between them. Change the pin assignment of an FPGA at the board level, for instance, and Altium Designer understands that this data must be synchronized with the PCB source schematics and with the FPGA project constraints that drive FPGA place and route. You don�t need to manually propagate this data between different design environments. Similarly, when you add memory or peripheral hardware to a processor within an FPGA project, Altium Designer can automatically generate the C header files necessary to address this hardware within the software project. With Altium Designer, the ability to create and link within a single environment all of the different projects that go to make up your final product design brings design efficiencies.

90. 90 Managing all your design documents A single electronic product development project can generate literally hundreds of design-related documents. And each document can go through many revisions during the course of the development process. As designs grow in complexity, so does the need to systematically track and control the storage and revision of design documents. Increasingly organizations are implementing document version control systems to manage this process. Altium Designer can interface to any third-party version control system that supports the Source Code Control Interface (SCCI), Concurrent Versions System (CVS) or Subversion (SVN) standards. This includes commercial systems such as Microsoft Visual SourceSafe and most popular open source version control applications. From within Altium Designer you can add design documents to any specified repository within the version control system and perform all common version control tasks such as document check-in and version labeling. Even if you don�t have a full version control system operating within your organization, Altium Designer allows you to easily track the history of documents within a project at a local level. Each time you save a file, Altium Designer will automatically store a copy of the original file to create a full history of the document changes. You can label milestone versions and add comments to the history files to document changes.

91. 91 Graphically compare PCB & Schematic documents Maintaining a document�s history is one challenge. But being able to efficiently determine what has changed between versions of a document is crucial to efficient management of documents during development. While most version control systems allow you to easily see the differences between versions of text-based files, graphical documents such as schematic diagrams and PCB layout files present a whole new set of challenges. For example, in a PCB layout you may reroute a particular connection in order to improve signal integrity. On a complex board, spotting this change is almost impossible by visually comparing the two documents. Altium Designer includes a powerful graphical differencing engine that allows you to compare file versions on a spatial basis, as well as on the connectivity level. The comparison features are fully-integrated with Altium Designer�s storage management and versioning facilities, allowing you to easily compare your current document with versions in the local history or version control repository. The graphical comparison features combine with Altium Designer�s comprehensive version control support to provide the capabilities you need to effectively manage all your design documents.

92. 92 Graphically compare PCB

93. 93 Deploying Altium Designer At Altium we have taken a unified approach to electronic product development to provide a system that allows you to meet the future head on. Altium Designer incorporates all of the capabilities needed for both today�s and tomorrow�s electronic product development challenges. Altium Designer is a complete and unified solution for electronic product development. It allows you to take a design from concept to completion within a single integrated design environment. When you deploy Altium Designer across your organization, you not only get the most productive design system available, you also get the security of knowing that Altium is committed, at every level, to ensuring your complete success.

94. 94 More than what's in the box Altium belief that every engineer, designer and developer should have access to the best possible design tools. When you purchase an Altium Designer license we maximize your return on investment by giving you free access to regularly-released service packs. These service packs bring new technologies, additional device support and enhanced features to your Altium Designer system. The Altium Library Development Center continuously develops new and updated libraries under its ISO 9000-certified quality assurance program. These libraries are freely available to all Altium Designer customers, and ensure you have unrestricted access to the latest electronic components, packaging technologies and device models.

95. 95 Altium Library Development Center Provide a value-added and "free" service that is available to all customers. Continuously improve the quality of all published component model data to a level that will ultimately change the customer's attitude towards using supplied component models. Increase the output of the Center without sacrificing quality. Develop an independent and scalable team oriented Center. Continue compliance and accreditation with ISO 9001 standard.

96. 96 Support When you invest in a design system from Altium, you get the support you need to use that design system successfully. We believe free support should be available to all Altium customers as part of each license and not tied to some mandatory high-cost maintenance contract. Altium's professional and skilled engineers are ready to support your queries. Licensed users are entitled to high quality free support via email. Optionally phone support can be purchased.

97. 97 Online resources The�Knowledge Base gives you instant access to an ever expanding database of articles about current technical issues, tips and other up to date information. Learning guides will give you step-by-step explanations on how to get the most out of your design environment. Tutorials are available for both basic operations for those who want to quickly get started and advanced tutorials and whitepapers for the experienced user.

98. 98 Flexible training resources We help your engineers, designers and developers get the most from their Altium Designer system by offering a complete range of structured training resources. The training starts as soon as you install the software. Invoke the online Knowledge Center built into the software, and a dynamically-updated panel provides interactive and context-sensitive guidance on the operation of the system. The online Knowledge Center tracks what you are doing and provides specific help with your current task. You can also access the extensive Altium Designer documentation library for more in-depth information on the features and concepts within the system. Altium Designer also comes with a vast array of examples that demonstrate the capabilities of the system. Examples range from simple circuits designed to highlight specific features, through to complete reference designs that cover the entire development process. To complement the learning resources within the software, the Altium website hosts extensive, free, downloadable training materials to allow your engineers to train themselves at minimum cost, and then extend this training to others in the organization.

99. 99 Altium Designer System Requirements Minimum system requirements for acceptable performance Windows 2000 Professional SP2 1.8GHz processor 1 GByte RAM 2 GByte hard disk space (Install + User Files) Main monitor 1280x1024 screen resolution Strongly recommended: second monitor with minimum 1024x768 screen resolution 32-bit color, 32 MB graphics card Parallel port (if connecting to a NanoBoard-NB1)

100. 100 Altium Designer System Requirements Recommended system for optimal performance Windows XP (Professional or Home) 3 GHz Pentium 4 processor or equivalent 1 GByte RAM 2 GByte hard disk space (Install + User Files) Dual monitors with 1280x1024 screen resolution� 32-bit color, 64 MB graphics card Parallel port (if connecting to a NanoBoard-NB1)

101. 101 The END