Title: | Mathematics at DEC |
Moderator: | RUSURE::EDP |
Created: | Mon Feb 03 1986 |
Last Modified: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
Number of topics: | 2083 |
Total number of notes: | 14613 |
Hi - I'm looking for a printed circuit board (PCB) trace routing algorithm. Givens: Coordinates (x,y) of all obstacles Board bounds (min, max x,y) Number of layers if multi-layered Starting and ending points Minimum spacing between trace lines Wanted: Shortest (or near shortest) path from start to end Use of a large grid for the implementation would go well with the surrounding routines, since they already use a grid. Any ideas welcome! - Steve Cross posted in CHEST::ALGORITHMS.
T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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1080.1 | HERON::BUCHANAN | Andrew @vbo DTN 828-5805 | Thu May 11 1989 06:44 | 17 | |
The most interesting solution to this problem that I've seen is in the 3rd party product Allegro, part of Vista, from Valid Logic. After the components have been laid down on the board, the user enters a short dialogue with an expert system. The expert system determines the routing strategy which is appropriate, and sets the parameters of the deterministic algorithm which then does the routing. Even if this product isn't appropriate for you, I can't believe that there aren't other programs around which would go a long way to addressing your problems. The tricky stuff, it seems to me, isn't just the routing of a single link, but the interaction between the links. Particularly, routing for analogue circuitry & power supplies involves constraints that are tricky to work in. Andrew. | |||||
1080.2 | Digital has it now | KOBAL::GILBERT | Ownership Obligates | Thu May 11 1989 14:06 | 6 |
DEC WRL (Western Research Laboratory) published a research report on the board layout algorithms that were used for Titan. Contact Jeremy Dion at RHEA::DION, or at (415) 853-6614. There are several other CAD/CAM tools available for in-house use. I'll let Richie Lary direct you to them. | |||||
1080.3 | VLS | CTCADM::ROTH | If you plant ice you'll harvest wind | Thu May 11 1989 14:25 | 6 |
There's also the VAX Layout System, which is state of the art. If this is for company use, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the right people... - Jim | |||||
1080.4 | thx | CSC32::S_ROSCIO | CSC/CS LAT/VMS Support | Thu May 11 1989 23:04 | 3 |
Thanx for the pointers. It's for me, not for DEC projects. - Steve |