Allegro Padstack Editor
Maricel Fergason
I use Windows 10. When I click "start" > "Cadence", there is only the "Licence Client Configuration Utility" available and nothing else. So I click an enter my host name with the port. But nothing happens, the padstack editor doesn't show up.
Padstack Editor is under the Start menu Cadence PCB Utilities 17.4-2019 not Cadence so give that a try. You could also try typing Padstack Editor in the Type here to search for Windows 10 which should locate the app for you
I have implemented a schematic for an IC (BGM13S32F512GA-V2R) and I am trying to create a footprint but when I try to place the padstacks, they do not appear in the default library... so I went into the settings and added a link to my directory with priority over the standard library. They are still not showing up.
I figured out that allegro pcb editor does not search subfolders for .pad files, and in order for these to show up, they must all be at the root of the library. A bit less organized than I like, but what can ya do.
I am laying out a complex board, with many components. One of the steps is to create padstacks for the footprints of each component. It turns out I have (nearly only) two types of padstacks to generate:
The problem is that those padstacks come in about 50 different sizes. I want them to be consistently specified and typoless, and the Cadence Allegro padstack editor being awful makes generation tedious and error-prone. The obvious solution, given I only have two types of padstacks, is to script the padstack creation with the dimensions nicely specified in just one clean file.
Use the File > Script command in Pad Designer to record your actions as you create a padstack. You can then use the resulting (ASCII) script file as a template, which you can run from the command line by invoking pad_designer with the -s argument.
Non-plated pad stacks will always have a pad smaller than the drill. With this checked,those warnings will be automatically bypassed. If you don't do this, you willneed to save the pad stack with warnings. A process which must follow #3 exactly.
To bypass this, you cannot simply click the X of the Pad Stack Warnings window andthen close pad_designer. The .pad file will not get generated and when theFootprint Script goes to draw the pins it will not be able to link to theproper pad stack. Instead, it will either use the latest pad stack it couldgenerate, or no pad stack at all. Either way, it will be wrong. To fix this,use the following 5 steps every time you see the above window.
Parts Per Script - Typically used whenputting out lots of parts at once. If you're outputting say 100 parts, withthis value set to 1, the program will open and close 100 times (once for eachpart) when generating parts. If you set this to 100 parts per script, thescript would generate 100 parts and open and close Allegro once. It will save alot of time when batch processing, but for most implementations where only ahandful of parts may be put out at any one time, its suggested that you stickwith the default.
Run Scripts in Background (NoGraph) -This turns off the graphic display of the programs being run. This does have amajor downside in that if there is an error, you won't be able to see it. Itsparticularly problematic if you run multiple licenses of various Allegro toolsthat provide a selector window. In that case, this must be turned off so youcan select the proper tool, or the script will appear to be 'hung'. It's justwaiting for input at the selector window as to which tool you want to run, butcan't show you that because you have it running in the background. It's off bydefault and suggested to be off, particularly given that you can watch thescripts draw the parts.
Auto-confirm Loss of Accuracy - When thepad_designer goes to run, there is a quirk in that some versions of Allegrowill provide a message prompt for changing of the units, others will not. Toset this properly, set it to off. When the part goes to process and runpad_designer, if you see the following window, turn it on and select the SaveEntries as Preferences button. From that point on it will auto-confirm thisbox.
Place 3D STEP Models Via Script - This isonly usable if your license for Allegro supports 3D Modeling. If it doesn't,turn this off. If it does, what this will do is insert the model into thefootprint just before script completion.
Auto-Confirm SSM Save - Certain versions ofAllegro will pop a confirmation box when a SSM (complex pad stack) goes tosave. This option is to allow auto-confirmation if you have one of thoseversions. Normally it's off, and you may want to turn it on if you get annoyingconfirmation boxes at the end of a complex pad stack save. If you do not getconfirmation messages, simply leave as default.
Truncate Long Names - Certain versions ofAllegro have a 30-character limit for names. Try running with it turned off,and if it has issues, turn it on. As such, this will keep the file names underthe limit.
These files are created in a directory containing the footprint name in the OutputDirectory you select when creating the FPX output. The files will be placed in anew directory CAPC100X50X56L25N, which is the Footprint Name of the part thatwas generated, in the Output directory specified earlier:
.bat - Batch file which runs each of the scripts in orderto generate the final output. It first runs the pad_designer and generates thepad stacks, then it runs the full Allegro tool and generates the part itselfusing those pad stacks.
7. Sometime between Allegro 17.2 / 17.4 there was a change so that when you first create a new PCBfootprint using script files, there is a new Windows message box that pops upasking for design information. When these pops up, it stops the script file.There is a setting in Allegro that disables thisWindows message box from opening. Check the following checkbox: 'Setup >User Preferences > Drawing > New_design > allegro_no_new_design_form'
If you are prompted for a BRD file when trying to 'Autorun' from the Footprint Expert,close the Footprint Expert and restart it on its own from the installeddirectory or a Footprint Expert shortcut, do not start it from the EDM Flow Manager.Then try again to create the script and 'Autorun' it.
If you get "ERROR: Could not initialize the Allegro error messaging system." - perhapswith reference to messaging system module definitions file 'allegro_smi_modules.txt',it could be that the Cadence env file/environment file is somehow corrupted. Try todelete the env file so that Cadence creates a new one from scratch.
To create a 3D STEP model, in the Footprint Expert, you will need to make sure 3DSTEP generation is on by selecting the '3D Model' checkbox underneath cancel toflyout the 3D Model tab, set the options, and click 'Create'.
Check your User Variables for SIGRITY_EDA_DIR.
Confirm this drive/directory exists by navigating in Windows File Explorer. Ifit is different, specify the value of this variable accordingly. If it is missing,you'll need to click 'New' to add it here, and give it the path to theSPB directory for the location and version of your Cadence installation.
Check your System Variables for CDSROOT.
Confirm this drive/directory exists by navigating in Windows File Explorer. Ifit is different, specify the value of this variable accordingly. If it ismissing, you'll need to click 'New' to add it here, and give it the pathto the SPB directory for the location and version of your Cadence installation.
If you prefer to go step by step (not the bulk update via the 'Edit text'button, click New to enter any missing values, confirming the directoryyou use actually exists in Windows File Explorer.
NOTE: Alternate values may depend on your installed version and PC/operating systemversion. You may require different values. You can tell what values you need bypaying particular attention to the format and spelling of the values. Confirm eachdrive/directory exists by navigating in Windows File Explorer in the previouslyspecified CDSROOT directory (see above). If any of the directories are different,modify the respective value accordingly.
These Path linkages allow your system to know where 'padstack_editor' is whenissued as a command to convert the SCR files to DRA and PSM. The first sets upa variable to refer to the Cadence Design System Root (CDSROOT)directory, and the second uses that to put various directories in the Path.Both the Padstack Editor and Allegro itself should be found in thetools\bin directory.
The post-layout process supports single-board and multi-board analysis, along with connectivity through packages, connectors, and cabling. The post-layout verification environment provides you the ability to extract and analyze PCB databases from any combination of the following CAD (Computer Aided Design) formats:
Post-layout analysis takes place in the interface of a serial link design project. If the interface you are working in has pre-layout transfer nets defined, post-layout uses them from the reference schematic set. If there are no transfer nets in the reference schematic set of the interface, the Serial Link Designer app creates sheets with system transfer nets (STNETs).
The post-layout verification workflow is the same for each PCB database type. First import the PCB databases, setup the boards, connect the instances if there are multiple boards in the system, run assignment, setup and analyze the nets, set up simulation properties, then simulate and view the results.
The first step in the post-layout verification process is board set-up and assignment. A PCB database you import to the Serial Link Designer app is called a board. At the board level, check and edit all stackups, voltage nets, and models. To create variations of a PCB database using different stackups, voltages, or models, create multiple boards with unique names.
For each board in the system, specify the type of the PCB database and the files in the database, view or edit the stackup, view or set voltage nets, and manage models by clicking the Import & Setup Board button in the Post-Layout Setup & Assignment dialog box. The Import & Setup Board dialog box has four tabs:
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