Trace Analysis Action
Trace Analysis is a new Analysis Action. This test measures the length of individual traces for each line width, and reports the longest and shortest trace that occurs in each line width. The test analyzes all lines in the layer whose line width falls between 0 to the value of the max_line_width ERF variable.
What is a trace?
A trace is a set of lines
or set of arc features. A trace must begin from a pad. It can end in one of
four ways:
1. Enters another Pad.
2. Stub line (this stub line will
be taken into consideration when calculating the trace's length).
3. Enters a Surface or drawn
area.
4. Connects with another line /
arc of the same dimensions, with another line of a different width, or with a
different symbol.
The length of a trace is measured
by the length of the skeleton of the line containing the trace, from the
beginning of the trace until its end.
Shaved lines and shaved arcs will
not be considered as part of a trace.
Lines / Arcs which are drawn with
special symbols will not be considered as part of a trace.
Lines with the following
attributes will be ignored: .pattern_fill, .sliver_fill, .tear_drop.
If the pad is fully embedded in
the line, it will not break the trace.
If there are features near the
lines being analyzed that have the attributes .sliver_fill or .tear_drop,
these neighboring features will be ignored.
Any filters that may be applied to this check (apply to
selected features, run inside window, or usage of mask mechanism)
will be applied to the pads that begin
the trace. For example, if running in inside window mode, any trace that
begins with a
pad that is inside the window will be reported, even though some of its parts are outside the window.
Reports
The action will report, for each line width, the longest trace and the shortest trace that was measured.
The action will generate for output…
- two separate categories for each line width tested
- a table that summaries all measurements.
A table which summaries all measurements made. A sample
table is given below.
Attributes
Each
attribute displays the minimum or maximum trace_length for each line width.
The
attribute name is composed of the symbol name followed by phrase shortest_trace_len
or longest_trace_len.
Example
f03_r3.940_shortest_trace_len = 0.416
f03_r3.940_longest_trace_len = 0.443
f03_r4.920_shortest_trace_len = 0.007
f03_r4.920_longest_trace_len = 10.846
f03_r5.910_shortest_trace_len = 1.517
f03_r5.910_longest_trace_len = 1.5246
Categories
For
each line width, two dynamic categories will be created - one for
the longest trace that was measured and one for the shortest trace. Each
category will contain the shapes that form the measured trace. The category
name will be in the format:
<Shortest/Longest/Single_Trace>_<line
symbol name>_<Layer's Name>_<length in inch/mm>_<inch/mm>.
To see
the complete trace, select the desired category and select Show
All. You can also search through the shapes that form the trace. The
elements <line symbol name> and <Layer's Name> in the
category name will be defined according to the units that were used when the
action was activated.
In
cases where only one trace was measured for a given line width, the category name
will begin with Single.