Gold Tie Bars Creation DFM Action

Introduction

Gold Tie Bars Creation is a read-write DFM action. This action:

This new action is part of the Advanced DFM Actions, and requires a special license option: goldtie .

Glossary

Gold Plated Pad

A pad with the attribute .gold_plating .

Processed Nets

The action can work on all nets in the step, or on selected nets. Selected nets must have at least one selected featureless action will process only nets that have at least one Gold Plated Pad.

Layer Net

A group of positive features connected to each other in one single Board Copper Layer.

Board Net

One or more Layer Nets connected through the board with vertical connections (through-plated drills).

Algorithm

The action works in three stages:

Pre-process

Analyzing which nets need to be processed.

Adding Tie lines

For each net that needs to be processed, the action finds the feature that is closest to the (specified) edge of the board, and then tries to "draw" a polyline from this feature to the edge of the board.

If no test points need to be added, the action will extend every polyline by the value of the variable extension length . If test points need to be added, the action will draw the polylines up to the board limits.

Each line is assigned the .tie attribute. 

If adding a tie will create a short, and the problematic tie is inside the profile limits, the tie will not be added. The net that needs the problematic tie is reported in the Failed to Connect category.

Adding test points and clearances

The action sorts all the tie lines that were added to each side of the board. For each board side, it extends the lines and adds to them the test points and clearances. Each test point is assigned the .test_req attribute.

The connection between tie lines and test points will be made by straight lines and not diagonal lines. See the example below.

 

Limitations

  • Step must have a defined profile.
  • Any net that has features (other than pads) on or outside the profile will not be processed.
  • Test points will always be placed outside the profile.
  • The run mode "Run In Window" is not available for this action.