Quote Analysis

Introduction

This analysis action is designed to supply the special needs of sales departments. It should provide the sales agent all the information necessary to make a quotation in a short period of time.

Since this is an analysis for quotation and not for production, we make some assumptions that enable us to shorten analysis run time at the expense of slightly less accurate results. Those assumptions will be detailed later on.

The Analysis Tests

The following tests are optional. You can specify which tests to run.

Spacing checks

The action runs spacing checks on the given layer(s). Spacing is checked according to the value of parameter pp_spacing. The action does not report same net spacing (self_spacing).

Self adjusting spacing value (SASV)

Automatically adjusts the spacing value according to the layer data, making for a faster spacing check. How SASV works is described later in this chapter.

By using the ERF variable classify_spacing you can get all the spacing reports in one category, or in several categories. Spacing values can be placed into different categories corresponding to the type of features involved (e.g. pad, SMD and circuit, where circuit denotes all the features in the layer other than pads).

The method the action uses to determine if a pad is an SMD pad is described in the section on SMD checks.

AR checks

The action runs AR (Annular Ring) checks on the given layer(s). The action finds the annular ring for each pad in the layer that is pierced by a drill.

This measurement is different from the measurement made in the SLA (Signal Layer Analysis). Here the action measures only the distance between the pad and its hole, and not the distance between the hole and the entire copper which covers it.

By using the ERF variable classify_ar you can get all the AR reports in one category, or categorized into several categories corresponding to the type of drill involved (PTH, NPTH and Via).

Pads with a drill size larger than the pad will not be reported.

 Line Size checks

The action reports lines in the line category.

If a line violates conditions defined by one of the 3 ERF variables max_line_width, min_line_len, or len2width_ratio, the line is ignored.

Any line that has one of the following attributes is ignored: .tear_drop, .pattern_fill, .nomenclature, .sliver_fill.

A line that is a part of drawn area is ignored.

A double conductor is reported as one big line.

A shaved line will be ignored.

The line size checks carried out here are different from those carried out in the SLA (Signal Layer Analysis). There could be reports of lines that appear in one action but not in the other.

SMD checks

The action locates all SMD pads in the given layers and reports them in the SMD category. The action also reports the pitch for each row.

This test is similar to the test that exists today in the SLA (Signal Layer Analysis) action. This test runs only on outer signal or mixed layers.

The action will consider as an SMD pad the following:

A pad that has an .smd attribute.

1.      If there is no pad with an .smd attribute in the layer, than any undrilled pad is considered as an SMD pad if its size is larger than the value of min_smd_size . This assumption is controlled by the ERF variable assume_smd_pad . If assume_smd_pad = Yes, then the assumption is made. If assume_smd_pad = No, then the assumption is not made.

Rout Spacing checks

The action checks each copper layer against all Rout piercing layers.

Spacing is checked according to the value of parameter Rout To Cu (pp_r2c). The detected spacing measurements are reported in the Rout To Copper (r2c) category. Rout features with .plated_rout or .drill=plated attributes are reported in Plated Rout To Copper (pr2c) category.

The action does not consider rout compensation in the spacing checks.

Gold Finger checks

The action searches for Gold Finger Pads rows in the outer layers.

Any SMD row that is close to the layer's profile (close being defined as any distance less than the value of the ERF variable v_gold_finger_dist) is considered a Gold Finger Pads Row. Each row is reported as follows:

Each pad is reported in the Gold Finger Pad (gold_finger_pad) category; the pad length is reported in the Gold Finger Pad Length (gold_finger_pad_length) category; the pad size is reported in the Gold Finger Pad Size (gold_finger_pad_size) category.

The row's Pitch is reported in Gold Finger Pitch (gold_finger_pitch) category; the side of the row is reported in the Gold Finger Side (gold_finger_side) as the segment that touches the profile in the side where the row is placed.

If there are pads with a .gold_plating attribute, the analysis will not search for other pads that fit the Gold Finger rules. This check requires a defined profile to the step.

In the summary report the action reports how many rows were found in each side, if any, and the total Gold Area Size.

 

Attributes

1. min_p2p

2. typ_p2p

3. min_p2c

4. typ_p2c

5. min_smd2p

6. typ_smd2p

7. min_smd2smd

8. typ_smd2smd

9. min_smd2c

10. typ_smd2c

11. min_c2c

12. typ_c2c

13. min_spacing

14. typ_spacing

15. min_ar

16. typ_ar

17. dra_ar

18. min_pth_ar

19. typ_pth_ar

20. dra_pth_ar

21. min_via_ar

22. typ_via_ar

23. dra_via_ar

24. min_npth_ar

25. typ_npth_ar

26. dra_npth_ar

27. min_line

28. typ_line

29. num_line

30. num_smd

31. min_smd_pitch

32. typ_smd_pitch

33. num_smd_pitch

34. min_r2c

35. typ_r2c

36. num_gold_finger_pad

37. min_gold_finger_pitch

38. typ_gold_finger_pitch

39. num_gold_finger_pitch

40. gold_finger_pads_side

41. Self Adjust Spacing Value

The SASV algorithm

Self Adjusting Spacing Value (SASV)

SASV automatically adjusts the spacing value according to the typical spacing value the algorithm finds in the layer data, making for a faster spacing check.

 

Why you should use SASV

Statistical analysis shows that:

a) Spacing checks takes the biggest chunk of the SLA (Signal Layer Analysis) run time.

b) As the spacing search distance gets larger, the run time increases. (In fact, run time nearly quadruples.)

c) Usually, default values for the maximum spacing parameters are not adjusted to the data.

We believe there is no reason to search for spacing violations larger than the typical spacing interval. The SASV algorithm calculates this interval. A search using this value will be fast and efficient, and still give valid results.

How it works

1.      The algorithm randomly picks a small number of features and checks the spacing between them and their neighbors.

2.      It calculates the average value for those spacing measurments, and creates the typical spacing value.

3.      This value is multiplied by the value of the ERF variable v_sasv_delta .

4.      The action than uses this value for the spacing search. The action does not report spacing larger than this value, although it is smaller than pp_spacing .

The returned value must be larger than the ERF variable v_lower_sasv_limit . If the returned value if less than v_lower_sasv_limit,  it will use the value of v_lower_sasv_limit instead.

If the returned value is larger than pp_spacing , it will use the pp_spacing value.

The SASV value is reported in the special category: Self Adjust Spacing Value. It is also reported in the action summary and action attribute.

The SASV algorithm can be disabled by setting the ERF variable v_use_sasv = No (which is the default value of this ERF variable).