PCB Layout
Expedition Enterprise is the most powerful physical-layout solution in the industry.
By combining ease-of-use with advanced functionality, Expedition offers designers the leading technology to create today's most complex designs. It includes interactive and
customizable multi-pass auto-routing controls for design challenges, such as differential pair routing, net tuning, manufacturing optimization and HDI/microvia and buildup technology.
The Physical Layout Technology Leader in PCB Design
Expedition’s placement and routing technology represents a revolutionary step forward for PCB design. The power of industry-leading auto-routing technology is combined with interactive editing capabilities to produce a single, powerful and easy-to-use design environment. This environment eliminates the burdens of jumping between tools to get the job done and managing differences between the constraints on the auto-router and on interactive editing.
Expedition provides greater control than ever before, easily switching between automatic and manual editing as needed. From simple tasks, such as defining board areas, to complex procedures that involve maintaining high-speed signal conditions, all objectives are accomplished with the system and the designer working together in real time. The net result of Expedition’s technology is reduced design times, increased productivity and unmatched design quality.
Auto and Interactive Routing
• A single, integrated, place-androute editing environment that reduces total design time and
increases productivity.
• All physical rules and high speed rules are maintained.
• Correct-by-construction design that produces high-quality results with clean-up time eliminated.
• Shape-based, true 45° routing.
• The most advanced auto-routing technology ever. Stop and start the auto-router at any time: all results will be correct-by-construction.
• Dynamic clean-up of traces through the reduction of segments, prevention of acute angles, and application of pad entry rules.
Dynamic Area Fills
Expedition Enterprise automatically clears area fills around traces, vias and pads as the board is edited. Dynamic area fills are so fast, it allows users to keep their area fills turned on while they are doing all necessary edits. Moving a via pushes and shoves other vias, traces and area fills and connectivity is automatically maintained.
Rules By Area
The rules-by-area function greatly improves routing around BGAs and other fine-pitched parts. Rule areas rep resent complete rule sets that are obeyed by online and batch DRC and
in interactive and automatic routing. Rule areas may be defined by layer and can be assigned to any polygon, rectangle or circle. Trace widths and clearances automatically change when within the rule area. Designers may also change via sizes and spans in a rule area to maximize route completion.
Multi-plow with Variable Via Patterns
Expedition Enterprise's multi-plow functionality allows designers to simultaneously route multiple nets, including differential pairs, with true 45° routing. It can even handle routing
through areas of staggered pins. Traces being routed push and shove the other vias and traces and automatically clear area fills as needed. Changes can be easily made to a variety of selectable via patterns at the touch of a button, allowing enhanced flexibility for routing into dense areas of a design.
High-Speed Layout
Designers are increasingly required to manage signal quality to achieve system performance and reduce prototype iterations. High-speed design with Expedition Enterprise is an integrated part of the design environment.
Net Tuning
While routing interactively, graphic tuning aids are displayed for guidance. Nets modified out-of-tune during edits are automatically re-tuned. The hazards dialog box dynamically updates as users edit nets, providing instant feedback to their constraints. Nets can also be tuned automatically within an auto-route pass.Tuned nets are automatically maintained as
the designs are completed.
Differential Pair Routing
Routing and editing differential pairs with Expedition is accomplished with speed and ease that changes the view of highspeed design. Pair spacing rules can be established by both layer and net class. If one trace is edited, the other trace in the pair automatically moves with it. Adjacent layer differential pair routing capabilities add another valuable option for routing critical signals on a dense PCB.
Dynamic Hazard Review
Design hazards are dynamically displayed and may be individually selected and colored for easy identification. When a hazard is fixed, it is dynamically removed from the hazard list.
Bus Routing
Auto-routing is rarely used on dense, highly bus-structured PCBs, as manual routing can produce denser, more manufacturable and aesthetic results. How ever, manual routing can
be very time consuming and tedious. Skillful de sign ers or engineers determine the top ology of the buses and their assigned planes to meet high speed constraints. Expedition
Enterprise has unique technology that combines the skill of the designer and engineer with the speed of autorouting, eliminating the tedium, instead focusing on producing a better design.
Topology Planner provides an interactive method of defining the topologies of buses,
assigning them to planes and specifying many specialized rules. This plan is saved with
the design data and can be modified. Topology Router can then be executed to auto-route
the interconnects following the plan, eliminating tedious trace digitizing. The results mimic
those of a skilled designer, yet significantly reduce design cycle times and improve productivity.
Embedded Passive Design
As ICs and FPGAs increase in speed and density, they require more passive components (resistors and capacitors) — some may need several hundred. Implementing these as
embedded components versus discrete SMDs can significantly reduce board sizes and improve performance.
Expedition Enterprise provides a complete solution: trade-off tools decide which components to implement in embedded versus discrete based on board size and cost, passive material choices, automatic synthesis driven by material supplier’s libraries, and full manufacturing data generation. The result is automation of a task that could take weeks of manual effort.
Join us for an all-new series of webinars focused on complex PCB Layout, illustrated by the great capabilities of Expedition PCB. 
