mpe meeting 07/04/2011 altium designer - capabilities regarding magnet circuit drawings raphaël...

MPE meeting 07/04/2011

Altium Designer - capabilities regarding

magnet circuit drawings

Raphaël Berberat 07.04.2011 1

Altium Designer - capabilities regarding magnet circuit drawings

Electronic CAD with Altium Designer

Schematic editorLayout editor

3D Layout viewer



Altium Library Database


PCB layout



Schematic library: how to manage?

Import in Altium schematic editor

Copy/paste in symbol editor

Add connectic and cosmetic

Complex component designed with AutoCad



Schematic symbol properties



Schematic wire properties



Schematic wire properties in the netlist



Import schematic files in Altium• Schematic Files

• All previous Protel/Altium Schematic files/libraries

• Protel 99SE Design Database (*.DDB)• P-CAD V16 or V17 ASCII Schematic (*.sch)• P-CAD V16 or V17 ASCII Schematic Library

(*.lia,*.lib)• P-CAD V15, V16 or V17 ASCII PCB (*.pcb)• P-CAD PDIF file (*.pdf)• CircuitMaker 2000 Design (*.ckt)• CircuitMaker 2000 Binary USER Library (*.lib)• OrCAD Layout file (*.max)• AutoCAD DWG/DXF (*.DWG,*.DXF) (accessed via

File»Import)

The import of Autocad schematic files is not easy :• problem of scale of the drawing• no possibility in Altium to design on

different layers.


Export netlist to Spice


XSPICE: • developed by

the Georgia Tech Research Institute,

• based on Berkeley’s SPICE3 code


Generated netlist for Spice



Altium circuit simulationThe Altium designer-based Circuit Simulator is a true mixed-signal simulator, meaning it can analyze circuits that include both analog and digital devices.The simulator uses an enhanced version of the event-driven XSPICE, based on the SPICE3 code. It is fully SPICE3f5 compatible, as well as providing support for a range of PSPICE device models.

This simulator is availble at CERN but no technical support.It seems that this simulator is not popular at CERN and I cannot find which kind of parameters have to be implemented and which file it can use. What are the limit of this simulator?




Meeting with electrical designers

EN/EL Moustapha Khouja:• EN/EL people are used to use AutoCad 2010 and some extension used

for the dimensionning of electrical installation.• they are able to develop small algorythm for creating BOM and maybe

netlist

Discussion with John Evans for question on Altium simulator:• the simulator IS available at CERN with NO technical support• John is not an user of Altium simulator • only few users at CERN


Summary (1/2)

• Altium software: • Is dedicated to the design of electronic boards• Can be used for other application like electrical schematics, with graphics limitations (wire

width, no wire dashed)• The Altium training at CERN is dedicated for the design of electronic boards

A specific training has to be organised with Altium.• Migration from AutoCAd to Altium will take time to be familiar with Altium

• Schematic library• Shall be totaly created for all components• Design of complex components has to be designed in Autocad and import to the Altium

schematic editor• Possibility to create links to datasheet, drawing or web pages in the properties of the

schematic symbol can be an advantage

• Schematic wire properties• Can be defined for every wire in the schematic (name, cable’s section, lenght…) and the

information are available in the Altium created netlist



Summary (2/2)

• Import files in Altium designer: • AutoCad schematic already done can be import in Altium, but there is no possibility to

convert AutoCad lines to Altium wire. All the schematics has to be redraw in Altium Designer with graphical compromises

• Export a netlist for Spice simulator: • Seems possible but complicated.

This point must be tested by Spice user for evaluation

• Altium simulator: • Is fully SPICE3f5 compatible, can be interesting for this project?• Is available at CERN, but there is no technical support• Is not very popular at CERN maybe due to the complexity of the simulator?• What are the limits of the simulator?

• Other tools for schematic design? • Moustapha Khouja (EN/EL) mentioned AutoCad, AutoCad electrical, AutoCad with SE3000

extension or specific algorythme developped by EN/EL• John Evans mentioned Tracelec, SEE electrical and Cyber Harness simulator


The use of Altium Designer for this project is possible, but it may need efforts

The definition of the needs, of the objectifs and for the acceptable compromises for this project will be the main topics to discuss before starting

Conclusion



mpe meeting 07/04/2011 altium designer - capabilities regarding magnet circuit drawings raphaël...

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