
From large design teams to individual designers, everyone involved in the conception and implementation of PCBs is encountering unprecedented design challenges. Time-to-market pressures, shrinking schedules, increasing high-speed constraints, and the need for accurate data/parts management are all contributing to the complexities of PCB design. On top of these issues, today's advanced designs typically incorporate reusable intellectual property (IP) blocks, high-pin-count devices, complex bus interconnects, and imported design modules for RF sub-circuits.
To deal with all this complexity, designers need to define and constrain critical high-speed signals at any stage of the design process. They must also use sophisticated signal integrity (SI) and analysis, and be able to ensure that the final PCB meets performance goals regarding traditional manufacturing and test specifications. In addition, since virtually every new design contains high-speed signals, constraint management and validation are now required throughout the design process.

Cadence addresses these design challenges with the industry's most comprehensive approach to PCB design. The Cadence solution for PCB design includes the widest range of fully scalable PCB design technologies, which are ideal for everything from the simplest of boards to the most complex, high-speed designs. With an integrated, hierarchical constraint management system, the solution provides a consistent way to create, manage, and validate design intent across the entire design flow.
The PCB design solution reduces costs and accelerates time to market by enabling constraint-driven collaborative design across IC, package, and PCB domains. It is ideal for:
- System interconnect modelingenables collaboration throughout the design process via a unique co-designethodology that allows design and analysis of the system interconnect across IC, package, and PCB
- Design capture for large-scale designsreduces the time to capture designs with large-pin-count deviceand highly constrained backplanes by employing a multistyle design creation environment
- High-speed PCB designemploys a complete high-end, high-speed design and analysis environment created for tes tasked with design of gigahertz-speed PCB interconnect
- Team-based PCB designallows multiple PCB designers working concurrently on a design to share access to a sgle database, regardless of proximity
- Mainstream PCB designoffers affordable, high-performance Cadence® OrCAD® PCB design technologies that lerage proven Allegro® technology to boost the productivity of smaller design teams and individual PCB designs
- Regulatory complianceassists in the development of the compliance process/ specification, accelerates library data verification/conversion/creation, and ensures correct integration to parts selection toolswhile minimizing time to migrate non-compliant products to compliancy
The Cadence PCB Solution meets today's and tomorrow's design challenges by offering a scalable, common architecture that will keep step as designs grow in complexity. Cadence delivers this technology in powerful product configurations within the Cadence® Allegro® platform and Cadence OrCAD® product line that meet your current and future design needs.
Simulation
Cadence offers a full-featured analog simulator with support for digital elements to help solve virtually any design challengefrom high-frequency systems to low-power IC designs. Because the simulator is easily integrated with Cadence PCB schematic entry solutions, it helps accelerate time to market and keep operating costs in check. This technology is available in Cadence Allegro® AMS Simulator and Cadence PSpice® products.
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Design creation/schematic capture
Cadence offers complete, scalable technology for design creation, management, and reuse. By combining schematic design entry capabilities with extensive simulation and board layout technology, Cadence helps you capture design intent right the first time. This technology is available in Allegro System Architect and various Allegro design entry products, as well as in Cadence OrCAD® Capture.
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PCB layout and routing
Cadence offers automatic and interactive interconnect routing technology, including global route environment technology, for PCBs and complex IC packages. Designed to handle routing challenges from simple designs to high-density PCBs requiring complex, high-speed design rules, Cadence PCB layout and interconnect technology grows with you, keeping up with the increasing complexity of your designs. This technology is available in three Allegro PCB design configurations and Cadence OrCAD PCB Designer suites.
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PCB signal and power integrity
Cadence offers a scalable, complete, and integrated solution for signal integrity (SI) engineers and hardware engineers to explore and resolve issues related to electrical performance at every stage of the high-speed PCB system design cycle. Cadence also offers a power integrity (PI) option for engineers needing to develop clear, reliable power delivery systems that work at all relevant frequency ranges. This technology is available in three Allegro PCB SI configurations and options and Cadence OrCAD Signal Explorer.
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Library and design data management
Cadence PCB library and design data management technologies enhance the productivity of the entire design team by enabling team collaboration. This technology is available in Allegro Design Workbench and Allegro PCB Librarian. Cadence also offers a powerful component information system to reduce production delays and cost overruns through efficient management of components (Allegro Design Entry CIS and Cadence OrCAD Capture CIS).
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IC-Package-Board co-design
Cadence views IC packaging as the critical link in the IC-package-PCB design flow. Without this link, silicon design can end up difficult and expensive to implement in a system. Cadence offers industry-standard solutions for traditional IC package design and IC package co-design. This technology is available in two Allegro Package Designer product configurations. Cadence also streamlines complex IC/Package virtual prototyping and interconnect exploration, analysis, and modeling. This technology is available in Allegro Package SI.
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Demos on demand
Cadence® Global Route EnvironmentView this technical demonstration to learn how the latest hierarchical planning and global routing technology from Cadence can help you overcome today?s complex PCB layout and interconnect challenges.
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Webinars
Come see the latest Cadence AllegroŽ system interconnect design platform 16.0 release enhancements. This webinar series will focus on the new products, technology, and feature enhancements that are now part of the constraint-driven Allegro PCB design flow, and how they improve ease of use, productivity, scalability, collaboration, and accuracy.
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Hands-on workshops
Cadence hands-on workshops are a great way to learn through first-hand experience about tools, technologies, and methodologies in PCB design. These workshops are 4-hour technical sessions involving hands-on labs. To learn more, please contact Allegro_info@cadence.com.
Customer Support
Cadence customer support plans to offer its standard support services for the latest release of Allegro platform. This includes both online support services via SourceLink and timely access to Cadence technical experts. For more information regarding SourceLink, including how to sign up for a SourceLink account, submitting Service Requests, and searching the Knowledge Database, check out the SourceLink Reference guide.
Customer support process
Thank you for your interest in the Cadence® Low-Power Solution. A Cadence representative will get back to you within two business days.