Zuken announces the first system-level PCB design environment

The environment allows design teams to layout their complete system designs – from quick prototype boards to complex, multi-board systems – using a single tool.

A number of companies are currently evaluating Design Force to help them future-proof their design process, speed up their product development and improve their product quality.

Using the latest human interface techniques in a full 3D environment, the designer has control using a mouse in one hand and a touchpad in the other for two-handed design. The new user interface has been optimized to reduce time taken for menu picks, mouse clicks, and mouse travel distance, making it much faster and easier to use than comparable ECAD solutions. Throughout the design process, the designer can switch between 2D and 3D seamlessly to combine conventional 2D design with 3D design in real-time.

Design Force represents a major step forward in PCB design solutions, said Steve Chidester, head of product marketing at Zuken EAS. We have worked closely with customers around the world to develop a product that not only meets today’s needs, but tomorrow’s as well. In this process, we realized that we had to start over and develop something completely new.

Next-generation performance

Design Force uses the newest hardware and software – native 64-bit, multi-CPU, and multi-threading – for the fastest ECAD system performance available today. It has fast graphics using OpenGL and DirectX, providing almost instantaneous rendering. With this graphics performance, designers can place and manage embedded components, view and modify layers, and optimize chip-package-board and multi-board interconnects, moving and editing seamlessly through multiple designs – all in both 2D and 3D.

Multiple client-server implementations are supported, including cloud computing.
Single solution environment

Design Force has embedded support for high-speed design, allowing engineers and layout designers to conduct signal integrity, EMC, and power integrity analysis, manage constraints and autoroute. Improved product quality is achieved by early detection of design errors and verification of performance requirements through the embedded design analysis and online rules checking. Designers can effectively co-design a chip, package and board, embed components in the dielectric, and verify manufacturing rules in real-time. This ensures that both manufacturing requirements and engineering intent are preserved during the design process.
Multi-board design solution

Design Force is part of Zuken’s new CR-8000 PCB design suite – the only concept-to-manufacturing multi-board design solution that has been developed from the start to address the unique requirements of system-level design optimization. As part of the CR-8000 system-level design flow, Design Force is fully integrated with System Planner (system-level design planning) and Design Gateway (system-level circuit engineering).