Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1307491
56 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2020 operations, like routing, that seem intuitively straightforward can be vastly different from design tool to design tool. Capabilities like rigid-flex, radio frequency, MCAD collabora- tion, simulation, and validation are other areas in which PCB design tool features and capa- bilities are not created equally, are unavailable, or may require third-party tools to accomplish. Understanding the PCB's technologies and execution is extremely critical when selecting a design tool. Tech companies that do not fully consider all of their product's design require- ments and later discover the design tool they have selected falls short will see detrimental impacts on their product's cost, performance, and time-to-market—even on their business. 5. Pick a Design Tool That Can Shift-Left Your Methodology The goal of the shift-left approach is to move as much verification as possible to as early in the design cycle as permissible while also automating analysis to provide the highest possible degree of coverage. Identifying and correcting issues at the source eliminates time- consuming debug efforts and costly respins. It is a more efficient process that provides more predictable results, eliminates design respins, and yields higher quality products in less time. When we rely on physical prototypes or sophisticated simulation tools to verify designs late in the design cycle, simple errors that should have been caught earlier can require weeks of effort to identify and fix. Though many companies accept this as an inevita- ble result of increased product complexity, it doesn't have to be that way. Product creation and PCB design flows as a whole have evolved over the past decade. We've gone from the tra- ditional "linear approach"—where a single, simple mistake can derail a project and cost thousands or even millions of dollars—to a design flow based on a modern shift-left meth- odology that is more intelligent, accelerates design cycles, and ensures product reliability and performance. Within this shift-left PCB design methodol- ogy, verification tools are integrated through- out the design process, enabling designers to find and fix errors where they happen instead of waiting until later in the flow. This is accom- plished with automated verification tools that Figure 3: Shift-left design flow example.