Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/344372
20 The PCB Design Magazine • July 2014 Impediments to Collaboration As you might expect, entering a concurrent world can have some challenges beyond just a new tool learning curve. You must also have awareness of hardware and network configura- tion requirements and limitations (particularly with geographically dispersed teams) to ensure optimal client/server performance. There are also new oppor- tunities for conflict between team members in the intra- discipline model. What if two people want to edit the same schematic block, constraint, component or route? Conflict resolution mechanisms can be automated within software minimizing the need to stop work, send e-mail, or deploy the "sneakernet" to resolve the issue. But an effective workflow must also be defined, with team leads identified to drive the process and keep the team in sync. Disruptive updates, such as a logic or constraint ECO, should ideally be coordinated to minimize design cycle interrupts that impact all members working concurrently (constant for - ward/back annotations between a team of engi- neers collaborating with a team of layout design- ers will drive everyone crazy). Another issue with intra-discipline collabora- tion (regardless of whether it's the traditional seri- al 24-hour shift model or a concurrent process) is re-engineering, also known as the not-invented- here syndrome. Everyone has their own style for laying out a schematic or layout—team members must resist the urge to redo the work of others, or the gains of collaboration will quickly be lost. Enabling Efficient, Concurrent Collaboration The primary benefit of efficient collabora- tion is an accelerated design cycle. We've seen customers achieve more than 70% reductions in design time just on layout, with efficiencies nearing 100%. In addition, if the core flow is ac- celerated, additional virtual prototyping tasks can be added to the process to validate for im- proved quality (e.g., signal/power integrity, ther- mal, and manufacturability). Alternative archi- tectures and layouts can also be explored (e.g., different place, route and stack-up scenarios) to optimize the product for performance and cost. Concurrent collaboration (without the parti- tion/reassemble overhead) is also a great resource management tool, enabling the CAD manager to shift resources to the most critical projects at any time, maximizing resource us- age. Design specialists can be de- ployed in any geographic loca- tion concurrently with the rest of the design team. Dropping the partitioning step also im- proves data integrity by main- taining just one copy of the design data. Moving from a serial to parallel collaborative process also reduces extra shifts and overtime—a significant design cost benefit. With the "round- the-clock/world" design model, there's a longer time between finding and fixing prob - lems; specialists aren't fond of doing design re- views 24 hours a day. But a concurrent process resolves this (everyone's working in the same shift). There are limits to how many people can work concurrently on designs, so if you really want that overtime, it's still an option when de- sign volume goes through the roof. PCB systems design can't be done without some level of collaboration—everyone does it. There are a ton of design process and data for- mat improvements that have emerged over the last five years to enable efficient collaboration. Take a look at your team collaboration, and ask yourself the question: Am I as efficient as my competitors? PCBDESIgN References 1. PCB Design: A Guide to Optimizing De- sign Engineers, Kevin Prouty, The Aberdeen Group, March 2014. OPTIMIzINg COLLABORATION FOR PCB SySTEMS DESIgN continues feature David Wiens is a product marketing manager at Mentor graphics. We've seen customers achieve more than 70% reductions in design time just on layout, with efficiencies nearing 100%. " "