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12 The PCB Design Magazine • February 2016 Wiens: A lot of design today boils down to trade- offs. There are trade-offs between performance and cost (e.g., more layers for efficient shielding or power distribution); between performance and manufacturability (e.g., extra steps for via back-drilling); between form factor and ther- mal management; and of course between prod- uct optimization and the ever-present ticking clock; I could list off at least another 20. All of these require the design team to review their options and pick the most efficient path for- ward. As design tool vendors, we assist in this process with tools that enable the designers to quickly evaluate their options (e.g., look at how different BGA fan-out schemes impact power distribution; or how device vendor guidelines for stack-up, trace geometries/topology can be bent to still meet performance requirements at lower cost). Resolving these trade-offs also requires col- laboration between multiple disciplines (e.g., between electrical and mechanical; PCB en- gineering and layout; layout and manufactur- ing; IC, package and PCB design; or SI specialist and PCB engineering). Naturally, collaboration on trade-offs takes time, so here again design tools can assist by streamlining collaboration efficiency (e.g., dynamic, incremental feedback between electrical and mechanical; or multiple engineers or multiple layout designers working concurrently on the same design in real time), or through integration that enables an individ- ual to evaluate their options before needing to collaborate (e.g., a design engineer running full- board SI screens before needing to review in 3D with the SI specialist; or a layout designer run- ning DC drop analysis to optimize plane area instead of a more extensive PDN review with a specialist). Shaughnessy: You mentioned simulation. Are you seeing more people simulating? Wiens: One of the largest opportunities to shorten design time, as well as increase quality, is simulation. There are tools available to allow designers and engineers run simulations before the first component is placed, right through manufacturing handoff. Simulation used to require signal, power, or thermal specialists to interpret the data and ap- ply it to the design. Now, tools provide simpli- fied interfaces and wizards that enable simula- tion anytime in the design. Each year, we hold our PCB Technology Leadership Awards, which give us an awesome view into trends in design. We've been watch- ing a steady increase in simulation. It's done on more disciplines, more often throughout the design process, and it's done by more people on the team. This year, over 80% of the boards were designed for signal integrity and manu- facturability (it was over 90% on the winning designs), and 70% designed for power integri- ty. The number of teams that used analysis vs. conservative constraints or rules of thumb was technology outlook with Mentor graphics