The PCB design editor is eCADSTAR’s PCB layout application, a key part of our unified, internet-connected EDA software.
It gives PCB designers access to a range of powerful features that can speed up their PCB project completion, with numerous re-use opportunities that you can apply to your next projects. It has a short learning curve, but all the detailed features you need to optimize your designs to the fullest.
Save time when you prototype, even before your new components are in your library. Download what you need and carry on working. Search for a part and it appears on your cursor. Drop it and it becomes part of your PCB layout.
Web part lookup gives PCB engineers access to extensive online parts libraries, including 3D models.
2D or 3D viewing—which is best? To avoid DRCs while placing components, usually 3D PCB design. And with fast signalling, the third dimension comes into play. But when you’re routing, working in 2D provides more focus on routing topology and patterns. So why choose when you can have both? You can split the view and route in 2D with simultaneous 3D display.
Additionally, your 3D canvas can include both PCB and enclosures. You get ahead, detecting issues like component-to-enclosure collisions right on the canvas.
Native 3D design means collisions and DRCs get detected early—often in real-time, during the interactive layout of the PCB. Another great feature is simultaneous 2D/3D design. It gives you the best of both worlds—for example routing a critical differential pair in a familiar 2D view while seeing how it relates to other objects in 3D.
Board Blocks equip you for maximum re-use, design integrity and teamwork. Once you create a block and make it a child board, you can re-use it anywhere on your PCB design. Furthermore, you can work on blocks independently and merge or re-merge them intelligently into your designs. You can even create your own library of physical design blocks and share with whoever you wish.
Board Blocks are parts of a PCB design that you identify and save as re-usable work. If you identify a Board Block as a Child Board, then you can re-import it at any time to reflect engineering changes (ECOs)—even if other engineers have worked on it. For example, you may have a colleague who is particularly good at optimizing power supply layout of your PCB, so you can re-import later without interrupting your work on the main PCB design.
At the heart of eCADSTAR’s PCB design software is its highly configurable yet straightforward interactive routing.eCADSTAR recognizes that signals take many forms and our PCB layout platform works with you to get them connected as neatly and effectively as possible, considering all the intricacies of today’s PCBs.
Denser and denser routing carries faster and faster signals with more and more mixing of analog, digital, power, and RF. Our PCB design Editor was designed to handle all that, with the help of your skill and experience.
Optimize PCB layout with efficient interactive routing with control where you need it. Interactive routing follows guidelines you can configure, helping you conform to best practices.
With eCADSTAR’s PCB design software, high-speed design is built-in, not an afterthought. It goes as shallow or as deep as you need. Yes, topology control, impedance control, simulation and power integrity analysis when you need them, but advanced re-use features also make high-speed design much faster and safer.
Some high-speed features are cost options, so you decide and pay for only what you need.
Control high-speed layout of PCB without external software in a consistent, unified environment: Topology, impedance, crosstalk, signal integrity, and much more.
Autorouting has come a long way since the days of join-the-dots when designing a PCB. What you can achieve depends on the kind of design you have and the parts of the design you want to route with it. This requires a detailed routing strategy. A good strategy requires some expert assistance, and this is where the eCADSTAR Routing Consultant comes into play.
Some PCB circuits are good candidates for autorouting, including controllers surrounded by interface or other components and fan-out. Autorouting requires a strategy. That is where the autorouting in eCADSTAR’s PCB design software excels. Routing Consultant creates a basic strategy that you can adjust to perfection, apply, and save for future use.
A good range of manufacturing outputs means you give fabricators what they need for fast and accurate turnaround. Gerber import lets you add legacy and external artworks to your designs, with intelligent data merge.
You can supplement manufacturing and review data with fully customisable reports, including details of the physical board, components, pins, padstacks, and holes.
The range of manufacturing outputs in the PCB Editor means you can supply data in the best form for each recipient. Gerber data import is intelligent—much more than mere artwork import—so it’s easier to re-use external and legacy data when Gerber is all you have.
Create rule areas on your PCB layout – as many as you like and any shape. Assign both single-ended and differential rule stacks to them, with the further option to refine by PCB layer.
As well as automatically necking-down tracks and differential pairs in high-density areas, you can localize via rules to help control cost and reliability – for example, specifying HDI via types and spans only in places they are needed.
External variables that are hard to control, like industrial pollution and humidity, can create paths on insulators that current “creeps” over. The higher the voltage, the more likely this becomes. Unforeseen creepage causes both safety and reliability issues.
Design more densely and uncover unexpected creepage paths
The information presented is a small snippet of the full capabilties of eCADSTAR’s PCB design software. Find out much more through our highly detailed—datasheets, videos, webinars. The best way is to arrange a free evaluation and try eCADSTAR for yourself. The PCB Editor gives you a lot, but it is easy to use. One consistent user interface style. One learning curve. Deep attention to detail. First-class online support.
The eCADSTAR PCB Editor has a wide range of tools that are both assistive and automated, helping you to deliver rapid error-free results at every stage of your design process.