[SI-LIST] Re: Layout service recommendations
- From: Ray Anderson <Raymond.Anderson@xxxxxxx>
- To: si-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 15:15:59 -0700 (PDT)
I don't have any recommendations on high-speed layout houses,
but do have just a couple of comments on the topic of laying
out high-speed boards.
1) Even though I work for a large corporation with $100k+ EDA tools,
budget, bodies and equipment it usually isn't possible to
"toss the design over the wall" to the PCB layout guys/gals and hope
to get back a board layout that works as envisioned.
2) Standard practice around here is for a designer and/or SI engineer
to "live" with the layout person at their workstation for several
(or more) days while the layout is in progress. There are so many
things that can't be described with a set of canned design rules and
that depend on the design/SI engineer's intuition and intimate knowledge
of his design that you really can't expect a board layout guy to do things
"your way" without lots of personal attention.
3) That being said, an experienced layout guy/gal who has many high-speed
designs under their belt and has worked with you numerous times
can come closer to producing what you want on their own than someone
you've never worked with, so you might get away with somewhat less
personal attention to detail during the layout process, but almost
assuredly you will still need to be there a good portion of the time
to make sure things come out as you envision. (You will also find that
the more complex the board, the higher the frequency of operation and
the denser the layout, the more time you will need to invest at the
layout workstation.
Anyway, thats my $0.02 worth. It will be interesting here other opinions
on the topic.
-Ray Anderson
Sun Microsystems Inc.
>
>Being almost ready to go to layout I've been thinking about the issues of
>sending a design out to a service bureau instead of doing it in-house.
>Unless you work for a large corporation (I don't) you might not have access
>to the $100K+ EDA tools and support infrastructure (budget, bodies,
>equipment, etc.) you might need to produce good designs that work "out of
>the box".
>
>My particular design is a small 5x7 in board that has a 1.5Gb/s front end
>which gets deserialized and fed into FPGA's etc. Most internal frequencies
>are in the 100 to 200 MHz range, with wide busses.
>
>Is it reasonable to assume that a good layout service can get this right the
>first time? What should one look for? Are there any rules-of-thumb in
>terms of cost? What guarantees should one demand? What should be the
>hand-off process? What's the best way to assure success?
>
>Much like the list of recommended PCB houses, it might be nice to assemble a
>list of high-speed-capable layout service houses. I'll volunteer to compile
>and post to this list.
>
>Thank you,
>
>
>===============================
> Martin Euredjian
> eCinema Systems, Inc.
> voice: 661-305-9320
> fax: 661-775-4876
> martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> www.ecinemasys.com
>===============================
>
>
>
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