agn@cmu-cs-unh.ARPA (Andreas Nowatzyk) (08/08/85)
This post appeares on hardware-related nets because of a recent debate
on how to build a system. So there might be someone out there interested
in a public domain printed circuit router. The source will appear on
net.sources only (in 10 parts, following this post).
PCB is an integrated router and editor to design printed circuits boards.
It adopts the 'correct by construction' principle, that is it will enforce
a certain set of design rules (such as cooper traces have to maintain a
minimal separation, holes have to be aligned etc). PCB maintains a data base
of the desired circuit to insure that signals of different net cannot be
shorted, to keep track of unfinished nets, to support the routers etc.
PCB V1.24 features:
* Interactive layout editing functions with on-the-fly design rule
checking and enforcement.
* Interactive placement functions.
* Integrated routers that can be used interactively or automatically.
(Completion rates of >90% were achieved on a board with about 1.9
14 pin DIP chips / square inch)
* Functions to move, shorten or straighten wires.
* Supports the MOSIS process for 4 layer PC boards.
* Update functions to allow changes to the circuit data base without
re-routing the entire board.
* Support for externally supplied geometry (such as connectors,
text strings, logos etc).
* Multiple wire widths.
* Caltech Intermediate Form (CIF V2) output generator.
* Versatec Plotter output for previews.
Required input files:
* A list of device descriptions.
* A list of used devices with optional placement information.
* A net list of the desired circuit.
Required hardware:
* A VAX running Unix 4.1 BSD
* An unmodified AED-512 graphic terminal with a Bitpad-1 graphic
tablet and a 4 key mouse.
* (optional) A Versatec V-80 plotter
PCB is written in 'C' and it might be possible to port it to other
system configurations. It was successfully ported to 4.2 systems with
a different graphic hardware, however doing so requires some hacking.
A manual is included that gives some hints on how to port PCB.
The CIF output format is probably unpopular execpt for people with
MOSIS/Arpa connections. It is defined in the Mead & Conway book on
VLSI systems and PCB uses only a few constructs of it. In other words,
it should be easy to change the post-processor to produce other output
formats (I'm interested in any such code).
Please send me a message with your e-mail address if you use PCB.
This is because of curiousity and to have a way to send out bug-fixes.
Andreas Nowatzyk ARPA net: agn@cmu-cs-vlsi.arpa
usenet: ...!seismo!cmu-cs-vlsi!agn