PCB News - Introduction and preliminary analysis of common PCB tool software

Introduction and preliminary analysis of common PCB tool software
Let’s take a look at some of the tools used by large companies:
Intel: Concept + allegro + SpecctraQuest"
Dell: ViewDraw + Allegro + SQ schematic diagram is also part of Capture
Huawei: ViewDraw + Allegro + SpecctraQuest + Expedition
ZTE: Concept + Allegro + SpecctraQuest + Expedition
UT: Concept + Allegro + SpecctraQuest mobile phone uses Power PCB
Cisco: Concept + Allegro + SpecctraQuest
HP: Concept + Allegro + SpecctraQuest transfer from BoardStation to Allegro process
Motorola: Concept + Allegro + SpecctraQuest converted from BoardStation to Allegro process
Concept + Allegro + SpecctraQuest takes the mainstream

There were more than 1,000 EDA companies in the early days, and later it has grown to about 10. Among them, Cadence, Mentor, and Zuken are mainly high-end products. Their software is required to run on workstations. The operating systems are all UNIX, and they are expensive. Because EDA software existed in the 1980s, only UNIX supported graphical interfaces at that time, and the performance of workstations was much higher than that of PCs, so it has continued to this day, and now large companies still use workstations. However, Protel and PowerPCB are mainly for low-end users and do not have high requirements for computer configuration. They generally run under Windows. A general PC can meet the requirements well
With the continuous improvement of CPU and related computer hardware level, Cadence, Mentor, Zuken began to launch products under Windows, Cadence went faster in this regard. It seems like it was in 2000. Due to the burst of the Internet bubble, the EDA industry has undergone a reshuffle, and several companies above have been reorganized!
In terms of market share, Mentor is now the highest, Cadence is second, and Zuken is third. For a single PCB tool, Allegro has the highest software share among high-end users in China, followed by PowerPCB and Protel in mainland China.
Let's talk about the characteristics of the three companies in detail below.
Mentor's products are BoardStation (EN) and ExpeditionPCB (WG) and the acquired pads (powerPCB). EN is the legendary PCB invincible master. Those who only consider the construction period without considering the cost, and always do 8-layer to 12-layer PCB communication and military industry research special skills. WG seems to all bbs agree that this is the best wiring tool on earth. Not to mention PowerPCB, and many people use it. After Mentor acquired PowerPCB, it continued to walk on two legs. The high-end is the original Mentor, and now the latest version of Mentor EN2006; the low-end product is still PowerPCB, the new name is PADS2005, the latest is PADS2007, but PADS2005SP2 is a relatively stable one. Version. There is also a small software in Germany that is very popular, EAGLE, which is very popular in Europe and the United States.
Cadence's products are Concept/Allegro and the acquired orcad. Allegro has been very popular recently, especially now that high value-added products such as computer motherboards and graphics cards are all in Allegro format, although PowerPCB was the industry standard three or five years ago. Cadence company acquired OrCAD, and launched OrCAD’s strengths of schematic design Capture CIS and Cadence’s original schematic design Concept HDL, PCB tool Allegro and other signal simulation tools together and collectively called Cadence PSD, now called SPB, the latest version 16.0, OrCAD is also integrated into SPB. There is no concept of OrCAD since 15.5. The former OrCAD Capture CIS is now called DESIGN ENTRY CIS.
Zuken is another EDA predator, from Japan, the high-end product CR5000, and the low-end product called CADStar. In addition to Japanese companies and companies that do business with Japan, there are many companies that use Zuken's software, which is used by some domestic research institutes and some old TV companies. LG is also using Zuken's tools, and NOKIA is also using it.
Next, briefly list the main software of each of the three companies.
Mentor: 1. PowerLogic+PowerPCB 2. ViewDraw+Expedition 3. BoardStation. Now Mentor’s main schematic diagram is DxDesigner (an upgraded version of ViewDraw), both PADS and Expedition use this, and BoardStation’s schematic diagram tools are Design Archive and Board Archive.
Cadence: Schematic tools mainly include Capture and Concept, and PCB tools include Allegro layout Plus.
Zuken: 1. Cadstar 2. CR3000, CR5000. CR3000 has been upgraded to CR5000. CR5000 has two PCB tools: PWS and BD. As of 2007, the version of CR5000 is BD10.0, PWS18.0, and CADSTAR9.0.