connecting . two . worlds
As form factors continue to shrink while at the same time ever increasing complex electronics are still
expected to fit seamlessly, ECAD/MCAD Collaboration must be a natural part of your product design cycle.
One of the challenges of electromechanical co-design is how to keep the design synchronized when they
usually reside in different engineering domains that are often dispersed geographically or in different
physical locations. They use entirely different tool sets and use a vocabulary and language that
is often alien to the designers and the opposite domain.
Many product designs are conceived in the MCAD domain and historically design reviews take place
late in the overall design cycle, therefore causing maximum disruption and forcing non optimal trade-offs
and effort to get to market on time. The prostep ECAD/MCAD Collaboration standard supports the instant
communication of design intent and incremental changes.
It supports the continued real time synchronization of the ECAD and MCAD designs, lowers risk and improves schedule predictability
and provides traceability and a history of all of the changes that took place.
Take a look for yourself, the benefits of collaboration.
The prostep ivip PSI ECAD/MCAD Collaboration format was developed to a modern standard and increases the level of interoperability between the ECAD and MCAD domains. The two older exchange formats DXF (Drawing Interchange Format) and IDF (Intermediate Data Format), which can only represent parts of the required data, are enhanced by the IDX (Interdomain Design Exchange) XML schema. Data objects that had previously been missing have been added, and objects for collaborative exchange have also been created. The advantages that this offers to all those involved are obvious: This IDX standard provides vendors with a reliable basis for exchanging data, and users profit from wider ranging system couplings with a higher level of transfer quality. Support is also provided for iterative changes.
The aim of the ECAD/MCAD Collaboration IF is not only to develop a standard for the exchange of ECAD and MCAD data, but also to make it easy for vendors to implement the standard and support increasingly complex board designs. For this reason, in addition to adding new functionality to IDXv4.5 we’ve also significantly simplified the way items are described in the format.
Information and examples of how to describe items using the new simplified IDXv4.5 format are available in the “Implementation Guidelines”. These Guidelines and the Recommendation documents are available for free from the prostep ivip Media Library.
| Object | IDX | IDF |
|---|---|---|
| Incremental Changes | ||
| Accept / Reject Changes | ||
| Comments on Changes/File level | ||
| Change History Tracking | ||
| Board Outline | ||
| Stackup Structure | ||
| Multiple Stackups | ||
| Board Cut-outs | ||
| Cavities | ||
| User Defined outlines/areas | ||
| Components (Loc, orientation) | ||
| Component Height (multiple shapes) | ||
| Holes (Circular) | ||
| Holes (non-Circular) | ||
| Route Keep-in/Keep-out | ||
| Place Keep-in/Keep-out | ||
| Place Room Region | ||
| Via Keep-out | ||
| Voids in Keep-outs | ||
| Traces and Pads on all layers (One Direction) | ||
| Copper Shapes (Bi-directional) | ||
| Vias (Through) | ||
| Vias (Blind/Buried) | ||
| Embedded Components | ||
| Pin 1 Location | ||
| Rigid/Flex Support | ||
| Bend Area/Bend Line | ||
| Object Ownership | ||
| Refdes resequencing support |
In this Project Group prostep ivip
is working together with different
partners from the industries:
| Company | Software | Software Version | Version of Standard | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CADCAM Group | CATIA V5 | V5 R19-28 | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Video |
| CADCAM Group | 3DEXPERIENCE | 2017x | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Video |
| Cadence Design Systems | Allegro/OrCAD | 16.3, 16.6 | 2.0 | Video |
| Cadence Design Systems | Allegro/OrCAD | 17.2 | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Video |
| Continental Automotive | ExOPaMo | 1.1.3 | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Publication |
| Dassault Systèmes | SolidWorks Professional | 2015 | 2.0 | Video |
| Dassault Systèmes | SolidWorks Professional | 2016-2017 | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Video |
| Mentor | Xpedition/PADS | EE7.9.0-EE7.9.5 | 2.0 | Video |
| Mentor | Xpedition/PADS | VX.0-VX.2.4 | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Video |
| Siemens PLM | NX/PCB Exchange | 8.5 | 2.0/3.0 (3.5) | Video |
EDMD schema enables a co-design environment that was never feasible with previous, traditional approaches. Cadence supports the EDMD schema completely and is actively working with MCAD partners to get it adopted quickly.
Ed Acheson (Cadence)
The prostep ivip EDMD schema provides communication of design intent & proposed changes, therefore ensuring both ECAD and MCAD designs stay in sync. A clear specification, using a common vocabulary mapping, enables both ECAD & MCAD domain experts to efficiently review, accept & reject proposed changes in real time. This reduces overall designs cycle times & costs, resulting in lower risk & increased schedule predictability.
Steve Hughes (Mentor Graphics)
The main benefits of the format are the ‘real time’ aspect and the ability to be able to accept/reject changes which more ‘static’ formats like IDF don’t have. We can see the traceability of the system also being a benefit to our users, as it makes it easy to show the history of the changes made to a design. It’s also good that the format that will continue to develop; existing CAD interchange formats like IDF haven’t changed for many years, so it’s great that prostep ivip EDMD is actively being developed by the leading suppliers of ECAD and MCAD software.
Rob Lacey (Dassault Systèmes)
EDMD is helping companies for better collaboration between ECAD and MCAD world. They joint together two different silos in one unique model of collaboration. Today in very complex product development, where all products have a combination of ECAD and MCAD design, where market needs very fast and cost-effective development, EDMD is the right answer to that challenges. CADCAM Group in agreement with Dassault Systemes develops MECODES which combine EDMD protocol into CATIA V5 and 3DEXPERIENCE.
Zlatko Šimunec (CADCAM Group CEO)
Enjoying the benefits of ECAD/MCAD is fairly simple.
First of all, you and your company need to become a member of the prostep ivip association, here.
If you like, you can also participate in the first meeting as a guest without a membership, so you can casually evaluate, whether ECAD/MCAD solutions fit your needs.
After becoming a member, you can fully get involved and benefit from every aspect of the ECAD/MCAD project.
For more information on the prostep ivip association membership, you can click here.
If you have questions of any kind, feel free to contact us via the form down below.
