PCB Design Blogs

 A Series for Logic-Design Engineers

Welcome to the world of Allegro^® System Capture, the new and improved design ecosystem. In this ASCENT series, we will discover what Allegro System Capture is and how you can use different features and flows of the same application as you go from part creation, design creation, all the way to creating layout files. 

First things first, the question that you might have...  

Why Allegro System Capture?

You must already be using applications that are getting the job done, and really wonder why you'd need another learning curve. Let's step back a bit and look at the larger picture.

A design starts in the mind of an architect, gets drawn on whiteboards as basic block diagrams that describe a system. Next, designers see what can be reused from older designs, schematics get drawn, parts are identified, from in-house libraries or from online vendors. If the available parts don’t match their requirement, librarians are asked to create or modify parts. Then checks and rules are run to ensure design integrity. Teams work together on a large design. Libraries are updated, flags go up on the designers’ screens telling them newer parts are available, or someone has made changes. They sync their changes. Different versions are maintained for the entire design or even the parts used. Variants are created for different costs or geographies. Finally, the logical design gets done and is converted to a netlist, and layout files are made. Layout designers come into the picture and, ta-dah! the design is ready for fabrication.

You must be wondering where is Allegro System Capture in all this?

The simple and short answer, everywhere.

Let me explain. So far, we have had specialized tools for different stages of the design process. Not only are you struggling to meet deadlines and juggling all the design checks and rules, but you might also have to learn a completely new way of doing things at every step. Allegro System Capture is one place where you can design a complete system, be it creating systems, parts, or schematics.

Features at a Glance

I could literally create a long list of features but that's for later and something we'll go thru later in detail in this blog series. Let’s look at some of the top features that I think Allegro System Capture offers. If you ask someone else, their list would be different and we'll get those views to you too. 

System-Level Design 

If you are building an architectural diagram, you can go beyond just a pictorial representation. You can create a design that incorporates new schematics and reuses older board files, or even define high-level connectivity across modules of a system.  

Design collaboration

Allegro System Capture is scalable. It can go from being used by independent designers, who do nearly all aspects of designing themselves, to being used by large, distributed teams. They can share the same libraries and even work on the same design.     

Design modes and support for different library formats

Allegro System Capture has native part creation as well as library management abilities. But you don’t have to rebuild everything. It comes with support for different library parts, such as Allegro^® Design Entry HDL and OrCAD^® Capture.  In addition, migrating designs authored in Allegro Design Entry HDL and OrCAD Capture is also supported.

System reliability checks

To prevent any mistakes such as reversed differential pairs, incorrect polarity, or incorrect pull-up values, and many others, Allegro System Capture comes with in-built design integrity checks. Design integrity checks also enforce company templates and circuit standards.

High productivity design capture environment

Allegro System Capture has many features that make it just faster to learn and get things done. For example, quick navigation options and a panel to see the entire journey of a signal. Unified Search that can retrieve available parts from local libraries, shared libraries, and even external part vendors. Whether it’s NetGroups and PortGroups, or hierarchical-split symbols, working with large-pin count devices is fully supported.   

This is just a glimpse of the features and differentiators that Allegro System Capture offers. As you work, you will notice that not does it look modern, it has built-in mechanisms to improve your design efficiency.  

The next generation of schematic entry is here. And in this ASCENT series, we will showcase options that are available, unique, or just fun!

What's Next?

We will be back soon with more Allegro System Capture details and a deeper focus on each feature. Do write to us at pcbbloggers@cadence.com if there is something specific you want us to cover first.

Subscribe and get the latest as we reveal how you can design faster and create smarter systems, how you are managing designs and data, creating parts, working on layout files, and much, much more, and all from one application. To paraphrase the famous line, our goal is one application to do it all, or at least most of all the tasks you might need, whether you are someone who designs systems, parts, or libraries.    

Stay with us, we have a lot to share!