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  3. Can I make a shape back off from a Cline on the same net...

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Can I make a shape back off from a Cline on the same net and layer?

EvanShultz
EvanShultz over 13 years ago
I would like to have Clines and a shape on the same layer that are all connected to the same net. This typically means the shape "swallows" the Clines, and there is solid copper on the board. In this case, I want the Clines to be separated. The Clines, connected to ground, run with other Clines on an adjacent layer and return to a pin. With the shape flooding the rest of the layer I form virtually a solid plane on the either layer.

I'm not able to get the shape to void around the Clines. I made the Line-Shape SNS constraint very large in CM, and I have turned on the Same Net Spacing DRC mode for line to shape. Take a look at the screenshot. The shape "swallows" the rightmost Cline, and creates a L-S DRC error with the leftmost Cline because the spacing is less than the constraint. This is good because Allegro is seeing that the constraints are violated. However, I want the shape to automatically back off so allow the clearance given by the constraint. This happens with a shape and Cline of different nets, but apparently not if the elements are of the same net.

I see several options, none of which are delightful:
1. I don't have enough layers in my board to make a separate layer for the shape and the Clines.
2. I could manually edit the shape's boundary to create a funky-looking shape that emulates what I'd like Allegro do for me.
3. I could add a "starnet" feature to put the Clines on a separate net, and then tie the nets together with a component that provides a copper connection. As has been discussed elsewhere on the forum, "starnets" create lots of headaches and I prefer to avoid them. However, that's probably the simplest way to guarantee I get what I want without having the manually labor over creating and verifying the board turns out like I want.

Is there a good solution of which I'm not aware?
  • line-shape same net.PNG
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  • JorgenN
    JorgenN over 13 years ago

    Hello,

    you could use the property "Void_Same_Net" on the Cline.

    /Jorgen 

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  • oldmouldy
    oldmouldy over 13 years ago
    Select the Cline, right-click>Property Edit, set the "Void_Same_Net" property and see if that fixes the shape boundary for you.
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  • Bala R
    Bala R over 13 years ago

    You can a draw a Anti-etch of width   = trcewidth + clearence from trace to shape.   simply you can zcopy the cline to other layers with oversize and then bring back to same layer.

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  • EvanShultz
    EvanShultz over 13 years ago
    The VOID_SAME_NET property is just what I was looking for. It works great. Thanks!
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  • edhickey
    edhickey over 13 years ago

    This tip and many others can be found in the Allegro PCB Editor Tips and Tricks Document now available on Cadence on-line support (formerly sourcelink) 

    Enter "tips" in the search field

     

     

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