Planar Spiral Inductor Design Process

Give this free app a try orcadmarketplace.com/.../Default.aspx

Hi Steve,

I watched a demo of this add-on and it seems excellent. 

I've been trying to get this app to load with no luck. Do you have any insight as to what I might be doing wrong?

I've checked my allegro site which is "C:/Cadence/SPB_17.2/share/local/pcb"

Inside the above directory is a "skill" folder. I have placed the allegro.ilinit file in there with the following contents: 

printf"Start Loading Skill files:"
load("./nsWare/nsware.il" "nsware" )
printf("done Loading Skill files:")

When I start up PCB editor, I see no print statements and I don't see the nsware menu at the top of the screen.

Do you know what I might be doing wrong? Could this be an issue with the LITE version of PCB editor? I have read that the LITE version is not equipped with a skill cmd ability, but skill files can be loaded "at start up", whatever that means. I should mention that I'm using 17.2 2016

Best Regards,

Mike 

try typing ns_planar at the command line and see if that starts anything, that is the app command line name

just also noticed that the first line is missing () which may stop all of it working try replacing printf"Start Loading Skill files:" with printf("Start Loading Skill files:")

Hi there Mike. I tried to load the planar software and I could not get it to work. When allegro starts up it couldn't even find it in my skill files folder but there were no issues seeing the other skill files that resided in there. I looked at the actual .il file and it looks to be encrypted. Also in the docs that come with it there is a mention of needing the nsWare framework.
So perhaps that framework is really needed. I didn't bother going any further.

The utility looks kind of neat but there is a chicken & egg thing going on here. Before you create any etch your going to have to know the inductance of the etch otherwise it will be a shot in the dark. With a little practice using allegro you should be able to knock out what you need manually. That pic I attached above took less than 2 minutes to do in Allegro and that was done manually. Shapes will get you there   

All the best..

This just works for me. The pdf that is part of the zip file contains all the instructions, Put the contents into a folder say C:\SPB_Data\nsWare) then in your allegro.ilinit file add the line load ("C:/SPB_Data/nsWare/ns_planar.il" "nsWare"), add a return, then save the file. Make sure you add the "nsWare" at the back which is the password for the skill to run then restart PCB Editor and type ns_planar at the command line in PCB Editor to start the app). The instructions are very clear. 

Yes I see the instructions. The issue is that I can't even get allegro.ilinit to print a simple statement. Nevermind load the skill file. I'm not sure why this is occurring. It'd likely resolve itself if I clean installed windows again but I can't do that. 

I think I will try drawing them by hand for now. Excellon, when you say shapes, can you clarify more what you mean? I've tried creating an inductor "part" using the package symbol wizard and then drawing the etch shape using rectangles but it looks terrible and the tolerancing is all off. It seems like it would be much easier to just create the inductor in the .brd file directly. Is this what you did? What shapes/tools did you use? An issue I have is getting the edges of the rectangles to line up perfectly and getting their dimensions to be all exact. 

Thanks,

Mike 

Yes I see the instructions. The issue is that I can't even get allegro.ilinit to print a simple statement. Nevermind load the skill file. I'm not sure why this is occurring. It'd likely resolve itself if I clean installed windows again but I can't do that. 

I think I will try drawing them by hand for now. Excellon, when you say shapes, can you clarify more what you mean? I've tried creating an inductor "part" using the package symbol wizard and then drawing the etch shape using rectangles but it looks terrible and the tolerancing is all off. It seems like it would be much easier to just create the inductor in the .brd file directly. Is this what you did? What shapes/tools did you use? An issue I have is getting the edges of the rectangles to line up perfectly and getting their dimensions to be all exact. 

Thanks,

Mike 

Hi Mike, I went back and tried to load the nsware skill file. Got mixed results in 17.2 S047

As I indicated above I placed the skill file in the folder and have my allegro.ilint file calling that folder. Every skill file is found in the folder except for ns_planar.il after I start allegro.
I get no printout in the command window to indicate that the ns_planar.il file got loaded. But it did.

Going further I was able to load the file inside allegro by typing skill load "ns_planar.il" "nsWare" , then I entered the command ns_planar and the file ran and worked ok. So the file works but it wont work with the lite version of orcad 17.2 because the command "skill load" is disabled in that free version. You have to have Orcad Standard or better to be able to load skill files from the command line window. I have a number of skill files and they all work good with the lite version but ns_planar is a dead stick. I have not found a way to load it. Maybe Steve might have an idea or someone else could chime in.

What I mean by shapes is the "Shape Menu" on the tool bar. Shapes are how you enter solid copper pours in Allegro. FYI you can create shapes in the symbol editor where you create footprints but shapes are treated differently as a symbol. If you want to make a Symbol that is a shape - Choose "Shape Symbol" not package symbol. Package symbols are used for making footprints that contain pins which padstacks are attached to. Put another way "Package Symbols" are things like IC's, resistors etc, basically footprints with pins. Shape symbols are just Shapes without any pins. The help file covers pretty good the different types of symbols available in Allegro so it may be worth digging in. Another Idea is when you go to create a symbol using file new. There is a list you can choose from. That list shows all the available symbol types.

The example I showed was done as a board file but I could have created it in the symbol editor editor just as easily. If I did that then it would be possible to reuse it.

One of the keys to doing what your wanting to do is to have a good grid size to begin with. It is also easier if the line lengths are exact integer so the shape can snap to the grid.

You kind of have to explore what the tool is capable of, all you need is under the shape menu. Play around with the following. "Merge Shapes" & "Compose Shape" These commands are used after you create something. In the case of "Compose Shape" try this out. In allegro. Choose "Add a line" next in the options panel change its width to zero. Using the line create a rectangle on the "Etch top Layer to say represent one of your traces. When complete right click and select done.

Next go to the shape menu and choose "Compose a shape" Draw a rectangle around the item you just created using the left mouse button and then select done via right mouse button. I think you will like the results. ?

Now in Allegro you can basically create any shape you can dream of. It could include arcs or anything. You have the ability to turn flat geometry into solid copper. You can also import DXF's and turn them into shapes.

One other thing to try. Go to the shape menu and choose rectangular. Draw a rectangle shape. Next draw another rectangle so it is either touching it or over lapping and right click done when finished. So lets say you want to make those two items into one nice shape. Go to the shape menu and select "Merge Shapes" Click the first shape, click the second and they will merge. Pretty cool eh... 

Lots of possibilities exist.

All the best.