Board Architect0 pages

System Design
D A T A S H E E T
www.mentor.com/pcb
Major product benefits:
• Synchronize changes to schematics
while concurrently developing the
PCB layout
• Support design reuse and variant
design methodologies
• Reuse portions of PCB designs with
physical hierarchy to preserve intellectual
property and enable team design
• Fully compatible with current Library
Management System (LMS)
• Automatically assign part numbers and
reference designators while developing
the design
• Create schematic documentation
including signal cross-reference, parts
location index, connector tables, spare
sheets and power/ground tables
• Generate bill-of-materials, components,
or net files directly from the schematic
to drive a variety of analysis tools
Board Architect
Maximum Impact When Developing
Designs
Maintain the highest degree of flexibility in design
development while using Board Architect to locate
every geometry that is required to move from the
schematic directly into the Board Station® PCB
layout tool.
Easily Evaluate Hierarchical Designs
Use Board Architect's Schematic Release Package
(SRP) to evaluate designs and create schematic
documents that make even the most complex,
hierarchical designs easy to understand. Quickly
traverse signals across multiple sheets and numerous
levels of hierarchy, as SRP completely cross-references
all signals found in the design.
While maintaining the simplicity and readability of
a flat schematic, Board Architect provides maximum
The Mentor Graphics® Board Architect™ tool is
the robust and innovative design capture system that
allows engineers and PCB designers to develop
products faster and substantially reduce product cost.
Unique Design Interpretation
Board Architect's unique design interpreter, the
PCB-Gen™ tool, evaluates every sheet of the schematic
design, including complex hierarchy, and dynamically
builds a PCB design database as the schematic is
developed.
PCB-Gen evaluates designs using either standard
PCB catalogs or the catalog files from the Mentor
Graphics LMS. As new symbol instances are added to
the schematic, PCB-Gen assigns part numbers, gate
associations, reference designators and pin numbers.
With the PCB-Gen Catalog Manager, complete control
over which libraries to load is gained, and the evaluation
order is established.
Board Architect defines and manages design variants.