CAD Software Keeps Pace With Computer System Development

Computer systems, the system boards that power them and other components inside today's servers and desktop computers are becoming increasingly complex. For system builders, fortunately, the computer-aided design (CAD) software used to design those systems and printed circuit boards (PCBs) is keeping pace in its sophistication.

Some custom system builders use CAD applications such as AutoDesk Inc.'s AutoCAD to create illustrations for contract proposals and system documentation for customers. Others use AutoCAD and applications such as Parametric Technology Corp.'s (PTC) Pro/Engineer to develop and test system designs. And those that design their own system boards use PCB design applications from Mentor Graphics Corp., Cadence Design Systems Inc. and others.

The capabilities of the CAD applications have advanced rapidly in recent years—take a look at AutoCAD's increasingly sophisticated three-dimensional drawing capabilities. But the more recent major trend in CAD has been to link different types of design software, such as electrical and mechanical CAD, and integrate CAD applications with product life-cycle management (PLM) systems with the goal of sharing system design information and other data.

PCB design products from Mentor Graphics, including Board Station, Expedition Enterprise and PADS, account for roughly $200 million of the Wilsonville, Ore.-based company's annual sales, said John Isaac, director of market development for the company's systems design division in Longmont, Colo.

The increasing complexity of today's information technology "presents extreme problems for the designers," Isaac said. Take the example of high-density interconnect components, which generate a lot of heat. To help designers tackle that problem, Mentor recently acquired U.K.-based Flomerics Group PLC, whose computational fluid dynamics analysis software will add advanced electronic cooling thermal analysis—typically used by mechanical engineers—to Mentor's PCB design tools.

Robert Stewart, CEO of Alert Computing LLC, a Sedona, Ariz.-based custom system builder, uses CAD software to provide his clients with graphical renderings of what the guts of his custom servers will look like. "I know how to build them," he said. "But the IT department wants to see what it will look like."

Stewart often uses San Rafael, Calif.-based AutoDesk's AutoCAD application to draw the designs for his customers, but he sometimes uses CAD applications from Concord, Mass.-based Dassault Systemes' SolidWorks Corp.

He's not alone. AutoCAD is being used by an increasing number of system builders for general system design and specific tasks such as designing computer enclosures, according to Chris Hession, AutoCAD product marketing manager. AutoCAD is also used for communicating computer system plans throughout a company, such as between engineering and manufacturing operations, and providing supporting documentation for customers.

While AutoCAD offers both two-dimensional and three-dimensional graphics capabilities, Hession said system builders are demanding increasingly sophisticated 3-D technology.

"Our more progressive customers have really been pushing us on the 3-D side," he said. Some of that, he said, is due to the number of people who grew up playing hyper-realistic video games and expect the same experience as they move into the workforce.

Stewart said CAD vendors, surprisingly, don't offer an application with specific capabilities for designing computers—he uses general CAD and drafting software like AutoCAD and SolidWorks to create illustrations of his servers.

Cadence's PCB design software, including its Allegro Design Workbench, has long been a staple among electrical engineers. But with its expanding collaborative design and data management capabilities, the software is reaching into other departments such as purchasing and component engineering, said Linda Mazzitelli, ADW product marketing director at the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

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