User Guide

PolygonsasSupplyLayers
It is possible with polygons to create supply layers that contain more
than one supply voltage, and a few individual wires as well. Please note
the instructions on page 110, Ground Planes and Supply Layers with Sev
-
eral Signals. These are not the kind of supply layer identified by a $ in
thename,butareinfactordinarylayers.
•
DefinethepolygonsbeforerunningtheAutorouter.
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Givetheappropriatesignalnamestothepolygons.
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Selectthepreferreddirectionsandbasecosts(cfBase)forthelayer
intheAutoroutersetup.Ahighervalueof cfBase forthepolygon
layercausestheAutoroutertoavoidtheselayersmorestrongly.
•
Afterrouting,checkthatthepolygonstillconnectsallthesignal
points.Itispossiblethatthepolygonwasdividedasasignalwas
laid.RATSNESTrecomputespolygons,andissuesthemessage
Ratsnest:Nothingtodo!,ifeverythingisinorder.
7.9 BackupandInterruptionofRouting
As, with complex layouts, the routing process may take several hours, a
backup is carried out at intervals (approx. every 10 minutes). The file
name.job always contains the last status of the job. If the job is inter
-
rupted for any reason (power failure etc.) the computer time invested so
far is not lost, since you can recall the status saved in name.job. Load
yourboardfileintheLayoutEditor,andthenenter:
AUTO;
Answer the prompt as to whether the Autorouter should recall (Con
-
tinue existing job?) with Ye s. The Autorouter will then continue from the
position at which the job was last saved (a maximum of 10 minutes may
belost).
If the autorouting is interrupted via the stop icon, the name.job file also
remains intact and can be recalled. This may be useful when you have
started a complex job on a slow computer and want to continue with it
onafastcomputerassoonasoneisavailable.
Please note that changing the parameters before recalling will not influ
-
ence the job, since it will have been saved together with the parameters
whichwerevalidatthetimeoftheinitialAutorouterstart.
When the Autorouter has finished, the routed board is saved as
name.b$$. You can rename it to name.brd and use it, for instance, if a
power failure occurred after the autorouting run and you could not save
the board file. This file is deleted automatically after the board has been
saved.
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TheAutorouter