User Guide

•
Thelayerisnotactiveduringautorouting(setting N/A intheAu
-
toroutersetup, General tab).
•
Afterrouting,youshoulddrawanisolationwirearoundthelay
-
out.Thispreventsshort-circuitsattheedgesoftheboard.
•
Noothersignalsorpolygonsmaybedrawn!
TheAutoroutercan'tusesupplylayersincombinationwithblindand
buriedvias.Useinnerlayerswithpolygonsinstead!
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 121, 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.
•
Givetheappropriatesignalnamestothepolygons.
•
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.
151
TheAutorouter