Best Practices in PCB Design: Routing

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Overview

With the integrated capture, simulation and layout environment of the National Instruments
Circuit Design Suite, engineers have a complete PCB design and validation environment. With
the integration with NI LabVIEW, measurements can be easily introduced into the design flow,
with simulation results improved with real-world data (a concept called virtual prototyping), and
the transfer of simulation data to the test environment to compare real vs. theoretical.
In this series of Best Practices articles, National Instruments provide a number of new resources
to show you how to use various features in NI Multisim and NI Ultiboard in the most
advantageous way to save time and maximize resources.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Routing of Copper Traces
3. Getting Started
4. Method 1 Manual Trace Placement
5. Method 2 Follow-Me Router
6. Method 3 Connection Machine
7. Method 4 Autorouter
8.

Best Practices: Maximizing the Use of Your Routing Methods

Introduction
In this introductory article we will investigate the various techniques available for copper routing
in NI Ultiboard, how to use them, and when to use them.

Routing of Copper Traces

In Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design, there are three fundamental tasks that allow you to
prepare a board for prototype and manufacture. First the board outline must be created for the
form factor of the design.
Second in consideration is part placement. In part placement various landpatterns (or footprints)
of design devices are configured on the board. Each placed part consists of pins which are
terminals that need to be connected in order to complete the design. A PCB design tool
represents the necessary connections between parts with a wire. These wires are called nets.
Therefore the third fundamental task in board design is to route these net connections between
various parts. The routing process turns these various net connections into copper traces which
connect parts in the physical prototype with current carrying connections. The net acts as a
design guide indicating that two pins must be connected, while the copper trace is the actual
physical connection which will be made as a part of your PCB.
NI Ultiboard allows you to define copper traces using a number of different methods. Each
method provides varying degrees of control that allow an engineer to balance precise copper
definition with automated speeds in order to effectively design a PCB. The routing methods
available to engineers are:
1. Manual Trace Placement
2. Follow-Me Router
3. Connection Machine
4. Autorouter
In this article we will investigate how and when to use each of these routing methods.

Getting Started
To assist in the steps outlined in this article, we will use the attached example file to practice
routing.
1. Download the attached 6880_Example_Design.ewprj file to your desktop.
2. Select Start > All Programs > National Instruments > Circuit Design Suite 10.0 >
Ultiboard to open Ultiboard.

3. Select File > Open.

4. Browse to the desktop where you saved 6880_Example_Design.ewprj.
5. Click on the Open button to view the file (as seen in Figure 1 below).

Figure 1: 6880_Example_Design.ewprj

Follow the next steps to ensure that your work area is correctly setup:
6. Notice that on the left side of the NI Ultiboard screen you have the Design Toolbox (if
you cannot see this currently you can view it by selecting View > Design Toolbox).
7. On the bottom of the Design Toolbox select the Layers tab.
Whenever you are placing copper routes in the work-area you must first select the layer upon
which the route will be defined. In this example we will be using the Copper Top however any of
the copper layers (Top, Bottom, Inner) can be selected in the Design Toolbox.
8. Double click on the Copper Top layer in the Layers tab (it will now be highlighted in red
as seen in Figure 2 below). You are now ready to draw routes upon the top copper layer.

Figure 2- Design Toolbox

Method 1 Manual Trace Placement

What is Manual Trace Placement?
Placing traces with the line drawing tool allows the user to completely control every aspect of a
copper trace. This drawing tool follows your mouse cursor and creates a copper route according
to your exact specifications.
Other than following your mouse it is important to note that since you have complete design
control you must be careful not to create routes that will cause design rule errors or put into
questions the validity of your design. This means that sharp or obtuse angles in your routes
should be avoided that will cause you to lose signal integrity.

When to use Manual Trace Placement

The manual trace placement is recommended when you have a part that requires a very specific
routing, particularly when you have a surface mounted connector (with a high pin count), FPGA
or very restrictive spacing between adjacent pins, the manual trace tool will give you the needed
accuracy to properly define your route. Other methods such as the autorouter (discussed later in
this article) may not be able to mathematically define how to route suitably in these situations.

How to use Manual Trace Placement

In this example we will make a manual connection between part C13 and part R12. To use the
manual trace placement tool:
1. In Ultiboard select Place > Line.
2. With the mouse left-click once on the top pin of part C13 (figure 3 below)

Figure 3 - Component C13

3. As you move the mouse away from the pin you will notice a neon-green connection trail
your movement. Move your mouse in the direction of the net connection between C13
and R12.
4. To place a pivot point for your copper route, left-click with your mouse anywhere in the
black work-area of your design. You have now defined the placement of this segment of
your design (as seen in Figure 4)

Figure 4 - First routed segment

To create an orthogonal section to a copper route, you can simply click on the SPACE BAR on
your keyboard, and Ultiboard will automatically create a route that is exactly 90 degrees to your
mouse movement. Click on SPACE BAR again to exit orthogonal mode.
5. Complete the route and connect C13 to R12 as seen below in figure 5, by using the
SPACE BAR to create the orthogonal route.

Figure 5 - Manual Trace Placement Routing

Method 2 Follow-Me Router

What is the Follow-Me Router?
The follow-me router adds to the functionality of the manual trace placement tool, with
Ultiboard beginning to make some design decisions on your behalf. With the follow-me router,
your mouse again defines the shape of the route however Ultiboard will automatically suggest
pivot points and the route between two pins, with a light blue trace connection. Also if your route
must be narrowed at all to make the connection appropriate (to get between pins etc),
Ultiboard will automatically narrow your route.

When to use the Follow-Me Router

The follow-me router is an appropriate tool when you need some guidance on how to connect
two components but still want to be able to define the route, pivot points etc Generally if you
do not need precision of manual placement, but would like assistance in creating traces which do
not conflict with good design practices (sharp angles etc) then the follow-me router is an
appropriate tool. It would still be recommended to use manual trace placement for high pin
density chips and FPGAs.

How to use the Follow-Me Router

In this example we will make a follow me router connection between part C13 and part C7. To
use the follow-me router placement tool:
1. In Ultiboard select Place > Follow-Me.
2. With the mouse left-click once on the bottom pin of part C13.
3. Notice that as you move the mouse a light-blue connection guide appears between the
two pins (figure 6). This is an Ultiboard suggestion for routing.

Figure 6 - Ultiboard Trace Guide

4. Continue to move the mouse towards the pin of C7 and notice that pivot points are
automatically placed in your design.
5. To add your own pivot points, simply left-click once anywhere in your design.
6. Complete your connection between C13 and C7 (figure 6)

Figure 7 - Completed Follow-Me Route

Method 3 Connection Machine

What is the Connection Machine?
Again we continue to build upon our more manual processes (manual trace placement, followme router) with the Connection Machine. The Connection Machine can be considered to be a
subset of the autorouter. The connection machine automatically defines a route, but does so, on a
net-by-net basis, with a minimal amount of user intervention to customize the route.

When to use the Connection Machine

The connection machine is not for components with a high number of pins, or with a need for a
complex routing arrangement. As we move to the connection machine generally a larger amount
of space is required with less need for precise routing.

How to use the Connection Machine

In this example we will make a connection machine route between part C10 and part C9. To use
the connection machine tool:
1. In Ultiboard select Place > Connection Machine.
2. With the mouse left-click once on the bottom pin of part C10.
3. Move your mouse slightly and notice that two small white crosses appear at the bottom
pin of C10 and top pin of C9 (highlighted in red in figure 8 below).

Figure 8 - Connection Machine Selection

These white crosses indicate that these are the pins to be routed together by the connection
machine.
4. Move the mouse slightly to the left of C10 (maintaining the two small white crosses) and
click on the black work area between the two points. Two larger white crosses will
appear between the two pins to be routed (highlighted in red in figure 9 below).

Figure 9 - Connection Machine Selection Validated

5. Move the mouse cursor up and down and notice that the route is created automatically
between the two points, with the movement of the mouse defining the route.
6. Left-click once more to settle on a route configuration (as seen in Figure 10).

Figure 10 - Connection Machine Defined Route

Method 4 Autorouter
What is the Autorouter?
The autorouter can potentially be the fastest way in which to configure the routing of all the
copper on your board. The router goes through a number of steps, most notably:

Determining the approximate direction and route of each net on a board

Selecting a sequence in which the nets are to be routed

Routing each net in the sequence previously determined

If the routing cannot be completed based upon these previous steps:

The router iteratively remove net routings

The router tries to re-route the board with either alternate routes or in a different net order

It should be noted that an autorouter cannot always route a complete board. It is important to
understand that the above steps are based upon a mathematical routing method for the board and
that there are times that a router will not be able to resolve an appropriate solution.
A router can also possibly create routes that are not acceptable for your board. An angle maybe
too acute for your application, causing issues with signal integrity, and therefore should be taken
into consideration when defining the board.

When to use the Autorouter

The autorouter is certainly a strong tool for defining a board, however should be used when the
nets that need to be routed are not critical. Critical nets should be manually defined using either
manual trace placement or the follow-me router.
Also when you have a part such as an FPGA or connector, where you have multiple pins on the
underside of a surface mounted component the autorouter may not be able to define the correct
routes. In this situation again, we can consider these critical nets and a manual technique should
be applied.

How to use the Autorouter

In this example we will begin using the autorouter, however first we will make sure that the nets
we have already manually defined are not changed by this routing process.
1. In the select toolbar (if you cannot see the select toolbar go to View > Toolbars > Select).
The select toolbar allows you to filter what objects you are selecting and manipulating on
your board. This is important in allowing you to truly pinpoint what your mouse is
selecting on your board (traces, parts, vias, pins etc)
2. Select the second icon in the toolbar. This will allow you to choose and manipulate only
copper traces in your design (red box in figure 11 below). Make sure that all other icons
are deselected.

Figure 11 - Select Toolbar

3. Right-click on any of the traces you have so far defined on you board.
4. In the context menu that appears select Select All
5. Right-click once more on the selected traces and select Lock
6. All the traces you have routed will become highlighted in orange (figure 12).

Figure 12 - Locked Traces

These copper routes are now locked and therefore cannot be altered by the autorouting process
that you are about to apply to your design.
We are now ready to begin autorouting:
7. Select Autoroute > Start/Resume Autorouter
8. NI Ultiboard will route the rest of your copper on your board (on this board this should
take a matter of seconds and will look similar to Figure 13).

Figure 13 - Completed Routed Board

Best Practices: Maximizing the Use of Your Routing

Methods
As discussed throughout this article we have a number of tools which allow us to effectively
route our board. The autorouter should not be considered as the only routing option. In fact it
is suggested that if one is to begin defining a board, you follow a procedure such as the
following:

1. Consider a component of high importance with a trace routing that can be considered
critical.
2. Route the nets for this critical component using either manual or follow-me routing
3. Find components such as connectors or FPGA components which require routing
beneath/between multiple surface mount pins.
4. Route the nets for this component using either manual trace placement (or follow-me
routing if convenient/possible)
5. Lock all nets in the design that have been routed using steps 1 to 4 above.
6. Use a combination of the autorouter or connection machine to route the rest of your
board.
Using this simple methodology, you can be comfortable in knowing that you can maximize the
use of your time in the layout and routing stages of your design.
R&D Staff Tip of the Month

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Overview
The R&D Staff Tip of the Month allows the software developers and quality assurance staff at
National Instruments Electronics Workbench Group to showcase the features of NI Multisim that
they know will be helpful to the design engineer.

R&D Staff Tip of the Month

A feature that is useful for board-level designers in NI Multisim and NI Ultiboard is the ability to
easily cross-probe between the circuit schematic and board layout. As designs grow in
complexity, cross-probing allows me to easily find a part in a Multisim schematic by simply
selecting its associated footprint in Ultiboard.
The tight integration between Multisim and Ultiboard proves to be a valuable tool when placing
adjacent component footprints in Ultiboard. I can select any footprint in Ultiboard and the crossprobe tool highlights the component in its schematic form in Multisim. This allows any engineer
to appropriately, and confidently, approach defining board-level designs.
Bilal D.
Quality Assurance
National Instruments Electronics Workbench Group

See for Yourself

To see how to use cross probing while designing with Multisim and Ultiboard we can use a
shipping example.
1. Select Start > All Programs > National Instruments > Circuit Design Suite 10.0 >
Multisim to open Multisim.
2. To open one of the Multisim shipping examples select File > Open Samples and select
the Speechfilter.ms10 file. Click on the OK button to open.
We now transfer the file to Ultiboard, to view this design in both states; schematic in Multisim
and layout in Ultiboard.
3. Select Transfer > Transfer to Ultiboard 10. Save the netlist file (use the default name of
Speechfilter.ewnet) and click on the Save button.
4. Ultiboard will open a number of dialogs in order to define the various design constraints.
For this example click on the OK button to utilize the defaults. The Import Netlist
Action dialog box now appears. Again select the defaults by clicking on the OK button.
You now have the Speechfilter.ms10 design open as both a circuit schematic and as a board
layout. Looking at the board layout we notice that our design now exists as a number of different
footprints interconnected with yellow net connections. As a designer it is much more difficult to
understand what each of these components represents as a footprint than in its schematic form.
This is an excellent opportunity to use cross-probing.
5. Select a footprint in Ultiboard (for this example select component C1)
6. Select Tools > Highlight Selection in Multisim (as seen in Figure 1).

Figure 1: Cross-probing from Ultiboard

7. The Multisim window will now become active and will automatically highlight the C1
component (as seen in Figure 2).

[+] Enlarge Image

Figure 2: Finding the component in Multisim
I can now easily begin placing my footprint component (C1 in this case) and immediately begin
defining which adjacent components to place next, such as C2 and R1 as pictured in Figure 2.
Cross-probing is an easy tool that can be immediately incorporated into board-level design with
National Instruments Multisim and Ultiboard.