The 14th annual PCB Design Conference West 2005 (pcbwest.com), scheduled for March 7-11 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature more than 55 exhibiting companies, each displaying and demonstrating their products, services and technologies for the PCB design industry.

 
The following products and/or services will be announced or demonstrated at the show:
 
·    Advanced Circuits (Booth 409) - Advanced Circuits announces new enhancements to FreeDFM.com, an online Free file review service that checks for design and manufacturability issues and provides for 48% faster total thru-put from order placement to shipment. After file upload, FreeDFM e-mails a detailed report of any problems within minutes—along with suggested solutions. Customers are calling it a "life-saver."
·      DesignAdvance Systems Inc. (Booth 709) - CircuitSpace, by DesignAdvance, is the first and only software tool to automate PCB component placement through an optimization and constraint satisfaction process. Based on 11 years of research at Carnegie Mellon and patented software algorithms, CircuitSpace reduces design time up to 50%, decreases time-to-market and improves product quality.
·     Direct Logix (Booth 809) - Control Center is a Web-based process control, tracking and analysis review solution for PCB design and manufacturing with bi-directional engineering collaboration for DFM issues.
·     Electronic Tools Company (Booth 810) - E-studio Pro can be used for viewing schematics, translating schematics and netlists from/to leading vendor databases or from /to standard formats like EDIF and XML. It supports Cadence's OrCAD Capture, Cadence's ConceptHDL, Mentor's Viewdraw/DxDesigner/EPD, EDIT200, EDIF 300, XML, Spice, Mentor's DesignArchitect, Mentor's PADS, Altium's PCAD databases, etc. E-studio Lite is a new FREE Viewer from Electronic Tools Company. It supports EDIF200, EDIF300, Cadence's OrCAD Capture, EdaXML and XDB. E-studio Lite makes it very easy to access, view and mark-up designs, browse through schematics, inquire about properties/attributes or occurrence data. E-studio Lite provides tools like BOM generator, netlist comparator.
·     EMA Design Automation Inc. (Booth 510) - EMA Design Automation will feature OrCAD PCB Designer and OrCAD PCB Designer with PSpice at PCB West 2005. Both are full-featured suites with time-proven and new OrCAD technology. Both feature the new OrCAD PCB Editor, a constraint-driven PCB layout editing tool derived from the Cadence Allegro PCB editor. Other new products will be announced at the show. Stop by booth # 510 for details.
·     Intercept Technology Inc. (Booth 502) - Pantheon v5.1, Intercept Technology's PCB/Hybrid/RF design application, now includes Intercept's revolutionary A.I.R. (Automatic Interactive Routing) Technology, featuring Guide Route and Multi Route - two new routing modes that speed manual routing assignments by an average of 60%. Pantheon v5.1 also includes exciting new developments for Design Reuse and Team Design. Stop by booth 502 for a detailed demo. Mozaix v3.0, Intercept Technology's high-performance schematic capture application for rapid design entry, boasts a completely redesigned user interface, for improved efficiency and ease of use. New capabilities showcased by the new interface include: Non-Modal Windows, Tree View Navigation, Improved Database Efficiencies, Tabs Design Option Panels, Drag ‘n Drop Features, Dockable Toolbars, and a Customizable Interface Layout and Menu System. This modernized user interface streamlines design flow, saves time and improves productivity. Customer delivery expected to begin in Q2 of 2005.  Stop by booth 502 for a preview of this innovative product.
·     Mentor Graphics Corp. (Booth 402) - Mentor Graphics will demonstrate their Expedition Series PCB design solution targeted at enterprise electronic companies, showcasing industry leading routing, high-speed design and verification, simultaneous team design and the latest in microvia and differential pair interconnect utilization. Also featured will be PADS Suites targeted at the ready-to-use market, which combines value and a broad range of technology. Stop by booth #402 to see the latest in design technology from the PCB systems design market leader.
·     OK International (Booth 301) - The Metcal PS-800 Soldering System features variable power/fixed temperature control and requires no calibration. The PS-800 uses replaceable heater tips that are easily removed and replaced, at a cost comparable to that of conventional tips.  Unmatched thermal performance, designed for repetitive manual assembly and touch-up at an economical price. The Metcal BVX-200 Fume Extraction System is a compact, portable two-arm fume extraction system with strong fan performance, efficient filtration and quiet, flexible operation. Can be located off the benchtop to maximize the working area. Includes pre-filter and a main filter with HEPA efficiency of more than 99.5%.
·     Polar Instruments (Booth 716) - Completely revised and updated, the SB200 stackup builder v5.0 connects with the industry-standard Si8000 field solver to provide brilliant graphics with full supporting tables of materials, dimensions, drills and impedance. The SB200 is a "must have" for everyone in PCB design. For more information visit www.polarinstruments.com/contact/SB200_evaluation_form.html.
·     PTC (Booth 1207) - InterComm EDAcompare greatly simplifies and accelerates the identification of what has changed between any two versions of the PCB schematic, layout or manufacturing artwork to identify differences using both attribute and graphical based comparisons. By providing both attribute and graphical based comparison analysis information, users can decide whether there is any impact to the design that might warrant a more in-depth review.
·     Sisoft (Booth 1204) - SiSoft's new Quantum-SI product family allows customers to perform high-speed digital interface analysis for PCB designs, including integrated signal integrity, static timing and crosstalk analysis. Quantum-SI products offer the industry's most rigorous waveform/eye diagram processing for Mbps/Gbps parallel and serial interfaces, providing the most accurate system-level noise/timing margin analysis available.
·     Zuken (Booth 610) - CADSTAR 7 is Zuken's PCB Desktop Solution, delivering one of the most powerful price/performance packages for PC-based PCB design. The package delivers a seamless design flow, which includes hierarchical schematic capture, comprehensive PCB layout, single operation post-processors for manufacturing, sophisticated library creation suites, automatic, interactive graphical routing, and post layout SI simulation. From single-sided to complex double-sided, multi-layer and SMT designs, the tools will guide you through the design process and dramatically increase your productivity. Zuken's CR-5000 is at the heart of a complete design and manufacturing solution for the rapid development and production of leading-edge electronic products. Incorporating the latest technology requirements (flex circuits, embedded components, RF design & design re-use) within a constrained design process methodology, CR-5000 offers maximum benefit for customers whose key requirements include high-speed digital design, miniaturization, and time to mass production.

Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, UP Media Group specializes in magazine publishing and conference/trade show production. UPMG publishes Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly, and one high-tech e-mail newsletter, PCB UPdate. UPMG produces PCB Design Conference West  in the Silicon Valley area each spring and PCB Design Conference East in the Boston area each autumn. UPMG also is a sponsor of the "Deadline to Lead-Free" seminar series, which is being held in cities throughout the U.S. during 2005.

 

The new Optima 7300 D.1 release includes an enhanced graphical user interface for its Review Pro repair-station software, faster program loading and editing, and support for Windows XP.
 
The repair-station software presents the operator with board-specific failure data taken from the system and collects operator repair data, actions and comments.
 
The new user interface gives technicians easier access to the failing component data and images stored in the repair-station database. By viewing an image of the failing device on-screen, technicians can quickly locate and repair defects.
 
The time to load large inspection programs has reportedly decreased by 70%, improving productivity and throughput.
 
The software will ship with all new Optima 7300 systems starting in March and is available as a free upgrade to customers with a Software Support Agreement.
 
 Landrex Technologies, landrex.com.tw