Importing Cadence APD/ALLEGRO/SIP Files into the Layout Editor

The Electronics Desktop supports Extracta Import from Cadence. Note that Extracta.Exe is a Cadence supplied executable and must be installed on your machine and on your executable path for this to work. To access the window shown in the following diagram, refer to Importing Files into the Layout Editor. Once a .brd, .sip, or .mcm file is selected, an explorer window opens.

The window is initialized with the nets on the imported design.

• Import stackup and options allows you to import information from an xml control file or a layer mapping file into the window. Note the information contained in the control file is exported on the Layer Stackup window and is not directly usable by the translator if layer names are changed. One can however combine the records for renaming layers with the control file exported on the stackup window; for more information see Control File Usage with Renaming. Ansys Electronics Desktop also supports reading .tech and .layermap files.
• Export control file creates an xml control file using the information imported to the window to the location specified. This file can either be Imported and used through the window or used directly with Anstranslator.exe.

Nets Pane

• Import check box specifies which nets to import.
• Setup Ports automatically creates ports on the nets to be imported.

Options Pane

• Import Dummy Net – Causes all metal on the net that matches the specified name to be imported. This is independent of the list of nets.
• Default Component – When default component is checked, if components come in without resistor, capacitor or inductor types, a default RLC value is set commensurate with the type and a best guess at pin pairing is generated.
• Import Hatching – Extracta has an option to export plane data, with or without hatching. If this option is checked hatching are generated.
• Import Bondwire Definitions – Select an XML file from which to import bondwire definitions

Control File Usage

Importing a control file into the window preserves not only the layer settings but also the Component property section of the .xml file. This means that if you import the following control file, C28 has a value of 4.7nF.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no" ?>

<c:Control xmlns:c="http://www.ansys.com/control" schemaVersion="1.0">

<Components schemaVersion="1.0">

<TypeMap>

<!-- Match C28 exactly -->

<RefDes RegEx="C28" Type="Capacitor" SC_Value="4.7n"/>

</TypeMap>

</Components>

</c:Control>

For details on the TypeMap see ODB++ Control File Part Mapping.