ADS PCB design solutions are created for designers by designers. They cover the entire design flow, from design definition through signal integrity analysis, functional simulation, layout and outputs to manufacturing. About Mentor Graphics: Mentor Graphics® is a leader in electronic design automation. We enable companies to develop better electronic products faster and more cost-effectively. Our innovative products and solutions help engineers conquer design challenges in the increasingly complex worlds of board and chip design. About PADS PCB Design Tools: PADS, Mentor Graphics’ world-leading desktop PCB design tool, enables you to develop PCBs within a highly productive, scalable, and easy-to-use environment. PADS solutions cover the spectrum of PCB development, from schematic entry to manufacturing preparation. New Features: The following new features are available in this release: - LP Wizard Modified courtyard round off to the “Place Round” value unless that value is greater than 0.1 mm if units are millimeters or microns, or 4 mils if units are mils or inches. - ECAD/MCAD Collaborator Collaboration between Electronic CAD and Mechanical CAD is greatly simplified by sharing XML data between the two systems while allowing ECAD and MCAD users to view data in their own tool environment. Changes suggested by engineers on either system can be viewed and either approved or rejected in both systems. Using the ECAD-MCAD Collaborator not only makes information sharing much easier, but also ensures more accurate communication and quicker product development. The ECAD/MCAD Collaborator uses the new ProSTEP standard to allow a new level of collaboration between the mechanical and electrical CAD groups. Currently, ProEngineer also supports this standard. ECAD/MCAD Collaborator is an additional option, contact your sales person for more information. - Improved 3D Viewer The 3D Viewer is enhanced to support the ECAD/MCAD Collaborator. Operations on components are shown dynamically in both PADS Layout and the Collaborator. You now also have the option to see more detail (traces, vias, coppers) in static mode. - Create Arcs for Differential Pairs The ability to add arcs to differential pairs during interactive routing is added to PADS Router. This is supported when the diff pair is routed in “join” mode, and in “route separately”. The behavior is similar to the Add Arc functionality of the single net interactive routing - Import Expedition Databases into PADS Layout The Import feature within PADS Layout is updated to support Expedition PCB databases.