Cloud links desktop design to distributor database
The technology is being used for its collaboration with Digi-Key on the Designer Schematic tool where it has rejected the open source/free to use model for EDA tools that has been pushed by companies such as RS Components with its DesignSpark tool.
"From Mentor Graphics perspective there is no way to support a free product," said Dave Brady, Business Development Manager at Mentor Graphics. "Products don’t die, they constantly evolve and Mentor has not figured out how to provide and support a free product."
"The investment Mentor Graphics has made in the technology dwarfs anything that others have done," said Brady. "There is a cloud component that does the transformation between the EDA representation and the search but we are extremely concerned about protecting our customer’s intellectual property and our analysis is that you need to use desktop tools and if you are using the cloud you have to be super careful about any information that can be exposed," he said. "We employ cutting edge encryption, and we have used a very similar design architecture for the cloud transformation engine."
"There are some products that companies need to be able to archive designs and pull them up years later and know that they can, so if I am an established corporation I need an ongoing business that I can count on," said Randall Restle, Director of Application Engineering for Digi-Key. "We are happy to be providing one of the most cost effective professional tools on the market."
The Designer Schematic tool is scheduled to launch early this summer, at an unprecedented sub-$300 price point, pulling in data automatically to avoid data entry errors as well as easy, error-free access to Design Service Providers and PCB Fabrication and Manufacturing Services.
The software currently runs on Windows and is compatible with Mentor’s PADS tool. "You can move the design from designer to PADS and share reference designs, footprints, symbols," said Brady. "The management of the data, not what you can do with the data – you get one complete unit per part number, not database support, so its a few mouse clicks from finding the part to dropping the symbol into the schematic, that’s the part that we have spent a lot of time on."
"This represents a high end product for Digi-Key to be selling but it is low end for Mentor," said Restle. "There no transmission line analysis, thermal analysis or differential line analysis. But if you are in research and don’t want to be tied to a standard library of approved parts then this could be very appealing as it has access to the very latest products."
The next move for Digi-Key suppliers to provide designs in the PADS format. "Digi-Key has a number of strong suppliers and with the tools we have we can help get a supplier to provide original design assets and get those into useable form – we are well positioned to bring more value to design engineers to help them get something in a form that’s almost immediately usable," he said.
www.digikey.com/designer
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