It is essential to have valid thermal results before a PCB design is complete. These early-stage thermal results involve continuous data transfer and communication between design, thermal, and possibly also signal integrity/power integrity (SI/PI) teams. A delay at any stage of this process could mean issues for the design cycle.

With a complete/semi-complete design, each thermal analysis tool takes engineers through their own uniquely laborious approach to convert the PCB design to a “thermal model.” This requires considerable user effort, resulting in a significant time investment when multiple designs must be analyzed.

With Cadence’s true first-to-market thermal in-design analysis (IDA) workflow inside their PCB design platform, engineers have a significant opportunity to run their designs through floor planning and design changes without having to wait for feedback from across the board, leading to more efficient design cycles and more effective designs.