ASCII Output

NETEX-G writes out results as an ASCII file. Essentially the output is a series of polygons - each polygon belongs to a net and to a layer. A net can exist on multiple layers.

LIBRARY PBGA unit:MM grid:1000000
NET Net1
BOUNDARY 1
1173867 9384616
1165991 9375977
1160681 9362270
1160681 9347570
1165991 9333863
ENDEL
BOUNDARY 2
1173867 9384616
1165991 9375977
1160681 9362270
1160681 9347570
1165991 9333863
ENDEL
ENDSTR
NET Net2

ENDLIB

LIBRARY - this statement occurs only once and at the beginning of the file. It defines the library name, data units and grid. In the above example the library name = PBGA, the data units are MM and the grid is 1,000,000. The first coordinate is located at 1.173867,9.384616 MM.

NET - indicates the start of a net. Argument is the net's name. All boundary elements following belong to this net until another NET statement occurs.

ENDSTR - terminates this NET.

BOUNDARY - indicates the start of a boundary. It is followed by the layer number (position in the stackup.) Each line after the boundary contains an X-Y coordinate pair.

Because of the boolean operations used to build connectivity, the database consists solely of boundaries and there are not other entities such as traces or circles. There are no arcs in the boundary definition.

ENDEL - indicates the end of a boundary.

ENLIB - end of the data.

NETEX groups all boundaries associated with a particular net consecutively -- making it easy to pick out elements of a desired net.

Nodes

Nodes are test points that the user has supplied to NETEX-G. If a node has been entered and if it falls on a net then it will appear on the NET line. The node name will be followed by its coordinates and the stackup layer that it was referenced to. There can be more than one node per net. Typically one would have two nodes: input and output.

 LIBRARY PBGA unit:MM grid:1000000
 NET Net1 BF2 1164800 937500 1 
 BOUNDARY 1
 1173867 9384616
 1165991 9375977
 1160681 9362270
 1160681 9347570
 1165991 9333863
 ENDEL
 BOUNDARY 2
 1173867 9384616
 1165991 9375977
 1160681 9362270
 1160681 9347570
 1165991 9333863
 ENDEL
 ENDNET
 NET Net2

 ENDLIB

In the above example, for Net1 there is a node called BF2 that is located at coordinates 1164800 937500 on stackup layer 1.

Leonov polygons are grouped with a container boundary coming first in the list followed by one or more children boundaries. The children are "subtractive" - their area is subtracted from the container polygon. In order to identify such polygons in the ASCII output a special header is used: LEONOV BGN to start the group and LEONOV END to close the group.

Wirebonds

Starting with Version 1.40 of NETEX-G the Wirebond data has been greatly expanded to support a full 3D description and is now described on its own page.

Wirebonds are not normally converted to boundaries unless the user sets them as METAL layers instead of WIREBOND layers in the stackup definition. Instead, NETEX-G outputs a special WIRE entity that includes the layer, diameter and starting/ending coordinates of the wire.

WIRE 3 25400 W3
-3937800 1580000
-5826180 2441410
ENDEL

Syntax

column 1 - WIRE
column 2 - stackup layer
column 3 - wire diameter
column 4 - layer name

Wire Coordinates

Wire coordinates are automatically sorted by NETEX-G. The first pair define "inner" end of the wire with the assumption made that these connect to the die side. The second pair define the "outer" end of the wire with the assumption that they drop down to the metal below.