The NETEX engine manager reads an ascii file called a job file which we will refer to as the NJB file. This file contains most all of the information that NETEX needs in order to compute and write out the nets.

How the Job File is Organized

There are multiple sections within the job file. Each section provides a certain type of information needed by program. The sections are marked with a beginning and a end of section keyword.

Any lines within the job file that are not embedded in a valid section are ignored by the netex manager.

The sections are:

layer stackup     here you define the vertical layer stackup including the thickness and electrical properties. NETEX itself does not really care about the thickness or electrical values but these values are passed to the output for the next program to use.

input files     here you list the path and file names of the Gerber files to process.

drill info     here you list the names of the Gerber files that represent drill holes and also specify which layers the drill passes through. This will be used to build the vias between layers.

Wire Section     This section defines wires that appear in the package. Wires can be subdivided into tier groups.

nets     Here you can specify net names together with a coordinate and a layer. Netex can use this information to assign you chosen name to a specific physical net.

nodes     Here you can specify test points or nodes (i.e. an input and output location) by coordinate and layer. Assuming these node points touch a net, NETEX will associate them with the physical net that is touched. This is very useful when you are going to build a lumped element model - you need to know the so called input and output points to convert the physical layout to a lumped model.

padstacks     Here you can specify padstack definitions. Currently, the padstacks are only useful for Ansoft's ANF format. The node section can refer to a padstack and that padstack will be placed in the ANF file.

extraction directives     These are instructions to the program to pull out a particular net or nets either by name (see nets) or by coordinate. You can also request that a proximity net be calculated.

Expansion     This parameter determines how far from the selected nets to look to extract a neighbor or coupled net.

Max Via Size     Netex-G attempts to "recognize" vias based on round pads it finds in the Gerber data. However there are times when round pads are not vias - for example the ball pads on the bottom of a BGA. By setting a max via size, the user instructs NETEX-G not to treat any round pad that exceeds this size as a via. Since vias are typically smaller than the ball pads this is an easy way of preventing ball pads from being treated as vias. This applies to Ansoft's ANF output.

Settings     This section contains all of the NETEX-G settings used during the extraction process. Having all of the settings in the job file means that you can send the job file to another user and they will be able to run the extraction in exactly the same way as you did.

JOB File Syntax:     1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |   10   |   11   |   12   |   13