A 30 minute on-demand video demo is available.

You can view this at http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-system-design/multimedia/overview/pads-9-0-flow-demo-72c70299-c7a6-41e7-be8e-46ef60dbf775

This demonstration includes design creation with DxDesigner, PADS Layout, and Signal and Power Integrity analysis with HyperLynx.

YES!

PADS LS and ES Suites include both PADS Logic and Dx0040.

To learn more about PADS Suites please go to http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-system-design/products/pads-suites/.

With every purchase of PADS you are entitled to receive FREE online training. Training includes instructions for creating physical components, importing netlists, adding or updating components, routing connections, and updating reports. You can visit often and as frequently as needed with your SupportNet login.

Note - Mentor Graphics has consistently been awarded the "10 best support sites" by the Association of Support Professionals and has won this award again in 2009.

To learn more visit SupportNet at: http://supportnet.mentor.com/.

Here!

This community will be the major on-line place for you to interact with PADS users and Mentor employees. Come frquently and bookmark this site http://communities.mentor.com/mgcx/community/pcb/design_tasks/pads.In addition you will see regular blog columns and other discussions as well as scripts and other community services to make you a more successful PADS user.

Over the course of the next few months we will be migrating the PADS list server to this community.

PADS currently support Windows XP and Windows Vista. For a complete overview of system requirements please go to: http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-system-design/design-flows/pads/system-requirements

We are planning to validate and support Windows 7 for future releases once Microsoft makes Windows 7 available.

PADS is a desktop solution with a focus on Windows support. Linux support is not part of our product strategy roadmap. Expedition Enterprise does support Linux.

PADS 9.0 introduces several new products to the flow, such as DxDesigner. In order to support the new tools and technologies the format of PADS libraries is differs from previous versions.

PADS 9.0 includes a library converter to translate previous PADS libraries to the new PADS 9.0 library format. Once the library is translated it can be used in PADS 9.0 and in subsequent releases.

PADS 9.0 is shipped with DxDesigner 2007.5. You should be able to read a netlist from DxD 2005.x. However, PADS 9.0 does use a newer ASCII format. You will not be able to perform functions that directly link PADS  9.0 and DxDesigner unless you are using the DxDesigner 2007.5 release. You should strongly consider upgrading your DxD version to 2007.5 to enjoy its many improvements and benefits as well as the tighter integrations with PADS 9.0. Typically there is no cost to the upgrade from previous DxDesigner versions if you have an active support contract.

DxDesigner databases in PADS 9.0 are not backward compatible. Once a schematic with a previous PADS release is opened in DxDesigner 2007.5 it cannot be read back in PADS 2007 again.

Orcad, CADSTAR, Protel, PCAD, and PADS Logic schematics and libraries may be imported into DxDesigner.

PADS and Expedition Enterprise have different database structures. Reuse blocks in an Expedition Enterprise central library cannot be imported or used in PADS.

PADS 9.0 includes a major enhancement called "Update from Library". For more details watch the detailed on-demand webinar titled "What's New in PADS 9.0". You can view this video at http://www.mentor.com/pads/

The newly introduced DxD040, which is specifically defined for the PADS flow provides access to both, PADS Logic and DxDesigner. All other DxDesigner packages do not include PADS Logic.

I/O Designer is the tool I am referring to.  It can automatically create fractured symbols, as well as help optimize the FPGA pin assignments.  More information can be found on mentor.com.

DxVariant Manager has been rewritten, and is now called Variant Manager.  It has the same functionality, but is easy to use and more integrated in the DxDesigner environment.  Any variants defined in DxD can still be brought forward to PADS Layout and Assembly Variants.

Yes – new for PADS 9.0!.  Check the “What’s New in PADS 9.0” webinar out at pads.com.

It is not possible to generate ODB++ files from PADS at this time but we are investigating offering this functionality in a future release.

PADS was enhanced in PADS2007 with RF capabilities that included true chamfered corners, channel wave guides, via fill commands, and enhanced DXF input for RF components.

With PADS 9.0 we now allow padstacks with chamfered and rounded corners.  You still have the ability to create custom pads of any unique geometry in PADS.

Test points can be a surface mount via.

Several defects associated with alpha numeric pins been corrected. PADS 9.0 recently posted a patch release called Update 1 that corrects an issue with alpha numeric pins.  Please see http://supportnet.mentor.com for further details.

I believe you are referring to the I/O Designer functionality.  This tool insures that any swapping of pins of an FPGA, whether done on the schematic or in PCB layout, get passed correctly, and a new pin file is generated for use by the FPGA tool.

PADS 9.0 has a 3D Viewer included (with an upgradeable version) as well as integration to visECAD.

No! PADS Logic will continue to be supported.

There were many questions regarding the new PADS 3D Viewer.  I’ll try to sum them all up here.  This is new viewer which allows you to view your PADS design in true 3D.  From  the View menu, launch 3D Viewer.  By default, it will use the geometry.height attribute for the components height.  You can then pan, zoom, and rotate the entire PCB assembly.  If you have the upgradeable option, you can read in the actual 3D model of the component.  You would need to get this 3D model from your mechanical tool, the vendor, on the web, or another source.  These models can be WRL or STL formats.  With this module, you can also read in mechanical auxiliary files (such as brackets, enclosures, cases, etc.).   This is functionality within PADS.  There is no export from the 3D Viewer.  If you wish to export the design to other tools such as ProEngineer, Soliworks, AutoCAD, etc, you still need to rely on our DXF and IDF Links.  At this time, the 3D Viewer does not import or export STEP or IGES.  The 3D models are stored in there own folder, not in the Decal library.  You will be getting these models from your mechanical group or another source, so storing them external to the Decal library is a better process.  In the next month we will hold a webinar that will offer more detail on the 3D Viewer.

The PADS products are really all about personal productivity, reliability and support and now, with the introduction of the PADS suites we are providing the most comprehensive and cost effective range of technology ever (schematic entry, component & variant management, analog design, signal & thermal integrity analysis, PCB layout, & 3D visualization). And with growing technology requirements, such as GHz design and analysis you can easily expand into the bigger versions of the products included in the suites, which allows scalability within the products you are already familiar with and expandability into more comprehensive solutions for design and manufacturing  On top of this, PADS is the most widely used PCB design system for personal PCB design which means there is a tremendous amount of industry support through design service companies, contractors, consultants, designers and design/parts data.