At 08:51 PM 9/28/2005, yijie wrote:
I would like to know if it is possible to split a PCB project into multiple partitions for multiple designers to work on it simultaneously.
Yes, it is possible, but only with caution and, depending, with some loss of efficiency. However, the gain in time-to-completion may make it worthwhile.
To split up a project, identify parts of the project which can be accomplished in parallel. One really good division is this:
As parts needing footprints are identified, while the schematic is being drawn, another designer creates the footprints. Also, schematic symbols, if needed, can be drawn by another designer. Usually not a whole lot of work, but every little bit can help.
As the schematic is being completed, the PCB file can be in preparation: board outline, mechanical considerations, design rules.
The schematic can be independently checked over while preliminary placement is taking place.
It may be possible to partition the design. If the schematic is drawn sectionally, PCB real estate can be assigned to a section and then design of sections can be accomplished by different designers. Everyone should be working to the same design standards....
There are no special tools in Protel to help with job partition. But Rooms, and Protel's automatic assignment of schematic sheets to Rooms, can be used to help with assigning components to spaces on the board. Someone will need to develop the overall floor plan, but then local and detailed placement and routing can be done in each area by different designers. One might want to leave empty corridors, not only for interconnect routing, but to leave a little extra area for changes or in case density estimation for a section was not accurate.
(If you want to get a job done quickly,, avoid trying to make it maximally compact, if possible ....)
All the sections are going to have to be tied together and the board cleaned up by a single designer, but even then there are ways to multiply the available labor. One designer can work for a shift, and then the work can be taken up by another designer. Again, there may be inefficiency due to the need to communicate extensively.
But it can be done. For one project, a set of changes to be done to a previously-designed PCB, I alternated the work between myself (in the United States) and a designer in New Zealand. Because of the time difference, we were able to get almost 16 hours per day into the job without any difficulty at all. The result: the customer got the job in about half the usual time, without anyone losing sleep. Because the changes consisted of a predefined list, it was easy to exchange the work at the end of each shift, it was quite efficient.
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