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TITLE: INCREASED COMPLEXITY OF PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD DESIGN
Recently printed circuit board (PCB) design has become almost as
complex as system-on-chip design. Increasingly, PCBs contain
multiple layers of high-speed interconnect for high-density
packages. Some studies indicate that the PCB has become the
bottleneck in system design now that virtual components can be
assembled quickly in SoCs.
Aptix provides reconfigurable PCBs for system emulation.
Component-based prototyping allows the user to build up a
reconfigurable prototype of a system using FPGAs and a
reconfigurable PCB. For additional information, access: Aptix
Six European companies have collaborated to develop a new rapid
prototyping platform called FlexBench. The product is intended
to reduce time-to-market by accelerating the verification process
and avoiding respins which may delay product introduction by 3-6
months. The mother-board consists of reprogrammable FPGAs and
reconfigurable board connections as well as sockets for non-
reprogrammable devices. Up to four of these mother-boards can be
cascaded and each has four slots for mezzanine boards. A number
of supporting software tools are available including a system-
level design tool, a partitioner and a JTAG tool. For additional
information, access: FlexBench
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