Software provides multi-disciplinary design environment.

Press Release Summary:




Suited for optimizing conceptual design of PCBs, FLO/PCB enables users to directly take account of thermal design constraints. Software promotes conceptual design process that enables collaboration in common design environment. Changes made in one view are reflected in all other views to keep team members current and let them contribute to design concept development in real-time. Software also predicts 3D airflow and temperatures in minutes for both sides of board.



Original Press Release:



Mechanical Engineers See Value in New Design Process Embodied By 'FLO/PCB' Software from Flomerics



In a recent (Jan 2004) survey, 84% of mechanical engineers in electronics companies approved Flomerics' latest software concept, "FLO/PCB", which provides a multi-disciplinary design environment for optimizing conceptual design of printed-circuit boards (PCB's), and enables electronic engineers to take account of thermal design constraints directly.

FLO/PCB promotes a conceptual design process that starts with a functional block diagram, and enables Systems Architects, Hardware Designers, and Mechanical /Thermal engineers to collaborate in a common design environment. A single mouse-click toggles between three different views of the board; the functional block diagram; the physical layout; and the thermal analysis. Changes made in one view are instantly reflected in the others, keeping all team members "in sync" and enabling them to contribute to the design concept development in real time. The result is pre-optimized designs in less time, and drastic reductions in rework costs as product marketing, electrical, mechanical, and thermal issues are solved before detailed design starts.

The pre-release version of FLO/PCB has received enthusiastic responses from many of Flomerics' existing customers including Agilent, BAE Systems, Cisco Systems, Rockwell International, Tellabs and Thales. The first full release is scheduled for shipping in April. Web site: www.flopcb.com

Key features of FLO/PCB are:

Specialized menus for rapid creation of functional block diagrams

Automatic creation of physical layout and thermal model from the functional block diagram

3D airflow and temperature prediction, for both sides of the board, in minutes

Fully-integrated library capability supporting JEDEC standards for component thermal models, and leveraging libraries from www.SmartParts3D.com * and www.flopack.com **

Export/import board design information to and from EDA and CAD software via IDF file format

Native, bi-directional interoperability with FLOTHERM

Automatic report generation via HTML and/or Microsoft Word

Compatible with WindowsXP, WindowsNT, and Windows2000 operating systems. Recommended minimum hardware requirements are 512MB RAM, and 300MB disk space.

* www.SmartParts3D.com is an online, searchable database of ready-to-run thermal models for many common IC packages and other parts. These models can be used directly in FLO/PCB

** www.flopack.com provides rapid generation of "compact" and "detailed" thermal models for IC packages, which can also be used directly in FLO/PCB

Issued: 9.Feb.2004

About Flomerics

Flomerics was formed in 1988, and is a world-leading player in the rapidly expanding field of "virtual prototyping" - the provision of software enabling engineers to test virtual models of their equipment on a computer before building physical prototypes. Flomerics' business model, "Design-Class Analysis", is drastically different from traditional analysis. Design-Class Analysis focuses on real engineering design problems, and selects the appropriate analysis techniques to solve them as quickly and simply as possible. Flomerics is currently focused on three main technical areas and markets: a) thermal management of electronics; b) electromagnetic design for electronics, antenna and microwave devices; and c) heating and ventilating of buildings.

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