Z-zero announces the release of Z-planner Enterprise, a field-solver based stackup planning and material selection software that is optimized for front-to-back PCB design and signal-integrity flow.

Z-planner Enterprise is a solution that enables hardware design teams to design and validate PCB stackups. With interfaces to the most common PCB layout and signal-integrity design flows, as well as the industry’s largest dielectric-materials library, Z-planner Enterprise allows engineers to perform all aspects of PCB stackup planning, design, and validation in a single platform.
Dr. Jayaprakash Balachandran, Senior Technical Leader, Signal Integrity Engineering at Cisco, said, “In our PCB design flow, we have very strict electrical and mechanical requirements that we need to manage across 20+ layers for most designs. Until now, we haven’t found a software solution that was able to capture the layer of detail that we require in our design process. We’ve found that Z-zero software reduces the time it takes us to specify and validate fabricator stackups. We can evaluate three different stackups in an hour, rather than a day, and it significantly reduces the amount of back-and-forth communication required with our fabricators and NPI team.”

Features of Z-planner Enterprise include:

• Full accounting for frequency, resin content, glass style, and pressed prepreg thickness
• Unlimited stackup-layer support, including automated calculation of width and spacing

• HyperLynx field solver—simulating impedance, as well as dielectric and copper losses
• Automated impedance goal seeking across multiple stackup-signal layers
• Glass awareness and glass-weave skew prevention
• Design for Manufacturing (DFM) and Design for Signal Integrity (DFSI) rules, management and checking

• Compare multiple PCB fabricator stackups to design specifications
• Stackup Manager allows for stackup reuse, tracking layer count, impedance groups, and signal/power/ground layer assignments.
• Built-in library filters for common constraints like halogen-free materials,
  dual-ply cores, and a complete set of the IPC-4101 slash sheets
• Custom library filters using any mechanical or electrical material parameters

Additionally, Z-planner Enterprise offers access to other Z-zero features, including Z-solver, a detailed cross-section analysis tool, the comprehensive Z-zero laminate library, and a Material Mapper.

More information at z-zero.com.