Software Tools for Design and Layout

Many of the companies that concern themselves with the development and manufacture of MID come from classic sectors of industry such as plastics or electronics production. Naturally, these companies have a marked tendency to apply their departments proven software products for MID. It is for this reason that the EGAD and MCAD programs currently in use are discussed here. As the production volume of MID products increases and their complexity develops, attempts are being made to use MID-specific software because the return justifies the outlay and cost of procurement, training, support, and licensing. MIDCAD comes from the world of research, while NEXTRA is a commercially available program these two are discussed below. 

Current Development Tools Used In the Industry Environment 

There are diverse MCAD systems available for mechanical design. The design remit includes not only the three-dimensional injection-molded body but also 

MID manufacturers generally use mainstream MCAD systems like Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E) or Creo from the Parametric Technology Corporation [125], NX from Siemens Industry Software GmbH Co. KG [156], or, in the automotive sector, CATIA from Dassault Systemes [27]. Eor historical reasons the system of choice for the PAPS institute is Pro/E, and this system is discussed in more detail below. 

The solutions of the big-player software manufacturers simplify cooperation between designers and layouters, but they do not support three-dimensional interconnect devices. So even though program interfaces have improved, the conclusion is the same as in Section 8.10.1. ECAD-MCAD collaboration works very well for planar boards but not for three-dimensional electronic circuits. 

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