Frontline InStack® Design - The Right Way to Design Boards that Work

Frontline InStack^® Design

The right way to design boards that work

Frontline InStack Design is an industry-proven software solution that enables you to design the most challenging stackups in minutes, taking all mechanical and SI constraints into account.

Plan, build and verify your stackup
Perform automatic or manual constraints- and rules-driven stackup design
Easily modify designs to support multiple fabs and prototyping at the same time
Get an accurate, realistic and manufacturable PCB model in minutes
Integrate supplier materials and processes to ensure manufacturability
Cut the risk of errors by exchanging stackups electronically with your fabs
A comprehensive solution for multiple zones, flex materials and crosshatch layers

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Designer-fabricator collaboration

Introducing Frontline InStack® Design

Create manufacturable stackups

Watch this interview with Ben Quarles, Frontline’s software solutions business manager for North America, on how designers can get their stackups right the first time.

Minimum System Requirements

Server	Platforms	Intel i5 or better
	RAM	Recommended: 4GB
	Disk Usage	Minimum 40GB free space
	OS	Windows 7 - Windows 8 Server, Red Hat 5.6
Clients	Monitors	20" - 1280x1024 resolution
	Graphics	PCI-X with 128MB memory
	Network Card	Gigabit Ethernet

Job Manager

The Job Manager groups together basic job planning tools – buildup formation, process tree generation, drill and rout data entry, embedded component design, and order specs – making it a starting point and a solid reference point for designers.

Stackup Designer

Create manufacturable stackups early in the design process, even at the pre-layout phase. Compare with reference stackups to ensure accuracy, and quickly view the stackup image. Use accurate spacing and pitch selection tools to precisely plan your routing resources and select the correct number of layers before you begin routing. Use the Automatic Stackup Wizard to generate stackups and update the list of materials required for high layer count and impedance controlled boards, both symmetrical and non-symmetrical.

Library Subsystems

To manage your company's engineering and design knowledge and data, and to configure Frontline InStack Design according to your planning and manufacturing environments, Frontline InStack Design offers the following library subsystems:

Specs Editor – Define manufacturing and customer specifications
Rules Editor – Integrate your manufacturing knowledge into Frontline InStack Design’s electronic rules
Materials Library – Define material properties
Stackup Templates Library – Define stackup templates
Fabricators Library – Manage the fabricators you work with

Take control of your stackup, the foundation of your board

Only you can make the right tradeoffs between signal integrity, reliability, cost and complexity. Simulate your real stackup as you create it and make sure all your SI and layout needs are met. Then send the stackup to your fabricator for immediate manufacturing. Modify a stackup provided by your fab house to meet your needs or adapt it for use as a prototype for other fabricators, while maintaining the crucial properties of the board.

Collaborate with fabricators

Send stackups between Frontline InStack Design and Frontline InPlan and facilitate the ideal collaborative flow between designers and fabricators. Design stackups with fabricator-specific materials, so a job can be completed in one pass. If changes need to be made, the fabricator job can be sent back to the designer completely electronically.

Cut design time

Stackup and impedance designers can achieve in minutes what previously took experts hours of work. Whether using automatic or manual stackup design, Frontline InStack Design ensures that all zone thickness and impedance calculations are up to date. Frontline InStack Design delivers the most cost-effective stackup solutions while meeting all design rules.

Reduce revision spins

Reduce pre-production revision spins, shorten lead-time and improve quality by generating precise stackup designs that consider design rules, resin starvation checks and supplier process rules. Use your fabricator’s materials library to ensure that designs can be manufactured within allowed tolerances. Automatically apply pressing rules and copper etching factors to match your PCB supplier's process rules.

Ensure manufacturability

Frontline InStack Design is the leading tool your fabricators use to manufacture your boards. When you design with Frontline InStack Design you can be sure your stackup is manufacturable. Frontline InStack Design brings fabrication know-how to you.

Tell your fabricator what you need, electronically

Automatically create professional, detailed stackup reports for your fab no matter what tool they are using. Exchange your designs electronically with fabs using Frontline InStack for Fabricators software, ensuring that accurate stackup and impedance information is shared throughout the supply chain.

Conquer flex and rigid-flex with multiple zones

Create complex designs with automatic multi-zone buildup creation and advanced buildup editing tools, including air gap formation between flex clads, adding stiffeners and other accessories, and placing rigid and flex materials side by side. Use the Flex Buildup Editor to define zones for copper layers, masks, drills and materials, and to add and define coverlays, stiffeners and other accessory materials. Frontline InStack Design also supports crosshatch layers and EMI shielding.

Revision-controlled stackup database

All stackups are stored in Frontline InStack Design’s revision-controlled database enabling operators to track changes between revisions and compare revisions and/or jobs. Derivative stackup design becomes a simple task as you can quickly search for similar stackups, duplicate the existing stackup, and modify the stackup and impedance in just minutes.

Accurate impedance and SI simulation

Use Frontline InSolver – Frontline InStack Design’s built-in impedance solver – to automatically calculate impedance. Frontline InStack Design’s easy-to-use interface lets you create multiple impedance constraints on each layer and select any layer or conductive material as reference layers per constraint. As stackup materials are selected, Frontline InStack Design automatically calculates copper and dielectric thicknesses and optimizes the trace widths to meet the impedance requirements. In addition, Frontline InStack Design can accurately model dielectric, resistive and total attenuation for a range of frequencies, enabling you to select the most cost-effective material set to meet your performance requirements.

Get a full visualization of how your board will be built

Frontline InStack Design shows you a detailed visualization of how your board will be built that includes all sub-assemblies and processes.