CadSoft unveils updated PCB design software

CadSoft Computer introduced the updated EAGLE PCB software. Version 7 brings a modern design environment with increased flexibility, enabling users to develop custom schematics using commercial standard software at a fraction of the cost.

New features include an enhanced autorouter with significantly less transition points, resulting in more cost effective and efficiently routed PCBs that require fewer manual interactions. The new autorouter also enhances productivity and performance by utilising multi-core machines, running each routing variant on its own processor simultaneously. Users will benefit by having multiple configurations of the same routed board to choose from, and can use it to select the best outcome for their design.

Version 7 supports larger teams and more complex designs by enabling large schematic designs to be organised into small functional blocks, which can be assigned to different team members and then easily be integrated when complete. This type of hierarchical methodology has significant advantages, giving large organisations a "global view" of the functional blocks of the project to make it easier to locate and change aspects of the schematic or layout.

Enhanced licence management features have also been introduced to protect a customers' software investment, while enabling single user licencees to install the software on up to two devices. For multi-user licence owners it will be easier to manage the seats from a licence server with better protection of the software.

EAGLE version 7 also provides a new ULP to export IDF files. A basic model with placeholders for the 3D models of all components can be exported, to be used for preliminary checking. A comprehensive 3D model can be created with Simplified Solution's IDF-to-3d tool, which will be available in the CadSoft web shop later this summer.