Underdogs with unequal conditions - EDA tools for PCBs from Quadcept and Eremex

This article shows the different conditions and requirements under which two rather unknown providers of PCB EDA software, the Russian company Eremex and the Japanese company Quadcept, develop and market their tools. Both companies independently developed powerful design software for the electronics industries in their respective countries. Quadcept's two main products, Circuit Designer and PCB Designer, will be examined in more detail.

There is a wide range of PCB CAD software available on the Internet. However, if one researches which EDA software is favored in this particular sector, the software programs listed in Table 1 are primarily mentioned for 2022, not only on the eTechnophiles website, but also elsewhere [1, 2]. However, this does not indicate a ranking of use by users, but only citations.

This concerns both CAD software that can be used free of charge and CAD software that has to be paid for, or a mixture of both. In the latter case, the question of 'free or pay' depends on how many building blocks of a software building block system you really want to use and whether the tools are to be used privately or commercially. In addition, the category 'student' or 'educational institution' is sometimes a special case.

The developers of EDA tools can essentially be divided into three groups:

• concrete software companies such as Cadence, Altium, Autodesk, Mentor Graphics
• private interest groups (open source programs)
• commercial interest groups, sponsored for example by component and PCB service providers such as RS Components, Datasheets, Novarm

It is noticeable that the providers of the EDA programs listed in Table 1 at least, regardless of their size, are primarily headquartered in North America or Western Europe. EDA tool providers from other parts of the world, such as Asia, Africa, South America or Russia, do not appear on the websites commonly used in Europe, or if they do, then relatively inconspicuously - apart from the Japanese EDA tool developer Zuken, which is active in the top league. From a local perspective, these are effectively 'blank spots' on the world EDA map. However, there are providers of EDA software for printed circuit boards that are quite impressive in terms of their performance and deserve more attention. These include the Russian software company Eremex with its PCB CAD package DeltaDesign and the Japanese company Quadcept Inc. with its EDA packages Circuit Designer and PCB Designer. They did not make it into Table 1 for various reasons.

One could assume that the reason why the products of both companies are unknown in Central and Western Europe is their size. Both are actually quite small in terms of the number of employees compared to 'giants' such as Cadence. However, this contradicts the finding that some of the companies listed above also have relatively few employees and still made it onto the list of the 13 favorites. So there must be other reasons for this.

Competitors with unequal conditions

In the case of the Russian company Eremex with its DeltaDesign software package, the matter is absolutely clear: the design tools were developed as a result of the massive sanctions that the 'Western world' has been imposing on Russia's electronics industry since 2014 and which are gradually being taken to extremes. The solution for the Russian electronics industry is therefore, on the one hand, increasingly 'import replacement', i.e. self-supply with design tools to prevent worse. On the other hand, the EDA software cannot be exported to the "free world" due to the sanctions, even if the development company wanted to and could prepare the market there financially, methodically and in terms of personnel. It would have to fight very hard in the West against political, moral and qualitative reservations, some of which have been irrationally escalated into hysteria by the Western media since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Not only Tchaikovsky is now sometimes counted among those to be boycotted, but more or less the entire Russian economy.

It should be noted that until the start of the war in Ukraine, numerous Western EDA companies made ample use of the excellent software skills of the Russians for their own development work. The author reported on this in detail in Plus 4 and 5 in 2018 in a two-part article entitled 'Russia wants greater independence from Western design software'. Today, the country needs a replacement more urgently than ever for the software blockade imposed by the West and for the Western EDA software manufacturers, all of whom left the country after the start of the war in Ukraine. Despite some reservations, the author will present the DeltaDesign EDA software in an upcoming issue of Plus in the hope that the current precarious political situation will improve significantly in the foreseeable future.

A different situation in Japan

The Japanese software company Quadcept is not in such a precarious situation. At least in theory, it has all the internal and external options that are available in the western world. The reasons are completely different in that its EDA packages Circuit Designer and PCB Designer are still little known in Europe, although the company has recently been moving more in a Western direction. There are natural reasons for its relative obscurity in Europe, as the supplier has long focused mainly on the extensive Japanese electronics industry, as evidenced by its customer list. However, it should be noted that the Japanese electronics groups have many subsidiaries in Asia as well as Europe and the USA, so this alone creates a certain foreign user zone. One of the main targets is China, as evidenced by the fact that Japanese and Chinese are Quadcept's main service languages. This is supported by the fact that Japanese and Chinese have many common linguistic roots.

It may also play a role that it is difficult and unfamiliar for smaller Japanese companies in particular, which bring software products to the market that require a great deal of explanation and training, to find their way around in countries with a very different language and culture. In this respect, SMEs are very different from the large Japanese corporations. The motto still seems to apply: Stay in the country and feed yourself honestly. If you look at it in the abstract, there are understandable reasons for both the Russian and Japanese EDA tool providers to focus primarily on the domestic market - one for reasons of necessity, the other because of national customs and peculiarities. It is therefore unlikely that they will become competitors in the foreseeable future.

National peculiarities

There are other differences between the two software companies: While Quadcept users could at any time, at least theoretically, turn to EDA tool providers from other 'Western' countries, Russian electronics engineers simply cannot - even if they wanted to - due to the current special conditions in Russia. Another thing is that Japanese CAD software users are certainly turning to Quadcept voluntarily, but Russian Eremex users are for the most part turning to it involuntarily. Over the past 30 years, they have devoted themselves entirely to the CAD tools of well-known Western companies such as Cadence, Mentor Graphics and others and now have to cope somehow with the departure of these EDA companies or the sanctions. As a result, Eremex still has major problems selling its EDA tools on a large scale in its own country.

What both software providers have in common, despite their strong national focus, is that each offers an English-language version in addition to the website in the national language [3, 4]. While Eremex has only carried out minimal site maintenance since 2020 compared to its Russian site (there is hardly any reason to do so), Quadcept has greatly expanded the quality and content of its English-language sites and is clearly courting users abroad. In addition, the company makes intensive use of the current possibilities of online translation software for its websites. The Japanese and English websites can be translated into various other languages, including German, by clicking on the translation button. However, there is still a certain limit to the translation quality.

Both software packages from Quadcept are presented below.

Quadcept Incorporation

Fig. 2: Quadcept received the Good Design Award in 2013 for its cloud-based EDA solutionQuadceptInc. is based in Osaka. It has a deposit capital of 30 mill. ¥ (approx. € 700,000 as at 1.12.22). The company president is Masahiro Kato. With its two main products Circuit Designer and PCB Designer, the company offers powerful, innovative cloud-based online CAD solutions for circuit and PCB design. The company believes it is an international leader in the cloud-based sector. According to the company, the advantage is that cloud-based use leads to greater efficiency and savings for users, as they no longer have to make capital investments in expensive traditional CAD systems. Updates are also carried out automatically by the provider. According to Corona experience, cloud solutions are also advertised as being ready for use anytime and anywhere if the user has the right technical requirements.

According to the company, both tools are characterized by state-of-the-art user interfaces and are extremely user-friendly(Fig. 1). This is demonstrated on the website by the fact that Quadcept has repeatedly received awards for the design of its design software. Back in 2013, for example, the software developers were awarded the internationally coveted Good Design Award in the category of media, applications or digital content for manufacturing, development or production [5]. Even back then, Quadcept's cloud EDA solution attracted a great deal of attention because (according to the judges) it creates added value through innovation in PCB and circuit design(Fig. 2).

The Good Design Award was established by the Japanese government in 1957. It serves to identify and recognize products with particularly good designs, and also as a system for evaluating and recommending designs(Fig. 3). The annual award ceremony is organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion [6].

To promote its tools commercially, Quadcept has established a partner network with Digi-Key (USA), MITS (Taiwan) and ADT (Analog Digital Technology, Japan), among others, as well as other companies to provide mutual support in sales and component sourcing.

Fig. 3: Logo of the Good Design Award

User-friendliness - the top priority

Quadcept advertises with the motto 'User first'. As in many other EDA companies, the engineers speak of a user-oriented CAD system that has developed primarily through user feedback. Due to the wide range of users, from large companies and SMEs to educational institutions and private individuals, it is challenging to find a consensus between the sometimes very different performance expectations of users. The feature requests and ideas received on the forum pages from all over the world are collected, analyzed and then implemented as optimal functions on an ongoing basis. The aim is to realize the user experience from the same perspective as the users.

Clientele

Although the design tools are intended for both commercial and non-commercial users, the company is keen to point out that its customers include many large Japanese corporations, including Sony, Panasonic, Epson, Denso, Fuji and Olympics. This is understandable, as many Japanese engineers, especially of the older generation, have only limited English skills, so that the use of development tools of Japanese origin and with support in Japanese is usually preferred.

Different service offerings and prices

Both tools can be used under different aspects. A distinction is made between commercial and non-commercial users. The latter include members of the Quadcept community, students and hobby developers. The usage fees differ accordingly. The EDA tool provider strives for the greatest possible transparency, i.e. no initial, maintenance or version upgrade fee. The use of Quadcept tools only requires registration. The industry-friendly EDA cost system has made Quadcept popular.

The license fee system in the case of commercial users is very simple: users only have to pay license fees when they need the tools and sign up with a monthly plan. The system is so flexible that you can register for just one month, for example. The license can then be terminated and continued when it is needed again. Quadcept is perfect for user companies where tool usage fluctuates throughout the year. There are no expensive package prices as with other EDA tool providers, which cost up to many thousands of dollars. For the Quadcept community as well as students and hobbyists, the use of both tools is free of charge, albeit with performance restrictions.

Due to the wide range of technical possibilities of both design tools, only the features of the community version will be considered in more detail below for reasons of space.

Features of the community version

The free usability of this variant is accompanied by usage restrictions such as a maximum of 1000 pads and 4 layers [7]. Table 2 contains the most important features of Circuit Designer and PCB Designer in the community version. They have been included here in English because they are part of the daily vocabulary of design engineers in Europe.

There are also other important points:

• Free component library with 250000 components
• Cost estimate/order
• Online component search
• Technical support.

Support for the Quadcept community includes upgrades, online manual, video movies and the user forum. Support languages are Japanese, English, Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional). However, no e-mail exchange with the seller is offered here. Both tools can be operated with Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, and since February 2022 also with Windows 11. Further system requirements, options for component placement (component rotation or mirroring, gate symbols, etc.) and wiring, data export/import and the design check are covered in detail in [6].

Commercial version

The commercial version of Circuit Designer and PCB Designer naturally offers a much wider range of features than the slimmed-down free tool from the community.

Examples for Circuit Designer:

• Possibility of data conversion using EDIF200 to import other CAD circuit diagram data and components
• Linkability with LTspice from Analog Devices to perform various types of SPICE simulations for circuit designs free of charge(Fig. 4)
• PDM Tools interface to export data such as reports, manufacturing drawings, parts lists and netlists.

Fig. 4: Working with LTSpice

Examples for PCB Designer:

• Routing without nets - route signals without specifying specific nets, allowing you to flexibly and efficiently reflect your design intent in high-density, multilayer as well as multi-pin boards
• Planar transformer generator - by specifying parameters, planar transformers can be generated instantly, which is essential for the design of small and high-frequency boards
• Interface for simulation tools - export a .DSN file to connect to simulation tools such as EMIStream, HyperLynx and Pollex PCB SI.

In addition to routing without nets and the options for planar transformers, the latest version V 10.7 of the tools also adds the Angled Trace function, which is often used in high-speed designs. You can align a conductor run to any desired angle.

Other features include the following:

• Export of ODB++ data
• Automatic test pad generation
• MRC (Manufacturing Rule Check)
• Online DRC (Design Rule Check).

The IPC-compliant Part Wizard automatically creates IPC-compliant pad sizes, pad placements, template contours, component outlines and dimensions by entering the component dimensions from the manufacturer's data sheet. Many of the features offered are described in detail at [8]. The free-to-use library of 210,000 components contains the component ID of each company. Quadcept's tools provide a direct online connection to the world's largest component manufacturers such as CoreStaff, Mouser, Digi-Key, Chip1Stop and RS Components. This makes it possible to check the current price, packaging (tape, reel), inventory and total price via Quadcept.

Release V 10.7 in October 2022

Fig. 5: Revision of the rules for Keep Out Areas in V 10.7 from October 2022Aparticular focus of the development engineers' work is the continuous improvement of the design tools. In October 2022, the company released V. 10.7 for use, in which a number of improvements such as those already mentioned above were implemented. This also includes regulations for Keep Out Areas.

Up to V 10.6, the regulation for Keep Out Areas made it possible to define several prohibition rules in a single area (object). This was intended to simplify operation and drawing, making the tools easy to use for everyone. However, it was not possible to set the fill color and style for each area. Feedback from users stated that "it is impossible to immediately judge what content is forbidden".

Therefore, considering the flexibility of drawing board designs, the concept and creation method of restricted areas have been significantly changed in V 10.7.0. Now each prohibition rule is easier to assess visually(Fig. 5).

References:

[1] www.etechnophiles.com/best-pcb-design-software/
[2] www.3dsourced.com/3d-software/best-pcb-design-software/
[3] www.eremex.com or www.eremex.ru
[4] www.quadcept.com/en
[5] www.g-mark.org/award/describe/40518
[6] www.jidp.or.jp/en/
[7] www.quadcept.com/en/chart/product/community/sch.html
[8] www.quadcept.com/en/product/pcb/