Connectors and Junctions

Cables: Edit Cabling Connectors Edit Connectors

The Edit Connectors dialog box shows the list of all available connectors. The dialog box can be also accessed via Cable Navigation Tree: Connectors: selecting the Connectors folder and either double-clicking or choosing Edit inside the context menu (via right-mouse-click). The icons on the top of the dialog box enable actions which are explained below. The meaning of each icon is also explained by tool-tips. To see a tool-tip just move the mouse-pointer over the corresponding icon:

 

Every Connector requires a unique name that has to be assigned in the field Display name. The underlying unit size for geometry definition can be selected with the Units pull-down menu. Changing the unit does not affect the size but just displays the original size in the new unit. The position can be either defined directly inside the Location field or by selecting an available Node with the help of the Nodes button. The orientation of the connector in the 3D space can be defined in the Rotation field. In the 3D Main View connectors are displayed by yellow boxes.

 

Connecting connector pins with signal terminals

The connection of connector pins with existing signal terminals of a cable has to be done inside the Pins-frame. Connector pins are grouped hierarchically into sub-connectors, the so-called Plugins. All plugins and their corresponding pins are listed in a table. To enable the three icons on top of the table the predefined default Plugin_1 has to be selected as shown in the figure below:

 

 

The three icons enable the following actions:

In order to connect a connector pin to an existing signal terminal, the pin has to be selected first. Next, the corresponding cell inside the Terminals column has to be selected. A pull-down menu will appear as shown in the figure below:

 

 

After pressing Edit  the Edit Terminals dialog box will appear listing all available signal terminals. The signal terminals are grouped into so called Interfaces according to the Nodes they belong to. In order to assign Pin_1 to a signal terminal at node N2,  Interface-N2 has to be expanded as shown in the figure below:

 

 

In order to complete the assignment, a certain signal terminal inside the Available terminals frame has to be selected and moved to the Pin terminal frame on the right side by using the arrow button ">". As a result the signal terminal will be removed from the list on the left side. After pressing the OK button the signal terminal is linked to the connector pin as shown in the figure below:

 

 

Note:

It is possible to link more than one signal terminal to a connector pin. All terminals, that are moved from the Available Terminals list on the left side (of the Edit Terminals dialog box) to the Pin Terminal list on the right side, are automatically linked together and attached to the corresponding connector pin. Connector pins which connect different signal terminals will not appear in the schematic block later on.

 

Junctions

In a similar way as connector pins are connected to signal terminals, connector pins can be connected to other connector pins as well. This is possible by means of Junctions. A junction between two connector pins can only be made inside the Edit Connector dialog box. In order to connect two pins from the same or different connectors, the user has to select the first pin and click on the corresponding cell in the Junctions column as shown in the figure below:

 

 

After selecting Edit  the Define Junction dialog box will appear listing all available connector pins (according to the Connectors they belong to). In order to connect both pins of connector XN5,  the second pin P_2 has to be selected as shown in the figure below:

 

 

After pressing the Ok button a Junction will be generated as shown in the figure below. The name C is chosen by the program. and can be changed.

 

 

NOTE:

Junctions can be made between pins from different connectors as well. But the user has to keep in mind that Junctions are treated as ideal connections in the later circuit simulation. Therefore, it does only make sense to connect pins which are close to each other (compared to the smallest wavelength which is significant in the later circuit simulation).

 

Cables: Edit Cabling Junctions

The  Edit Junction dialog box can be also accessed via the Cable Navigation Tree: Junctions.

 

 

On the right side all available Junctions are listed. The name of a Junction can be edited by right mouse clicking on it and choosing Rename from the pull-down menu. In addition, it can be specified whether the connected pins of a Junction should still be displayed on the schematic block or not - the default is to Hide in schematic. There is the possibility to add further pins to the Junction (or remove some of them). This can be done by using the Connectors frame on the left side and the Add symbol in the middle of the dialog box. The Connectors frame lists all available connectors with their corresponding plugins. As soon as an additional connector pin is selected,  the Add button in the middle will be activated. Pressing this button moves the selected pin to the right side and the existing Junction will be extended.

 

In the following list the icons in the middle of the dialog box will be explained. The meaning of each icon is also explained by tool-tips. To see a tool-tip just move the mouse-pointer over the corresponding icon:

 

Show in Schematic

In complex setups it can be useful to visualize which connector pins are connected by signal paths (which means by any kind of cable). The figure below shows a Route with a stub trace. Two single wires are assigned to the route and on each end-node (N1, N2, N4) connectors are connected to the wire terminals.

 

 

The Traces tab and the Bundle tab in the corresponding Route definition dialog are shown below:

 

 

 

In order to see how the different connector pins are connected between each other, the user has to go into Cable Navigation Tree: Connectors, selecting a connector as a starting point by right mouse click and choosing Show in Schematic from the pull-down menu. A separate window will appear displaying the connections from the Start-Connector to all other connectors which are connected to the Start-Connector:

 

 

The window enables to emphasize connections by simply selecting them by a left mouse click. The style on how the connectors and the connections shall be visualized can be changed by using the View Options dialog box. The dialog box can be called

The meaning of every icon inside the top tool bar is explained by tool-tips. To see a tool-tip just move the mouse-pointer over the corresponding icon.