Tired of using IC layout tools for MEMS?
We certainly were.
When you think about it, MEMS layout is one of the most cumbersome parts of the design process, involving countless revisions, incompatible data formats and minute details. The challenges of MEMS layout are compounded further by the fact that most tools available are IC layout tools, or less-appropriately, architectural design tools.
Finally, a layout tool for MEMS
Blueprint is the first layout tool designed specifically for the MEMS community. Our goal with Blueprint was to revisit the workflow of the layout engineer and create a tool that would be effortless to learn and use.
Our design philosophy for Blueprint is: "simple things should be simple, complex things should be possible." That¡®s why our product provides configurable palettes that you can drag and customize to your needs; clearly illustrated icons; and configurable grids and guides - all of which make device layout easier than ever.
We even went a few steps further... automatically linking masks created in Blueprint to process steps for creating 3D visualization of your device. What¡¯s more, Blueprint users can now link the layout with automatic mesh creation and refinement for device-level analysis!
Watch Blueprint in action at the Blueprint Channel on Vimeo
Zen and the art of MEMS custom layout
Full custom layout requires your undivided attention on the job at hand. That is why we designed Blueprint with a minimalist sensitivity that maximizes the drawing area. Cells, layers, grids are all available at your finger tips, but take up very little real estate, panels neatly hide after you have used them, toolbars can be torn-off and repositioned to you liking and then closed when you dont need them. All-in-all, providing a very zen experience so that you can draw and edit away without distractions!
Stop playing the parking valet
Current layout tools treat you like a parking attendant at a crowded lot. Constantly shuffling between views and managing a lot of administrative trivia like layer visibilities, grid sizes, snaps, cells and views. Blueprint introduces a simple solution - Bookmarks. A Bookmark can contain layer states, grid preferences, viewports, view states, grid information, snap settings, transparency settings, and cell states.
Add a bookmark and your current settings are saved. You can then switch to other parts of the drawing. Switch back to a bookmark and you are back to the drawing, exactly as you left it before.
Command line and keyboard shortcuts
If youve ever used AutoCAD, then Blueprint will seem very familiar to you. Run commands from the command line or use the customizable keyboard shortcuts for quick and easy drawing. Enjoy a familiar interface coupled with the immense capability of a layout editor specialized for MEMS design.
Blueprint Default Shortcuts & Aliases (PDF)
Customizable interface
Blueprint makes it easy for you to tailor the interface to your liking. Customize keyboard shortcuts and manipulate toolbars and snap settings to match your drawing style. Modify performance parameters to adjust redraw speed and level of visible detail. When youre finished, save the information to a user profile so you can easily load your customized settings later.
Drawing tools for MEMS designers
No other layout tool is so optimized for MEMS design as Blueprint. Advanced drawing tools like beziers, splines, and poly-lines are a breeze to use, and multilingual text is fully supported.
Use the Pathfinder operations (add, intersect, subtract, divide,
NOR, XOR, grow, shrink, make ring, extract ground plane) to quickly create complex shapes. Modify, align, or distribute shapes easily using the keyboard or the mouse.
Easy snapping
The possibilities are endless when it comes to Blueprints snap settings. Snap to common features like endpoint, midpoint, center-point, or intersection points or more advanced features such as tangential or perpendicular points. You can even snap to polar angles and distances in the absolute frame or relative to other objects. The toolbar is fully customizable so you can select any combination of snaps to be active at a given time.
Measurement and dimensioning tools
With Blueprints measurement functions, you can easily measure linear distances, perimeters around a specific shape, or areas of selected objects. Easily add dimensions to your drawing and customize them to the style of your choice.
Full cell hierarchy support
If youre working with cells and arrays, then Blueprint is the tool for you. Blueprints Cell Manager makes it easy to keep track of cells and manage their hierarchy. You can easily edit and insert cells and arrays and scale or rotate them to your liking.
Cross-section viewer
Ever had trouble visualizing what your mask looks like in 3D? Blueprint solves that problem! Just select a process flow to reference, draw a line across any part of your mask, and instantly see the cross-section of the device along that line. Not only can you see the final cross-section, but you can jump to any step of the process flow to see the cross-section at that step.
PowerPoint export
Anyone who has ever tried to hand-draw a process flow in PowerPoint knows how time-consuming it can be. Thankfully, Blueprint can create one for you with the click of a button. The PowerPoint file contains the cross-section and process parameters of every process step, as well as handy summary slides for easy reference. Sharing process information across your organization has never been easier.
3D model visualization
2D cross-sections are great, but sometimes you might want to see your full model in 3D. Blueprint makes this easy with automatic export to FabViewer, the process visualization tool in IntelliSuite. Here you can fully inspect your 3D model and export PowerPoint, image, or video files.
Tape out with ease
TapeOut is an all-angle Design Rule Check (DRC) engine designed specifically for MEMS. With TapeOut, you can work with convex polygons, beziers, splines, or other complex MEMS shapes knowing that youve got a robust DRC engine behind you!
Design rules are easy to set up using the TapeOut Deck editor featuring the familiar, friendly IntelliSuite interface. You can sort, group or turn on and off rule checks with the click of a button. DRC can be run on the entire drawing or just portions of the drawings such as selected polygons or blocks.
(click to enlarge)
TapeOut screenshots
(a) TapeOut features a familiar and easy to use deck editor (b) An easy to use error navigator allows you to breeze through errors (c) intuitive error markings allow you to quickly identify and fix the error at hand.
An intuitive error navigator within Blueprint allows you to easily identify and fix errors. Error markings show you the angles, dimensions or distances causing the errors so that you can intuitively understand and fix the errors. Errors can be sorted by design rule or by blocks, allowing you to breeze through large drawings. Within minutes, your layouts will be error-free and ready for the cleanroom!
Blueprint is fully scriptable, enabling you to create complex parametric cells and drawings through scripting. Blueprint allows full support for Windows Script Host (WSH) which allows language independence for scripting. You can using built in VBScript based scripting or use any language of your choice (Jscript, Python, Perl, Tcl/Tk) by installing the appropriate language support. Or, choose from our large library of scripts that can be modified to suit your needs.