Physical Design
Physical design representation is one of AP 210’s core capabilities. It captures the geometric and spatial information needed to define how electronic assemblies are laid out.
Physical Design Elements
AP 210’s physical design model includes:
Component placement - Position and orientation of each component
Interconnect traces - Conductive paths on each layer
Vias and pads - Connections between layers and to components
Board outline - The shape of the printed circuit board
Keepout zones - Areas where components or traces cannot be placed
Layer stackup - The arrangement of conductive and dielectric layers
Shape Representation
AP 210 uses STEP’s shape representation resources:
Advanced B-rep - Boundary representation for 3D solids
Geometrically bounded surface - Surface models for complex shapes
Planar extent - 2D bounds for footprint outlines
Axis placement - Coordinate systems for positioning
Component Placement
Each component placement is defined by:
A reference to the component definition
A location (x, y, z coordinates)
An orientation (rotation matrix or Euler angles)
The assembly in which it is placed
In the STEP file, this appears as:
#100 = NEXT_ASSEMBLY_USAGE_OCCURRENCE('R1', 'R1', '', #50, #60, $);
#101 = ITEM_DEFINED_TRANSFORMATION('R1 placement', '', #80, #90);Layer Stackup
A multi-layer PCB is modeled as a stack of stratums:
Each stratum has a material, thickness, and purpose (signal, power, ground)
Stratum technology distinguishes conductive, dielectric, and resistive layers
Layer ordering is explicit in the model
Design rules can reference specific layers or layer pairs