Chapter 7 Autorouting and Autoplacement
NI Ultiboard User Manual 7-2 ni.com
Note This is only active when an unconnected pad corresponding to that net is selected.

Autoroute»Autoroute Selected Buses

Use to autoroute selected buses. Refer to the Autorouting buses section for
more information.

Autoroute»Start Optimization

Use to optimize the placement of traces. Refer to the Optimization section
for more information.

Autoroute»Autoroute/place Options

Use to set up router and placer functions. Refer to the Controlling the
Routing Functions and Controlling the Autoplacer sections for more
information.
Autoplacement of Parts
The following sections explain how to use the autoplacer to place parts.

Pre-Placing Parts

You may wish to pre-place certain parts (for example, holes) before
autoplacing other parts.
Complete the following steps to lock any pre-placed parts so they will not
be moved by the autoplacer:
1. Select the pre-placed parts and choose Edit»Lock.
2. You can also lock parts in place from the Parts tab of the Spreadsheet
View. Refer to the Spreadsheet View: Parts Tab section of Chapter 1,
User Interface, for more information.

Understanding How the Autoplacer Works

The autoplacer automatically places all unplaced parts onto your board
according to group settings you can specify. It uses a rip-up and retry
algorithm to find the best part positioning. As the autoplacer runs, the status
line at the bottom of the screen indicates how many autoplacement passes
have been completed. It also indicates how many parts have been placed
and how many pins have been swapped (when the autoplacer performs
pin/gate swaps). If the autoplacer cannot place all the parts, it returns a
message indicating how many parts are still unplaced in the Results tab of
the Spreadsheet View.