Plane Rule Types

The rule can operate in one of the following two modes:

• Simple - the default mode, define the settings for how both pads and vias connect to a power plane.

• Advanced - define specific plane thermal connections for pads and vias, separately. Note that switching back to Simple mode after setting and applying constraints in Advanced mode is considered a modification - clicking Apply or OK will affect the simple definition, overriding the individual advanced definitions specified previously.

Defines the style of the connection from a pin of a component, targeted by the scope (Full Query) of the rule, to a power plane. The following three styles are available:

• Relief Connect – connect using a thermal relief connection.

• Direct Connect – connect using solid copper to the pin.

• No Connect – do not connect a component pin to the power plane.

The following constraints apply when using the Relief Connect style:

• Conductors – the number of thermal relief copper connections (2 or 4).

• Conductor Width – how wide the thermal relief copper connections are.

• Air-Gap – the width of each air gap in the relief connection.

• Expansion – the radial width of the copper ring around the hole, measured from the edge of the hole to the edge of the air gap.

The rule can operate in one of the following two modes:

• Simple – the default mode, define the settings for how pads and vias connect to a polygon.

• Advanced – define specific polygon connections for thru-hole pads, SMD pads, and vias, separately. Note that switching back to Simple mode after setting and applying constraints in Advanced mode is considered a modification - clicking Apply or OK will affect the simple definition, overriding the individual advanced definitions specified previously.

Defines the style of the connection from a pin of a component, targeted by the scope (Full Query) of the rule, to a polygon plane. The following three styles are available:

• Relief Connect – connect using a thermal relief connection.

• Direct Connect – connect using solid copper to the pin.

• No Connect – do not connect a component pin to the polygon plane.

The following constraints apply when using the Relief Connect style:

• Air Gap Width - the distance between the edge of the pad/via and the surrounding polygon. Note that this constraint is also applied when using the No Connect style.

• Conductor Width - how wide the thermal relief copper connections are.

• Conductors - select the number of thermal relief copper connections:

  • 2 - two conductors at the chosen Rotation angle.

  • 4 - four conductors at the chosen Rotation angle.

  • Rotation - when the 2 or 4 Conductor mode is selected, defines the angle of the copper connections.

  • Auto - the software will define one thermal relief conductor from the center of each separate edge of the pad/via shape, radiating outward at 90° to that edge of the shape (with one conductor for every 90° of arc in a rounded shape). For pads, Auto mode maintains this pad edge-to-thermal conductor relationship regardless of the pad rotation (the spokes rotate with the pad). Note that this is not true for vias, as they do not have a discrete rotation setting.

  • Min Distance - when Auto is selected, the Min Distance option can also be enabled to specify the minimum distance allowed between any two adjacent thermal relief conductors (as measured along the edge of the shape). If adjacent thermal relief conductors are located closer than Min Distance, sufficient thermal conductors are removed to ensure that the Min Distance setting is achieved between all adjacent thermal relief conductors. 

• Relief style polygon connections can be defined at the rule level, or the rule can be overridden by locally customizing the properties at the object level. Local override is achieved by enabling the Thermal Relief option in the object properties (). Click on the relief properties to edit their values in the Edit Polygon Connect Style dialog (). The location of the connection points can also be edited, by clicking the Edit Points button (). Note that connected polygons must be repoured to reflect changes to the relief style.