Computer-aided design: An industrial view

An attempt will be made to describe the activities that are commonly defined as Computer-Aided Design. It will cover one subject area only viz. CAD as applied in electronics. An overview will shortly elaborate the several actions that are to be carried out by designer/engineer/specialist, whether this is one person or a group of persons. The Computer-Aided Actions to aid in solving parts of the problem are described in some more detailed form. The intention of this article is to discuss the several activities started within Philips Industries, its results and several individual solutions. No attempt will be made to describe how the several parts that constitute our CAD systems work. The sole intention is to explain how CAD is defined, what aids the engineer might use, and to some extent why these were created. For a reasonable quick reference the preface that follows displays an overview of the various CAD activities, their cradle and their relations.