Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!malcolm
From: malcolm@Apple.COM (Malcolm Slaney)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: PCB vs. wirewrap:  overview and guide (long)
Summary: Mosis does it in CIF
Keywords: PCB, Tango, Orcad, pcb, boards, fabricate, plot, photoplot
Message-ID: <36841@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 29 Nov 89 02:57:52 GMT
References: <850@carroll1.UUCP> <65276@psuecl.bitnet> <852@carroll1.UUCP> <1989Nov17.054911.339@bpdsun1.uucp>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 36

In article <054911.339@bpdsun1.uucp> rmf@bpdsun2.UUCP (Rob Finley) writes:
>For final plots on the boards:
>For boards of any complexity, you will get the best results if you generate
>a plot file in the GERBER photoplotter format.  You will need to find a 
>service bureau that does photoplotting and either modem or send them 
>floppies, or 9 track magnetic tape.  

Mosis provides a service where they will accept CIF over the Internet and
turn it into a photoplot or even a completed PCB.  Its pretty neat to send
some EMAIL and get back a PCB in a few weeks.

Mosis was the DARPA chip making organization.  I think it has since been
spun off and is now administered by ISI in Southern California.  A couple
of years ago they started adding a few more services based on their successes
with chip building.  The PCB making service was done to support the chips they
made.  They will now do business with anybody so there is no longer a need to
get funny money from the US Government.

It's pretty easy to translate back and forth between CIF (the standard 
academic/research standard for chip designs) and Gerger (the PCB standard).
I don't have the code anymore but both directions were only a couple pages
of code.

When they first started this service they took the CIF and plotted it onto
a quartz photomask, photographically expanded it and then made the PCB's from
this.  Since quartz photomasks are a bit expensive they were working on doing
it the right way (use software to convert to convert the CIF to Gerber.)

Still a couple of years ago it was pretty neat to do a design on a Cadnetix
system, convert the Gerber to CIF and use EMAIL to submit the design.  I'm
sure the procedure is much less complicated now.

For more information send a note to mosis@mosis.edu and you should get
back some information on how to request the PCB stuff.

								Malcolm


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