Protection boundaries in a parallel printed circuit board design environment
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for editing a printed circuit board design maintained in a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, comprising:
- (a) receiving design data from the common database at each of first and second clients, whereinthe design data is graphically displayable at the first and second clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, andthe pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of the printed circuit board design throughout which the first and second clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said design object edits;
(b) subsequent to step (a), receiving an instruction at the first client to protect a portion of the shared area from editing by the second client, wherein the instruction comprises a line drawn around the protected portion at the first client that defines a boundary of the protected portion;
(c) subsequent to step (b), transmitting an edit request from the second client regarding the protected portion; and
(d) receiving data at the second client reflecting rejection of the edit request, said rejection being based on the presence of the protected portion.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Multiple users may simultaneously edit a shared area of a printed circuit board design. In order to prevent conflicts between multiple users, a user draws a protection border around a portion of his or her workspace so as to temporarily reserve the protected portion and prevent editing by other users. The protection border may be broadcast to other users. The protection border may also define a protected region in which a user may evaluate alternative design changes without requesting corresponding changes to a master PCB design.
119 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for editing a printed circuit board design maintained in a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, comprising:
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(a) receiving design data from the common database at each of first and second clients, wherein the design data is graphically displayable at the first and second clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, and the pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of the printed circuit board design throughout which the first and second clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said design object edits; (b) subsequent to step (a), receiving an instruction at the first client to protect a portion of the shared area from editing by the second client, wherein the instruction comprises a line drawn around the protected portion at the first client that defines a boundary of the protected portion; (c) subsequent to step (b), transmitting an edit request from the second client regarding the protected portion; and (d) receiving data at the second client reflecting rejection of the edit request, said rejection being based on the presence of the protected portion. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer-implemented method for editing a printed circuit board design maintained in a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, comprising:
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(a) receiving design data from the common database at a first client, wherein the design data is graphically displayable at the first client and at one or more other clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, and the pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of the printed circuit board design throughout which the first client and the one or more other clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said object edits; (b) subsequent to step (a), receiving an instruction at the first client to protect a portion of the shared area that is defined by a line drawn around the protected portion to prevent editing within the protected portion by the one or more other clients; and (c) transmitting, in response to the instruction received in step (b) and for broadcast to the one or more other clients, a protection border indicating reservation of the protected portion of the shared area for the first client. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer-implemented method for editing design data for a printed circuit board maintained in a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, comprising:
- clients, comprising;
(a) transmitting the design data from the common database to each of first and second clients, wherein the design data is graphically displayable at the first and second clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, and the pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of the printed circuit board design throughout which the first and second clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said design object edits; (b) subsequent to step (a), receiving from the first client a designation of a protected portion of the shared area, said protected portion defined by a line drawn at the first client; (c) transmitting the line to the second client for display thereon; and (d) preventing the second client from editing parts of the shared area within the protected portion. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
- clients, comprising;
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23. A tangible machine-readable storage device having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps of method for editing a printed circuit board design maintained at a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, the steps comprising:
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(a) receiving design data from the common database at each of first and second clients, wherein the design data is graphically displayable at the first and second clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, and the pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of the printed circuit board design throughout which the first and second clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said design object edits; (b) subsequent to step (a), receiving an instruction at the first client to protect a portion of the shared area from editing by the second client, wherein the instruction comprises a line drawn around the protected portion at the first client that defines a boundary of the protected portion; (c) subsequent to (b), transmitting an edit request from the second client regarding the protected portion; and (d) receiving data at the second client reflecting rejection of the edit request, said rejection being based on the presence of the protected portion. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A tangible machine-readable storage device having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps of method for editing a printed circuit board design maintained in a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, the steps comprising:
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(a) receiving design data from the common database base at a first client, wherein the design data is graphically displayable at the first client and at one or more other clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, and the pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of printed circuit board design throughout which the first client and the one or more other clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said design objects edits; (b) subsequent to step (a), receiving an instruction at the first client to protect a portion of the shared area that is defined by a line drawn around the protected portion to prevent editing within the protected portion by the one or more other clients; and (c) transmitting, in response to the instruction received in step (b) and for broadcast to the one or more other clients, a protection border indicating reservation of the protected portion of the shared area for the first client. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A tangible machine-readable storage device having stored thereon data representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps of method for editing a printed circuit board design maintained in a common database storing printed circuit board design data incorporating edits from multiple clients, the steps comprising:
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(a) transmitting design data from the common database to each of first and second clients, wherein the design data is graphically displayable at the first and second clients as a pattern of electronic components and connections between those components for at least a portion of the printed circuit board design, and the pattern of electronic components and connections between those components corresponds to a shared area of the printed circuit board design throughout which the first and second clients have simultaneous access to edit design objects and to cause modification of the common database to reflect said design object edits; (b) subsequent to step (a), receiving from the first client a designation of a protected portion of the shared area, said protected portion defined by a line drawn at the first client; (c) transmitting the line to the second client for display thereon; and (d) preventing the second client from editing parts of the shared area within the protected portion. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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Specification