Altium DC Power Integrity with FYPA
We've been extending FYPA, the open-source DC power integrity / IR-drop tool that reads Altium projects (.PrjPcb) directly, and published the work as an open-source fork on GitHub:
The main additions
- Split planes (“Multiple Nets” plane layers) are now read region by region. Before, every via that reached ground only through a split plane was an island.
- Non-synchronous bucks split the output current between the switch pin and the freewheel diode, so the switch-node current density is no longer overstated.
- Regulators: a switcher's output inductor inside the regulation loop is no longer counted as a drop. Input filters get their DC resistance. Isolated DC-DC converters return on their own ground. A regulator with a separate bias rail is handled.
- Load switches are modeled as series parts with their on-resistance.
- Worst-case corner: maximum load currents and maximum resistances, with the input at its minimum voltage.
- Power-tree .json reader: a PCB like the Toradex Ivy Plus has 200+ values to enter — sources, regulators, series parts, load currents — so we added a reader that loads them from a .json file generated by Tomachie.com.
Tested so far
Tested on the Toradex Ivy Plus and Eli Hughes' Cricket-node, with more designs to try it on. It's DC-focused: FYPA's own capacitor and impedance tabs are unchanged.
It's open source under AGPL-3, like the original. Feedback welcome.