New software release offers AI-enhanced support for high-speed and high-density PCB design

Zuken has released the 2025 updates to its flagship PCB design applications, CR-8000 Design Gateway and Design Force. This latest version presents targeted improvements to enhance design integrity, accelerate schematic and layout development, and manage the growing complexity of high-speed, high-density electronics.

The engineering front-end delivers major advancements in schematic design, including intelligent auto-generation of connectors and standard circuits. Engineers can quickly populate schematics with predefined blocks, such as filters and ESD protection, based on signal-aware rules. At the same time, intelligent rule-based checks and automated validation tools assess component lifespan, thermal margins, and voltage stability, ensuring design integrity from the earliest stages.

On the physical layout side, CR-8000 Design Force introduces delay-aware routing and AI-assisted features that streamline tasks like bus completion and decoupling capacitor placement, providing timing compliance and decreasing manual effort. Collectively, these enhancements accelerate development cycles, improve design consistency, and support first-pass success in advanced PCB designs.

“With the 2025 release, we’ve focused on taking the pressure off engineers, whether they’re racing to meet timing margins or cleaning up schematics. The new automation features in Design Gateway make it easier to get reliable circuits in place without all the repetitive work, and Design Force keeps high-speed routing tight and efficient. It’s all about getting to a clean, manufacturable board faster – with fewer headaches along the way,” said Francesco De Cet, head of Business, Zuken Europe.