RF / Power Pin Exit — User Guide

1Introduction

On high‑frequency boards, a routed trace is often much wider than the pad it connects to. A controlled‑impedance 50‑ohm line on roughly 10 mil (0.25 mm) dielectric typically ends up 19–22 mils wide, while many RF component pads are only 10, 12, or 15 mils wide. Connecting a wide trace directly to a narrow pad creates an abrupt step that is hard to control.

Xpedition can change a trace’s width along its length, but doing so by hand tends to produce a lumpy “snowman” profile and jagged or kinked corners that distort the connection. RF designers usually want something far more precise: a clean, straight‑sided taper of a chosen angle and length between the pad and the trace.

This tool draws that transition for you as a single piece of drawn copper — a conductive shape on the pad’s layer, assigned to the pad’s net — that tapers smoothly from the pad width out to the trace width. The transition can run straight out from the pad, or turn through a bend so the trace can leave at an angle you specify.

There are two ways to place a shape. You can save your settings once and then trigger the tool with a hotkey on any pad you have selected, or you can use an interactive mode that shows a live “ghost” preview of the shape on screen so you can see it before committing. Both are described in this guide.

Two parts, one tool. The window shown throughout this guide is the configuration window, where you set up how the exit shape should look. The shapes themselves are drawn either by the configuration window’s interactive button or by a separate hotkey‑driven program that reads the settings you saved. You set up the look once; you can then draw as many shapes as you like.

2Requirements & Setup

Xpedition Layout must be running with a board design open before you start the tool.
A valid ExactCAD license must be applied. If no license is found, the tool reports this and closes; apply your code with the ExactCAD Licensing tool first.
Settings are saved into the open design’s own configuration folder. You must save a configuration at least once before the hotkey or interactive placement can run — if no saved settings are found, the tool will tell you to set the configuration first.

Note: Length fields follow the design’s current working units. When the design is in millimeters the distance and radius fields read in millimeters; when it is in mils, inches, or microns the labels update to match. The taper angle is always in degrees, and the extension is always a fraction (not a length), so those two never change with units.

3How the Exit Shape Works

The diagram below shows the geometry the tool builds. Copper grows out from the pad, tapers up (or down) to the trace width, and meets the route. Understanding these few terms makes every setting in the configuration window easy to follow.

Pin exit geometry: pad, exit shape, taper distance, taper angle, extension, end cap, and trace — The anatomy of an exit shape — from the pad on the left to the trace on the right.

Pad: the component pad the trace must connect to. This is the narrow end of the transition for a typical RF exit.
Taper: the angled section where the copper widens from the pad toward the trace. You control this either by the angle of the taper walls or by the length of the taper, but not both at once.
Extension: a short straight run of full‑width copper added beyond the taper, before the trace begins. It is set as a fraction of the trace width, so it scales automatically with the trace.
End cap: an optional rounded cap on the wide end of the shape, useful when you want a curved leading edge instead of a square one.
Trace: the routed line at full width. The shape is sized so the trace can connect cleanly to its wide end.

Tip: For the common RF case the pad is narrower than the trace, so the copper tapers up from pad to trace. The tool can also handle the reverse case, where the trace is narrower than the pad, by tapering down instead (see Shape Options).

4The Configuration Window

Everything you set in this window is saved automatically the moment you change it — there is no separate “save” step to remember. The settings are written to the open design, ready for the next shape you draw, whether by hotkey or interactively.

The RF and Power Pin Exit configuration window — The full configuration window, with default values shown.

4.1 Choosing the Transition

First decide how the taper should be defined. You can specify the taper’s angle, or its length — choosing one disables the other so there is never any ambiguity. Then set the extension that follows the taper.

Mode selection: taper by angle or by distance, plus the extension field

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Taper by angle(option + value)	Defines the transition by the angle of its tapered walls, in degrees. When this method is selected the angle field is active and the distance field is greyed out. This is the usual choice for RF work, where a specific taper angle is desired. The default is 22 degrees.
Taper by distance(option + value)	Defines the transition by the length of the tapered section instead, in the design’s current units. Selecting this method activates the distance field and greys out the angle field.
Extension(value)	Adds a short straight run of full‑width copper after the taper, expressed as a fraction of the trace width — for example 0.4 means 40 percent of the trace width. Enter a value between 0 and 1. If you leave it at 0 the tool substitutes a small default so the shape always has a clean leading section.

4.2 Shape Options

These options refine the body of the shape.

Shape options: end cap, taper-down, and start-at-SM-pad checkboxes

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Add a rounded end cap(checkbox)	Adds a circular, rounded cap to the wide end of the shape rather than leaving it square. Turn this on when you want a curved leading edge where the trace meets the transition.
Taper down when the trace is narrower(checkbox)	Handles the reverse of the usual case. When the trace is actually narrower than the pad, this lets the shape taper down from the pad to the trace instead of up. On by default so the tool copes with both situations automatically.
Start at the end of the solder mask pad(checkbox)	Begins the taper at the edge of the solder mask opening rather than at the edge of the copper pad. The copper runs straight across the small gap between the two, then starts to widen at the end of the solder mask pad.

Why this helps: The solder mask opening is usually slightly larger than the copper pad. By default the transition begins right at the end of the copper pad; turning this on extends the start out to where the solder mask ends, running straight across the small difference before the taper begins. This avoids leaving an oddly‑shaped pad — one that is effectively larger or differently shaped than its neighbours — which can cause trouble at assembly, where it would call for a different amount of solder paste than the pads around it.

4.3 Adding a Bend

By default the shape runs straight out from the pad. Turning on the bend option lets the trace leave at an angle: the copper tapers, then curves through a bend before reaching full‑width trace. When the bend is switched off, the whole group of bend settings is greyed out.

Bend parameters: direction, bend angle, bend radius, base extension, and miter corners

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Add a bend(checkbox)	Enables the bend and unlocks the settings below it. Leave it off for a straight exit.
Bend direction(left / right option)	Chooses whether the shape curves to the left or to the right as it leaves the pad.
Bend angle(value)	How far the exit turns, in degrees. For example, 90 sends the trace off at a right angle to the pad. The default is 90.
Bend radius(value)	The radius of the curve, in the design’s current units. A larger radius gives a gentler turn. The default is 0.5. The radius must be greater than half the trace width, otherwise the curve cannot be drawn and the tool will say so.
Base extension(display only)	Shows a length the tool calculates for you while you preview a bent shape interactively. It is filled in automatically after an interactive preview and is not something you normally type into.
Square off right‑angle corners(checkbox)	Mitres 90‑degree corners on the shape, squaring them off rather than leaving them as drawn. Affects how sharp corners are finished.

Watch the radius. If the bend radius is set to half the trace width or less, the curve is geometrically impossible and the tool will stop and ask you to increase it. Choose a radius comfortably larger than half your trace width.

4.4 Side Exit

The side‑exit option lets the transition leave from the side of the pad rather than straight off the end. When it is switched on you choose which side; when it is off, the side choice is greyed out.

Side exit option with left and right side choices

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Exit from the side(checkbox)	Makes the shape leave from a side of the pad instead of straight out, and enables the side choice below.
Which side(left / right option)	Selects the left or right side of the pad for the exit. Only available while side exit is switched on.

Note: Working out which side of a part a given pad sits on is harder than it looks. What is obvious to a person is not obvious to software, which has no prior experience of the part and must decide from objective geometry alone — and there are many situations where that determination is not clear‑cut. Occasionally the transition will come out of the wrong side of a pad; these switches let you correct it. They are equally useful when you deliberately want the shape to leave from the side of a pad.

4.5 Trace Width Override

Normally the tool sizes the wide end of the shape to match the trace width it finds for the pad’s net. If you need a different width, you can override it.

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Override the trace width(checkbox)	Turns on a manual width and activates the value field beside it. Leave it off to let the tool use the net’s normal trace width.
Trace width value(value)	The width to use for the wide end of the shape, in the design’s current units. Only used when the override is switched on. A non‑numeric entry is ignored and the field clears.

4.6 Window Behavior

One convenience option controls the window itself.

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Keep the window on top(checkbox)	Keeps the configuration window floating above the Xpedition window so it stays visible while you work in the layout. On by default. Turn it off if you would rather the window behave normally.

5Creating Exit Shapes

Once your settings are the way you want them, there are two ways to actually draw a shape. Both use the same saved configuration.

The interactive create button and the draw-on-second-click option

5.1 Drawing on a Selection with a Hotkey

This is the fast, repeatable method. Select the pad or pads you want to treat, then trigger the tool with its assigned hotkey. The tool reads your saved settings and draws an exit shape on each selected pad, matched to the pad’s net and layer. There is no dialog to click through — it simply draws.

Also handy: if you have both a pad and an existing exit shape selected together, the tool will instead re‑assign that shape to the pad’s net. This is a quick way to fix the net on a shape after the fact. If the shape happens to touch a pin belonging to a different net, the tool warns you so you can correct it.

5.2 Placing a Shape Interactively

The interactive method lets you dial a shape in by eye and see it as a live, ghosted outline before deciding what to do with it. As you drag, the tool works out the shape that reaches the cursor and writes the resulting values — the extension and the bend radius — back into the configuration window, which saves them. In other words, drawing a shape interactively captures its settings into the saved configuration. You can then place that shape directly, or reproduce it on other pads with the hotkey. Start interactive placement from the configuration window’s interactive create button, then follow the prompts shown in the Xpedition status bar.

Start interactive placement from the configuration window. The status bar asks you to click the pin you want the exit shape to start from.
Click the starting pad. The status bar then asks you to move the cursor toward where the exit should end.
Move the cursor. A ghosted preview of the exit shape follows it on screen, updating live so you can judge the result before committing.
Click a second time to finish at that point. The shape you drew is written back into the window and saved to the configuration. If the “draw on the second click” option is on, the copper shape is also placed where you drew it.

Setting	Purpose & Behavior
Interactive create(button)	Starts the click‑and‑preview placement described above, using your current saved settings.
Draw the shape on the second click(checkbox)	Controls whether the second click also drops copper at the spot you dragged to. Either way, the shape you previewed is captured into the saved configuration. With it on, the previewed shape is committed right where you drew it. With it off, no copper is left behind — the purpose is to capture the shape’s settings so you can reproduce it on one or more pads with the hotkey.

Tip: A handy workflow is to draw a shape once interactively with “draw on the second click” turned off — judging the taper and reach by eye — and then select your target pads and use the hotkey to stamp that same shape onto each of them. Use plain placement (with the option on) when you simply want the shape where you drew it.

6Typical Workflow

Open your board in Xpedition Layout and start the configuration window.
Choose how to define the taper — by angle (typical for RF) or by length — and enter the value.
Set the extension as a fraction of the trace width, and turn on an end cap if you want a rounded leading edge.
If the trace needs to leave at an angle, turn on the bend and set its direction, angle, and radius; or turn on side exit to leave from the side of the pad.
To place shapes quickly, select the pad or pads in the layout and press the assigned hotkey — a shape is drawn on each.
To place one carefully, use the interactive create button, click the starting pad, move to preview, and click again to commit.
Verify the shape connects cleanly to the trace and is on the correct net.

7Tips & Troubleshooting

“You need to set the configuration first”: No saved settings were found for the open design. Open the configuration window and change at least one setting so the configuration is written, then try again.
The tool cannot connect to Xpedition: Make sure Xpedition Layout is running with a design open before you start the tool. If it reports it cannot find the keys it needs for automation, Xpedition’s automation access may not be set up on that machine.
A net or design‑rule error when fixing a shape: If you re‑assign a shape to a pad’s net and the shape touches a pin on a different net, the tool warns you. Make sure every pin the shape touches belongs to the same net.
The bend will not draw: The bend radius must be greater than half the trace width. Increase the radius and try again.
The distance or radius field looks wrong: Those fields use the design’s current working units. Check whether the design is in mils, millimeters, inches, or microns — the field labels update to show which.
No copper appeared after an interactive preview: That is expected when “draw on the second click” is off. The shape you dragged is still captured into the saved configuration — select your pads and use the hotkey to stamp it onto them, or turn the option on to place copper directly where you draw.