<p>Current cabling systems in cars are about to be, completely or partially, replaced by a cabling technology called flexible flat cables, FFCs. This new technology requires tools that can assist engineers in the design process of the cable layouts. The aim of this thesis is to develop a software demonstrator of a concept tool for this purpose. </p><p>The task is divided into three problem areas. Topology modeling, optimization and visualization. An editor is to be implemented which handles creation and modification of topologies which represents FFC harnesses. The optimization is performed using global and local routing. The global routing handles optimization on topology level, defining net paths in the topology. Local routing handles the exact net placement on each bus cable. Finally, the local routing solutions should be graphically presented to the user. </p><p>The topology modeling requirement was implemented as a graph layouteditor. Global routing is performed using graph search techniques and local routing is based on VLSI channel routing methods. Visualization is implemented for the local routing solutions using the SVG format. </p><p>The developed application handles most of the requirements. The editor has support for an XML netlist which is used for specifying connectors and nets used in the topology. Global routing and local routing can be performed on the topology. Prerouting of nets can be performed on both global and local level. Support for assigning specific cables, from a library, to bus cables is possible.</p>

Current cabling systems in cars are about to be, completely or partially, replaced by a cabling technology called flexible flat cables, FFCs. This new technology requires tools that can assist engineers in the design process of the cable layouts. The aim of this thesis is to develop a software demonstrator of a concept tool for this purpose. The task is divided into three problem areas. Topology modeling, optimization and visualization. An editor is to be implemented which handles creation and modification of topologies which represents FFC harnesses. The optimization is performed using global and local routing. The global routing handles optimization on topology level, defining net paths in the topology. Local routing handles the exact net placement on each bus cable. Finally, the local routing solutions should be graphically presented to the user. The topology modeling requirement was implemented as a graph layouteditor. Global routing is performed using graph search techniques and local routing is based on VLSI channel routing methods. Visualization is implemented for the local routing solutions using the SVG format. The developed application handles most of the requirements. The editor has support for an XML netlist which is used for specifying connectors and nets used in the topology. Global routing and local routing can be performed on the topology. Prerouting of nets can be performed on both global and local level. Support for assigning specific cables, from a library, to bus cables is possible.