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I am new at Altium, I am trying to connect 8 wires but using a bus. I have read about this in Altium's web page but I doesn't explain too much about how to connect buses on the way I need. I want to connect in this way:

I know pin count doesn't match on both sides but that is my idea. I would like to connect the buses whit a Port or Netlabel if it were possible. I have tried on this way:

enter image description here

But it is not being connected when I import on my PCB design. How is the right way of doing this ?

m.Alin
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Andres
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  • You need to name the individual wires the same where you put them "in" to the bus as where you take them "out" of the bus. Otherwise, how should Altium know which A net corresponds to which RB net? – The Photon Jul 24 '12 at 22:52

1 Answers1

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I would use Net Labels to connect buses together. Ports are mostly used when connecting nets from different sheets.

As The Photon says, the 8 signals from the left IC must have the same net label as the 8 signals from the right IC.

Your bus connection should look like this:

enter image description here

Buses are used to graphically represent how a group of related signals, such as a data bus, is connected on a sheet. They are also used to collect together all the signals belonging to a bus on a sheet and connecting them to a port to enter or leave a sheet. In this instance, they must have a net label of this format: D[0..7].

When it comes to buses, the only way to establish connectivity between a bus and the individual lines within it, is through logical connectivity between net labels. The use of bus wires and bus taps is merely a visual aid. Connectivity will be establish regardless of whether they are present or not.

For more information about buses:

Community
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m.Alin
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    Should also point out that for a single-sheet design, or if you design with global net names, the bus is essentially just a graphical element with no effect on the netlist. – The Photon Jul 25 '12 at 00:01
  • But, on that way, if I dont put the buses they will be connected anyway because have the same Net Labels, so, whats the advantage of using bus ? – Andres Jul 25 '12 at 00:11
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    @Andres As *The Photon* said above, in a single-sheet design a bus acts just as a visual aid. – m.Alin Jul 25 '12 at 00:25
  • Hooo I see, thank you for your answer. If I have to connect the bus to another component in another sheet I should use ports ? – Andres Jul 25 '12 at 01:00
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    @Andres Yes, with multi-sheet design, you should use ports to connect buses on different sheets. – m.Alin Jul 25 '12 at 01:13
  • So Net Labels won't connect pins in different sheets, only ports ? Sorry for the questions it is the last one :) – Andres Jul 25 '12 at 01:17
  • @Andres (Don't worry. That's what this site is for.) Actually, Net Labels can also connect signals in different sheets, but only if the multi-sheet design has a flat scope. I wouldn't recommend using only Net Labels across different sheets. It's harder to follow a signal through multiple sheets without a port. – m.Alin Jul 25 '12 at 01:37
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    @Andres For more in-depth information about _multi-sheet_ design and the _scope of the net identifiers_, please read the pdf that I linked in my answer. Or this newer pdf from Altium: [Multi-Sheet Design](http://www.altium.com/files/training/Module%205%20-%20Multi-Sheet%20Design.pdf) – m.Alin Jul 25 '12 at 01:43
  • @m.Alin It appears the link in your latest comment is broken. Do you happen to know the current location of that information? – Mast Feb 21 '17 at 12:48
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    @Mast This link might help: http://techdocs.altium.com/display/ADOH/Connectivity+and+Multi-Sheet+Design – m.Alin Feb 21 '17 at 12:52
  • @m.Alin Fantastic :-) – Mast Feb 21 '17 at 13:05