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Embedded thumbnail for Collaborative Editing
How-To's
Collaborative Editing

Save time and minimize reworks while teaming up on a PCB design from anywhere in the world. Watch the video for a sneak preview of the new collaborative editing functionality.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Exporting Results

After completing your simulation in Power Analyzer by Keysight, you will likely need to export some of the results for further analysis. In this video, we will show you how to prepare a report once the simulation is done.

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How-To's
Plane Connect - Direct in RF Design

Designing high-frequency circuit boards requires a sharp eye toward maintaining signal integrity. Some signal connections are more prone to interruption than others. In this video, you can learn how Altium Designer's Polygon Connect Design Rule and the Thermal Relief option can help in the PCB design process.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Understanding and Correcting Violations

When you finish the Power Analyzer by Keysight simulation process, you may find some design problems. In this video, we will learn how to understand and correct any violations that may arise on your board.

Blog
Concept Phase – Cooling and Airflow Part 1

Next step in our open-source laptop project is to explain how to design cooling and airflow. In this article, we can show you the first part of this process, such as airflow concept, fan measurement and clearance.

Embedded thumbnail for Routing Any Angle or Arc in RF Design
How-To's
Routing Any Angle or Arc in RF Design

High-frequency signals require special consideration when routing. Altium Designer allows you to add RF nets to a net class, then apply design rules. Learn how, as well as some other handy high-frequency routing tips, in this video.

Harness Design
Blog
Create Connections with Harness Design

Many modern electronics have multiple boards, and connecting those different boards and systems together are harnesses. Learn more about how Altium Designer can help you create harnesses for your own multi-board designs here.

Embedded thumbnail for Working with Power Analyzer Panel
How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Working with Power Analyzer Panel

Learn how to use the Power Analyzer software by Keysight panel. This video explains all the basic instructions and provides helpful hints for using the software effectively.

Embedded thumbnail for Which PCB Materials are used in RF Design
How-To's
Which PCB Materials are used in RF Design

High frequency signals are carried on circuit boards via transmission lines. Learn the differences between standard 50 ohm impedance microstrip lines and coplanar transmission lines in this video. We also explore the best-use cases for coplanar transmission lines, how they impact loss and interference, dielectric thicknesses, and more.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Configuring Autorecognition

Before using the Power Analyzer by Keysight, it is important to configure certain parameters. In this video, we will demonstrate how to properly set up the software for auto-recognition.

Embedded thumbnail for Adding Power Nets for Simulation
How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Adding Power Nets for Simulation

One of the most important things when designing your PCB is to check and measure the quality of electrical power for your project. Power Analyzer by Keysight offers you the ability to simulate how power is distributed on your PCB. In this video, we will show you how to prepare power nets for simulation in Altium Designer.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Use Transmission Lines in RF Design
How-To's
How to Use Transmission Lines in RF Design

High frequency signals are carried on circuit boards via transmission lines. Learn the differences between standard 50 ohm impedance microstrip lines and coplanar transmission lines in this video. We also explore the best-use cases for coplanar transmission lines, how they impact loss and interference, dielectric thicknesses, and more.

Blog
Nucleo Shields Multi-Board Design

Learn how easy it is to create multi-board projects. This practical project article covers the reasons for breaking larger boards into sub-assemblies and explores the various connection options available between sub-assembly boards.

Blog
Analog Solar Tracker Project

In this article you can learn about light sensors while building an analog solar panel tracking system. This open-source project covers multi-channel design, window comparators, driving motors, and photosensors.

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DFM For Your Materials
Blog
DFM in PCB Material Selection

Every design should begin with selecting the materials that will appear in the PCB stackup, as well as arranging layers in the stackup to support layout and routing. This section of our PCB manufacturing andc DFM crash course focuses on selecting the right materials for your PCB design. Materials should be selected given the particular design requirements outlined in your specifications.

PCB Layout for an BGA
Blog
How to Start an FPGA PCB Layout For Your Embedded System

FPGAs come in quad or BGA packages that can be difficult to floorplan, especially with the high number of I/Os often implemented in these components. FPGAs offer a lot of advantages in terms of their reconfigurability, but they can require a lot of effort to layout and route without headaches. If you’ve never worked with an FPGA in your PCB layout, we have some guidelines that can help you get started.

2-port VNA on a 3-port Network
Blog
How to Get 3-port S-parameters From a 2-port VNA Measurement

S-parameters are fundamental quantities in signal integrity, and an ability to understand them from measurement or analysis is very important. If you have a 3-port network, like a power divider or circulator, it may appear that you must use a 3-port VNA to measure these S-parameters. It is always acceptable to measure between two ports, but you need to know what exactly it is you are measuring. In this article, we’ll look at the relationship between the true 3-port S-parameters with a 2-port measurement.

Fab and Assembly Crash Course
Blog
A Day in the Life of the PCB Manufacturing Process

Before implementing design for manufacturing, it is important to understand the underlying process behind producing a physical PCB. Regardless of the various technologies present in each facility, a large majority of industry-leading manufacturers follow a specific set of steps to turn your design from a drawing in a CAD application into a physical board. In this article, we'll cover the basics that designers need to know as part of our crash course series on PCB manufacturing.

What Are the Main Skew Sources in a PCB?
Blog
Addressing Skew Sources in High Speed PCBs

If you compile a list of skew sources, you'll see that fiber weave-induced skew is only one entry on a long list of skew sources. We'll look at this list of possible skew sources below, and we'll see how they affect the operation of your PCB. From the list below, we'll see that some of these issues with skew are not simply solved by paying attention to the fiber weave construction in a PCB substrate.

Ground Below SMPS Inductors
Blog
Should Ground Be Placed Below Inductors in Switching Regulators?

We love answering questions from our readers and YouTube viewers, and one of the recent questions we received relates to EMI from switching elements in a switching regulator is "Should a cutout be placed below the inductor in a switching regulator circuit?". Despite the variations in inductors and their magnetic behavior, there are some general principles that can be used to judge the effects of placing ground near inductors in switching regulator circuits. We’ll look at some of these principles in this article

Alternative Pins
Blog
Altium Designer 22.6 Update

We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.6 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.6 continues to focus on improving the user experience, as well as performance and stability of the software, based on feedback from our users. Check out the key new features in the What's New section on the left side of this window!

Top 5 Questions Regarding Stack Up
Blog
SAP (Semi-Additive PCB Process) – Top 5 Questions Regarding Stack Up

This Semi-Additive Process is an additional tool in the PCB fabricators' toolbox that enables them to provide feature sizes for trace width and spacing that are 25 microns, (1 mil) and below depending on the fabricators' imaging equipment. This provides much more flexibility to breakout out tight BGA areas and the ability to shrink overall circuit size and/ or reduce the number of circuit layers in the design. As the PCB design community embraces the benefits of this new printed circuit board fabrication technique, there are of course many questions to be answered.

Three ways to manage your BOM costs
Blog
Improving Supply Chain Success with BOM Management

It’s no secret that component shortages have become more frequent this year. In fact, countries around the world are losing billions in revenue due to supply issues. Having the right components on hand is more crucial than ever as availability, obsolescence, counterfeit products and environmental non-compliance risks continue to grow. Fortunately, many shortages can be avoided by introducing proactive supply chain practices.

Length Tuning Impedance
Blog
What is the Impedance of Length-Tuning Structures?

Do length-tuning structures create an impedance discontinuity? The answer is an unequivocal “yes”, but it might not matter in your design depending on several factors. Applying a length-tuning structure is equivalent to changing the distance between the traces while meandering. Therefore, you will have a change in the odd-mode impedance of a single trace. The question then becomes: does this deviation in trace impedance in a length tuning structure matter?

Designing the Next-Generation Electronics
Blog
A-SAP™ – What do you need to know?

The continued miniaturization of both packaging and component size in next-generation electronics is becoming harder and harder to work around and presents a significant challenge for both PCB designers and PCB fabricators. To effectively navigate the constraints of the traditional subtractive-etch PCB fabrication processes, PCB designs require advanced PCB fabrication capabilities while pushing the limits of finer feature size, higher layer counts, multiple levels of stacked micro vias and increased lamination cycles.

Pin-package and Via Delay Values
Blog
Pin-Package Delay and Via Delay in High Speed Length Tuning

Take a look at the inside of some integrated circuit packages, and you’ll find a number of wires bonded to the semiconductor die and the pads at the edge of the component's package. As a signal traverses makes its way along an interconnect and into a destination circuit, signals need to travel across these bond wires and pads before they are interpreted as a logic state. As you look around the edge of an IC, these bond wires can have different lengths, and they incur different levels of delay and contribute to total jitter.

6-Layer PCB Design
Blog
6-Layer PCB Design Guidelines

Once you’ve run out of room on your 4-layer PCB, it’s time to graduate to a 6-layer board. The additional layer can give you room for more signals, an additional plane pair, or a mix of conductors. How you use these extra layers is less important than how you arrange them in the PCB stackup, as well as how you route on a 6-layer PCB. If you’ve never used a 6-layer board before, or you’ve had EMI troubles with this stackup that are difficult to solve, keep reading to see some 6-layer PCB design guidelines and best practices.

Altium Designer Interface
Blog
Altium Designer 22.5 Update

We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.5 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.5 continues to focus on improving the user experience, as well as performance and stability of the software, based on feedback from our users. Check out the key new features in the What's New section on the left side of this window!

Are Hybrid PCB Stackups Reliable?
Blog
How Reliable is Your Hybrid PCB Stackup?

PCB stackups often incorporate slightly dissimilar materials that could pose a reliability problem. Hybrid PCBs are one case where the PCB stackup will include different materials, typically a standard FR4 laminate and a PTFE laminate for RF PCBs. Designers who want to take the lead on material selection when designing their hybrid stackups should consider these factors that affect reliability. As with any PCB stackup, make sure you get your fabricator involved in the manufacturing process early to ensure reliability problems do not arise during production.

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Embedded thumbnail for MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Solidworks
Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Solidworks

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaborate between Altium Designer and SolidWorks. 

Embedded thumbnail for Panelization
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Panelization

When you go to manufacture your design you can get a board manufactured by itself or with multiple in a panel. We’ll show you the how and the why to create panelization with the Embedded Board Array/Panelize tool, as well as how to create break away points for your individual boards.

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How to work with Variants
Display Variants in Draftsman Document

You can use the draftsman document to display your board variants. We’ll show you how to create a draftsman document and add variants to it properly displayed and editable through the properties panel.

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How-To's
How to print PCB?

Do you want to know how to use the updated document output feature? This video tells about the changes to the document output and shows how to quickly form a PDF or print a PCB in Altium Designer 21.

Embedded thumbnail for Avoid Solder Wicking
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Avoid Solder Wicking

If solder gets sucked into via holes in can cause an unreliable connection in your otherwise manufacturable design. We’ll show you a few easy ways to avoid this solder wicking using rules.

Display of Alternate Component Parameters
What's New in 22.4
Display of Alternate Component Parameters

Many schematic solutions are created as multivariant. With the new release, the schematic of multivariant project have become even more detailed and informative.

Display of Alternate Component Parameters
What's New in 22.4
备用元件参数显示

很多原理图解决方案均以多变量形式创建。随着新版本的发布,将提供更加详细和翔实的多变量项目原理图。

Components from Altium 365
What's New in 22.4
Components from Altium 365

Working with multiboards has become easier and more convenient. Now you have more component sources at your disposal.

Components from Altium 365
What's New in 22.4
Altium 365 元件

进行多板处理将变得更加轻松、方便。现在可供您使用的元件源将更多。

New Design Reuse Functionality
What's New in 22.4
New Design Reuse Functionality

A reuse bloks help reduce development time and avoid errors. The new Design Reuse Panel and new functionality expands the possibilities for reuse blocks and snippets.

New Design Reuse Functionality
What's New in 22.4
新的设计复用功能

复用块将有助于缩短开发时间并避免错误。新Design Reuse Panel和新功能,扩大了复用块和片段的使用范围。

Embedded thumbnail for MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Inventor
Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Inventor

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaboration between Altium Designer and Autodesk Inventor. 

Embedded thumbnail for Variants in Output Documents
How to work with Variants
Variants in Output Documents

Variants can be used with output files to keep track of all the variations within your design. We’ll show you how to export these files including a Smart PDF, and an outjob file with variants.

Embedded thumbnail for Copper to Edge Clearance
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Copper to Edge Clearance

It is necessary to maintain edge clearance from your copper in your design. We’ll show you how to maintain it, what exceptions there are to the rule, and how you can ensure its manufacturability.

Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: PCB edge plating
RF PCB Design
Design RF PCB: PCB edge plating

Board edge plating provides additional noise suppression and improves EMC. This video provides some practical tips for creating metalized PCB edges in Altium Designer.

Embedded thumbnail for Using Parameters in Variants
How to work with Variants
Using Parameters in Variants

You can use parameters to change your variants in many ways, such as text and titles. We’ll show you how to alter parameters in the PCB, Schematic, and Draftsman so you can create variants with different parameters.

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