News & Updates
On-Demand Webinar
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Three Methods for Building MCAD Ready Components
One of the most difficult and frustrating things to arise when traveling to a foreign country is the language barrier. Communicating a simple greeting can sometimes seem like a big hassle. The same thing is true for different CAD tools. When your tools aren’t speaking the same language, you’re going to run into problems. Bridge this gap by building out your component libraries with everything it takes to truly define a component, including 3D models that seamlessly propagate into the PCB editor and beyond.
Blog
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Reflectionless Matching vs. Conjugate Matching: An Apparent Contradiction
There is one confusion related to impedance matching that comes up again and again, and it appears to be a fundamental confusion between reflection and power delivery. This leads to an apparent contradiction that arises when we try to generalize power delivery to wave reflection, despite the fact that the two were not meant to be related.
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Properties Panel Routing
Routing is one of the most time-consuming stages of PCB design. Altium Designer has a large set of tools that allow you to do it as accurately and quickly as possible. This document will help you to learn how to manage your routing effectively and use it to its fullest extent.
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Quarter-Wave Transformer Design For Real and Reactive Loads
RF systems operate with specific impedance values across entire interconnects, including on PCBs. Not all RF components are packaged in integrated circuits with defined impedances, so impedance matching circuits and line sections are needed to ensure signal transmission between different sections of an interconnect. One of these impedance matching techniques is the quarter-wave impedance transformer, which can be implemented as a printed trace with specific impedance.
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Altium Designer 22.10 Update
We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.10 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.10 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!
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Component Warpage Causes in a PCB
A staff member at a PCB manufacturer once explained to me that they thought we were having an issue with a package warping. Unfortunately, component warping can occur both in a PCB and in components. In this article, we'll give an overview of warpage in a PCB, specifically in the circuit board and in the components.
On-Demand Webinar
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8 Reasons to Store Your Components in Altium 365
Working with local libraries seems like a simple solution, but we often don’t take into account the added time spent maintaining libraries and sharing them between team members. There is no good way to avoid duplicate efforts with component creation and no standardization to ensure consistent naming. Worst of all, there is no way to identify the latest component revision, and library files can be easily corrupted or misplaced. This webinar showcases the advantages of component storage in Аltium 365 to resolve the issues of local libraries and component management.
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RF Signal Chain and Link Budget Basics
If you're designing a wireless IoT device, and you know how to calculate the link budget, you can reasonably estimate whether your signal will reach its destination and be read by the receiver. To calculate the link budget, the designer needs to know something about all other sources of gain and loss in the system. Once link budget is determined, the designer can judge whether some modification is needed in their RF signal chain.
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Best Methods for Calculating SMD Pad Size in PCB Design
SMD components require precisely sized pads for soldering during assembly. The designer is responsible for ensuring pad sizes are correct, either by calculating them and comparing with footprint data, looking through datasheets, or by memorizing SMD pad size standards. If you have a component and you don't have access to the footprint, and you decide to biuld the footprint yourself, what resources are available to ensure you have the correct pad size?
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Can You Fix a Warped PCB?
Before we get too deep into this article, I’ll give you the simple answer. You probably can’t fix warping in your PCB after it’s already been fabricated. You can prevent an unwarped board from becoming warped during assembly, but only as long as materials were selected properly and the board is put into reflow correctly. We’ll run over some of these points in this article, and I’ll examine some points that might help you recover a warped board.
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What is an Eye Diagram?
The eye diagram is a useful measurement or simulation as part of channel compliance. The measurement shows many different factors that can affect signal behavior simultaneously, ultimately allowing for qualification of errors and losses in a channel. In this article, I’ll run over some of the fundamental measurements that you could manually extract from an eye diagram and how they reveal some strategies for improving channel designs.
On-Demand Webinar
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Fundamentals of High-Speed Design
This track is for the designer who is new to high-speed layout and routing practices and wants to understand how they relate to signal integrity, and how to get started designing for high-speed digital applications.
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45V-5A Adjustable Half-Bridge DC to DC Converter
DC-to-DC buck converters are extensively employed in electronic devices. In this article, we will introduce you to one of our new projects—a DC-to-DC converter designed to serve as a power supply as well.
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The Challenges of Modern Design: Why Requirements Management Is Essential
You need a robust requirements management process to ensure your design intent communication stays clear and organized. Read on to explore the crucial connection between well-managed requirements and today’s design.
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Efficiency And Noise Top 10 Switching Regulator Modules
Switching regulator modules have become indispensable in a wide array of electronic devices, providing a more efficient means of voltage conversion between different levels by storing and releasing energy. Explore further insights into these devices in today's dynamic world of electronics.
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Add USB Type-C Power Delivery to Your Designs!
We want to invite you to explore the fundamentals of USB Type-C Power Delivery which is now the most popular energy transmission in current times. We will show you how to easily incorporate a dedicated PD IC into your own designs.
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Design Phase – Lid Assembly Mechanics Part 1
It is time to delve deep into the mechanical design of our Open Source Laptop project. In this article we give you an update about the first part of fitting elements into the system. You will learn more about laptop lid, webcam integration, light sensor and microphones which will be used in this project.
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How to Design for Test in Embedded Systems
Whether you're designing a high-speed PCB, or a complex embedded system, it will need some level of testing. In this article, we will show you some simple tricks that can make testing and debugging a prototype much easier.
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Crosstalk Basics in PCB Design
Crosstalk is one of the most common issues related to electronics. Learn the basics of this phenomenon in PCB design, and gain knowledge on how to avoid it in your projects.
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Top 3 Multi-Board PCB Connectivity Errors
Preparing complex PCB designs can often keep you awake at night. Learn more about some of the most common issues encountered in multi-board electrical connections.
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Access to your Training Certificates on My Altium
Introduce an update on the My Altium user page that highlights your certificates and tracks your training progress, with one-click access to the Training Dashboard and Training Catalog pages. Easily view and share your certificates, keep an eye on your learning journey, and explore a variety of training resources.
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Rigid-Flex PCBs: Advantages and Challenges
In this article, we will begin with a basic explanation of how rigid-flex technology differs from rigid board technology. We will then provide an overview of the advantages and conclude with a discussion of the challenges to be aware of.
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When Should You Use Intrusive Soldering?
Through-hole components are frequently employed in power electronics, particularly when dealing with AC power from a wall outlet. In this article, you can delve into the intrusive soldering process and discover when it can be applied in PCB design.
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Unveiling the Crucial Role of PCB Harness Design Capabilities in Multi-Board Designs
Multi-board designs are the key to meeting evolving demands, requiring robust PCB Harness Design for seamless interconnection and success. Join us as we explore the importance of PCB Harness Design capabilities and how they are crucial for the success of multi-board designs.
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What Makes a PCB Enclosure Rugged?
Whether you purchase products off-the-shelf or online, they all come housed within an enclosure. In some cases, these enclosures are intentionally ruggedized to withstand harsh environments or mechanical shocks. You can learn more about enclosures in this new and interesting article.
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Concept Phase – Lid Assembly Design Part 2
We are continuing our journey through the lid assembly design phase of our Open Source Laptop project. In this section, we will discuss the layout of the test adapter and provide a demonstration of the first test for the display panel, along with the initial steps involved in assembling the boards.
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Concept Phase – Lid Assembly Design Part 1
In the exciting next phase of the open-source laptop project we're (finally) diving into design, and getting hands-on with the display panel. Discover how we're selecting the right panel, integrating it seamlessly, and creating a custom DisplayPort adapter to illuminate the screen. Plus, learn how our choices impact features like microphones, webcams, and touch sensors, and how Altium can help bring it all to life. It’s not too late to join as we continue on this innovative journey!
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Unleashing the Power of Concurrent PCB Design
Concurrent PCB Design is essential to unlocking the full potential of engineering teams and delivering innovative products that meet the demands of the modern world. Learn more about the main capabilities and the numerous benefits of this upcoming feature in Altium Designer.
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