News & Updates
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Properties Panel Tuning
High-speed PCBs often require tuning groups of tracks, both single and differential. Altium Designer includes powerful tools that allow you to solve such tasks quickly and with high quality. Study this document and achieve the desired result even faster.
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.
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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.
Blog
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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.
Blog
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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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How High Frequency SMD Passives Work in a PCB Layout
High-frequency surface-mount device (SMD) passives like resistors and capacitors play a crucial role in PCB layouts, particularly in circuits operating above 1 GHz. Our article explores how these components function at high frequencies, their operational limits, and the importance of considering parasitic elements in design.
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Essential DFM Tips for Aerospace Projects
Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is a crucial aspect of aerospace projects. This process ensures high-quality designs that meet the unique challenges of the aerospace industry, such as extreme conditions and stringent reliability standards. Learn more about essential DFM tips in our brand-new article.
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Mechanics Meet Electronics Seamlessly in Multi-Board PCB Design
Curious about the intersection of mechanical and electrical design? Both are crucial in the PCB design process, especially for multi-board systems. Read our latest article to learn how ECAD and MCAD can address significant challenges during PCB preparation.
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Altium 365 now has its own website!
Discover everything you need to know about Altium 365 and experience our suite of applications for secure, seamless, and streamlined collaboration. Visit now to explore how to streamline your electronic product development.
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Efficient DC-DC Converter Design: Automated Measurements with Altium Designer 24 MixedSim
Automated measurements are no longer tough. With our Mixed Simulation mode, everything is easier. Learn more about this feature based on DC-DC buck converter design in this brand new article.
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Altium Designer: Leading the Charge in PCB Design Innovation
In the dynamic field of electronics design, Altium Designer stands out as a pioneer, continuously advancing the boundaries of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design. Discover the latest innovations in 3D-MID design, high-speed design, and interactive routing in this new article by David Marrakchi.
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What Is Solder Mask Expansion and Which Value Should You Use?
Check out our new article explaining how to ensure sufficient pad area for soldering, manage misregistration tolerance, and maintain proper solder dams between components. It also highlights the role of collaboration with fabrication houses and the use of CAD tools in defining land patterns for advanced electronics designs.
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Pi.MX8 Project - Board Layout Part 3
We continue our exploration of the Pi.MX8 open-source computer module project. In this new installment, we focus on routing planning and then cover all the layers' routing with all the details you need to know if you want to prepare a similar project.
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Mastering Blind and Buried Vias
Check our compilation of essential resources you'll need to use blind and buried vias successfully in an HDI PCB. In our brand new article, we present the main and most valuable information about this technology, which may not be new but is still highly useful in High-Density Interconnect projects.
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Penn Electric Racing Pushes the Envelope with Altium 365
Discover how Penn Electric Racing builds award-winning, fully electric racecars with Altium 365, pushing the boundaries of technology and design.
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Make Sure to Clean Your No-Clean Flux
No-clean flux has become popular due to its convenience. Learn more about why this solution is used, why cleaning might still be necessary, and how to remove no-clean flux residues. We will try to dispel all these doubts in this brand new article.
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SPICE Simulation Module: How To Use Automated Measurements in Simulations To Save Time and Money in Design Challenges
Simulation of electronic circuits is a key factor in the success of your design. A SPICE circuit simulator may be used to speed up the design analysis. Learn more about how Altium Designer can help you with automated measurements, saving you time and money during the design process.
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Achieve Seamless Rigid-Flex Design with Altium Designer's Unified Solution
Check out our refreshed feature page about Rigid-Flex PCB Design and see how Altium Designer’s unified environment can help you manage this kind of project with no limitations or additional licensing required.
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How to Design a Thermal Prototype PCB
Thermal problems in PCBs often go unnoticed until prototyping, which can be costly. Design teams can't afford endless iterations, but they can conduct lower-cost thermal prototypes. Learn more about this approach in our new article.
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6 Challenges of Managing Disconnected PLM Workflows
Discover six challenges of managing disconnected PLM workflows in electronics product development. Identify your main challenge and find the solution here.
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DC-Aware Return Current in Mixed Signal PCBs
In this article, we will examine specific cases involving these types of components, where a very low-frequency signal or a DC signal needs to be measured, and the return path must be tracked to ensure the current loop is tight.
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