News & Updates
Blog
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Countersink and Counterbore
Ergonomics and convenience are important issues when designing a printed circuit board and the device as a whole. A lot of Altium Designer tools are aimed at solving them. These include Countersink and Counterbore holes, which allow the use of various types of screws in the mounting holes of the board.
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Migrating Data From Other Version Control Systems
The development of electronic devices always involves the release of many different types of files. And these files are not static - they change as the project progresses. When filling a project with data, a user creates new files, modifies outdated files that have become irrelevant. Managing project data is a separate task, especially for large developments where several participants with different specializations are involved in the process.
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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.
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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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Design Phase – Lid Assembly Electronics Part 2
We are going deeper into lid assembly electronics in our Open Source Laptop project. In this chapter we will tackle the PCB design of the webcam board and show you how to deal with some expected challenges, such as overall small form factor of the board or breaking out the microscopic webcam image sensor.
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Compare Commercial Altium 365 vs Altium 365 GovCloud
If you're trying to understand how commercial Altium 365 differs from Altium 365 GovCloud, you're in the right place. Click to grasp the unique features of each.
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5 Ways Hardware Development Is Just… Different
Explore the challenges and strategies of implementing Agile methodology in electronics hardware development. Understand key differences between hardware and software development within the Agile framework.
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Flexible Circuit Assembly: Thinking Through Component Placement
The flexible circuits are ideal for applications where a thin, small, and lightweight PCB is needed. However, in such cases, challenges in assembly and fabrication often arise. This article delves into these challenges, focusing on component selection and placement and how they can significantly impact the performance of the flexible circuit in its intended application.
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Coding Your Own Networked Test Equipment
Have you ever performed manual tests? If your answer is yes, you're likely aware of how laborious and time-consuming the entire process can be. Allow us to introduce you to the realm of test equipment automation. Our new step-by-step guide empowers you to write code that seamlessly configures your networked test equipment, all from the convenience of your computer.
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Pi.MX8 Project – Schematic structure and component placement
We are advancing with our brand new Pi.MX8 Project. In this chapter, we delve deeper into two crucial aspects: the overall schematic and component placement on the PCB board. Don't hesitate to check it out. Additionally, you can follow this project through our workspace; the link is provided within the article.
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Redefine PCB Boundaries with HDI Design
Dive into the world of High-Density Interconnect (HDI) design to enhance your projects. Explore heightened signal integrity, improved reliability, and the seamless integration of advanced technologies - all within compact and lightweight designs. Discover more about HDI on our updated feature page.
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OrCAD Design Collaboration in Altium 365
Ready to start collaborating on your OrCAD projects in a multi-CAD environment? Check how you can use Multi-CAD File Support in Altium 365 in practice.
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The Critical Role of Constraint-Based PCB Design in Modern Electronics
A constraint-based approach to PCB design is crucial in today's electronics industry. This article delves deeper into this complex and interesting topic, exploring various types of constraints, their advantages, and providing guidance on implementing them into your PCB design process.
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Pi.MX8 Project – Introduction and Overview
Do you have extensive knowledge about the Pi.MX8 module? We're excited to introduce a new series of articles focusing on an innovative approach to utilizing this module. In this inaugural chapter, we provide insights into the preparation for this project and detail the elements that will be used.
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How to 'Shift Left' and Connect Procurement and Engineering? Altium 365 BOM Portal Step-by-Step
Learn why BOM management is critical for both procurement managers and electronic engineers. Altium 365 BOM Portal helps to bridge the gap between these worlds. Discover how!
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Altium 365 Assembly Assistant: Available Now in the Altium Store
Happy New Year! 🎉 We are thrilled to announce that the Altium 365 Assembly Assistant is now officially released and available for direct purchase through the Altium Store.
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Simple Documentation for Hand PCB Assembly
Creating documentation for hand PCB assembly does not prevent the same documentation from being utilized to assist in automated PCB assembly. Learn more about the optimal format for this data to enhance both your hand PCB assembly and overall assembly processes.
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Constraint Manager: Precision in Every Detail
Explore the powerful features of Altium Designer 24! Experience Constraint Manager and revolutionize your PCB design with reusable constraint sets, schematic-to-board rule transition, easy class and differential pair grouping, and more.
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Accelerate Last-Minute Design Changes with Altium 365
Curious about how to solve production blockers before they derail your product launch? Explore how Altium 365® can help you swiftly manage last-minute design changes.
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Design Phase – Lid Assembly Electronics Part 1
We are advancing our Open Source Laptop project to the next stage: assembling lid electronics. In the first part of this phase, we are focusing on the electronics and PCB design of the webcam module.
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