News & Updates
HDI PCBs take a particular approach to routing interconnects through multiple layers to ensure reliability during fabrication, assembly, and operation. The critical structure that enables this is microvias, which are prone to failure if not designed properly. In this e-book, readers will receive an initial look at the reasons microvia reliability has come into the spotlight and why HDI PCB designers put reliability first when routing through microvias.
Aside from impedance and annular ring calculations, one of the other major formulas specified in the IPC 2221 standard relates temperature rise, trace width, and trace current. THere is also the IPC-2152 standard, both include this guidance on designing for thermal reliability, but which standard should we use?
Striplines provide some advantages over microstrips as they take advantage of natural shielding and coupling from nearby ground plane layers. Although they tend to experience higher losses due to total confinement in the dielectric, they can be thinner due to the high dielectric constant used in internal layers of a PCB. Use our free impedence calculator to help you determine the correct width needed to hit a target impedance.
An optoisolator is a cool electronic device that can be used to pass information between a diode without passing an electrical current. There are many great applications for these, but do you know which one is right for you?
The Properties panel provides access to the properties of documents and objects. The contents of the panel change depending on the active document or the selected object. This blog will quickly go over some of need to know options around the properties panel in the schematic document.
Even with all the good guidelines out there for high speed design, there are particular aspects of stackup construction and their relation to building boards that get overlooked. This blog is goes beyond just the typical SI/PI guidelines and looks at these problems from more of an engineering perspective.
Stitching vias are something you often see spread around the surface layer of a PCB, but what are they? and should you be using them? In this guide, we'll go over some of the standard uses of stitching vias and when they should be used in a PCB.
Dive into how a modern EDA workflow transforms PCB design by linking electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing requirements from idea to final release. With constraint‑driven integration, you can cut down on respins and bring better boards to market faster.
Explore our collection of MCAD Collaboration walkthroughs, where you’ll discover how to synchronize mechanical constraints and keepouts, maintain traceability with advanced history and revision control, and streamline electromechanical connectivity through harness synchronization. These topics and many more are covered in this article.
The article highlights that productivity issues often stem from tool limitations rather than engineer effort, especially as project complexity grows. ECAD tools that offer clear version control, cross-discipline integration, and workflow awareness are key to sustaining efficiency.
Fewer tool handoffs, fewer errors, and smoother collaboration that’s the power of integrated PCB design. Learn how unifying your design environment can cut development time and help you deliver complex electronics faster.
As UHDI structures shrink, achieving accurate layer-to-layer registration becomes less forgiving than ever. Learn why fabrication tolerances matter so much in ultra-fine geometries and how to design with registration limits in mind from the start.
Engineering project management tools play a critical role in managing timelines, resources, and cross-disciplinary coordination. This article breaks down the most impactful systems for improving execution and team performance.
Discover seven actionable ways to spot and fix rules and constraint issues before they derail your PCB project. Using Altium Designer Agile, these tips help you build more manufacturable and reliable boards with fewer iterations.
If your output package is Gerber-based, adding an IPC-D-356 netlist can dramatically improve how your design is reviewed and validated for production. Here’s when it matters, what it contains, and how to generate it quickly in Altium.
When engineering and procurement work from different BOM versions, delays and cost surprises follow. Learn how agile BOM management brings teams onto one connected BOM so they can respond fast, manage risk, and lock pricing early.
A flex circuit can look perfect on paper and still fail in the real world due to EMI, hot spots, or mechanical strain. This article breaks down how shielding, thermal planning, and stiffeners help deliver designs that stay reliable over time.
Power distribution issues can silently undermine your PCB’s reliability. This article uncovers the top three failure modes and shows how Power Analyzer by Keysight helps you catch them early in the design phase and how Altium Agile Teams turns those checks into structured team action.
When engineering and procurement remain disconnected, supply-chain problems will sneak up on you. This guide argues convincingly: embed sourcing constraints into your requirements from day one, and avoid costly rework down the line.
Power integrity is the backbone of reliable PCB design. This whitepaper explains how to analyze and optimize voltage drop, current density, and grounding directly within Altium Designer Agile using the Power Analyzer by Keysight.
Strong hardware starts with strong libraries. Discover how disciplined ECAD-library management dramatically improves design consistency and accelerates every stage of your PCB workflow.
As data rates increase, the risks hidden in your layout grow with them. This quick guide highlights the critical SI checkpoints that can save you from late-stage surprises and redesigns. If you design high-speed boards, you’ll want to read this before your next review.
Don’t walk into supplier talks blind. Use market data to benchmark quotes, check lead times and uncover alternate parts. This article shows how visibility can shift the balance and de-risk your BOM.