News & Updates
Blog
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Controlled ESR Capacitors: Should You Use Them for Power Integrity?
Controlled ESR capacitors are important for power integrity in your design as they can help smooth out the PDN impedance spectrum in your high speed PCB.
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How Does the Package PDN Impact Power Integrity?
Whenever we say something to the effect of “components can’t work without a correctly designed PCB,” we only have to look at component packaging for evidence. It is true that component packages come with parasitics that affect signal integrity, but there is one area that we don’t often look at in terms of component packaging: power integrity.
Blog
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Designing Custom Hardware with Microcontrollers
In this article, we’ll look at all that is required to start creating your own custom microcontroller-based hardware designs. You’ll see that there actually isn’t too much to this, as microcontroller manufacturers over the years have tried to make the learning curve less steep and their devices more, and more accessible. This is both from an electrical point of view but also – equally importantly – from a programming point of view.
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Guide to Low-Dk PCB Materials
If you’ve taken time to learn about PCB material options and layer constructions, you have probably seen the wide range of materials that are available on the market. Materials companies produce laminates with varying Dk values, Tg values, weave styles, CTI values, and mechanical properties to target various applications in the electronics industry.
On-Demand Webinar
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Learn to Collaborate Like a Pro with Altium Designer 23
Get ready to speed up your design process with new Altium Designer collaboration capabilities. Designing a PCB is a team effort. Engineers must work with customers, manufacturers, and other stakeholders to get the best results. You need help to bring your design to life, even if you're a one-person team.
Blog
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Designing for V2X Communication: Wireless Protocols and Standards
If you’re waiting for truly connected cars on a grand scale, there is still a massive amount of work to be done, both on the hardware and software sides. Connected cars can only become a widespread reality once the automotive industry and telecom carriers can decide which protocol will work best for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. PCB designers will then need to step in to create these systems and fit them into a vehicular environment.
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Everything You Need to Know About Stitching Vias
This one area of PCB design can be contentious among some designers as it is related to copper pour, which it is often stated is not needed in most designs. Regardless of your feelings about copper pour, stitching vias have important uses in PCBs at low frequencies and at high frequencies.
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IPC-2221 Calculator for PCB Trace Current and Heating
The IPC-2221 standard includes many requirements for printed circuit board design and manufacturability, and there are several online calculators that have been developed based on this standard.
NEW
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Introducing Octopart Discover: From Part Search to Solutions Discovery
Octopart has announced Octopart Discover, a new platform that shifts electronic component search toward system-level solution discovery. The tool connects design intent with relevant options, enabling engineers to evaluate tradeoffs and identify the best-fit solutions more efficiently.
NEW
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How to Choose the Right Components for Your BOM
A strong BOM can make the difference between smooth production and costly delays. Discover a practical approach to choosing components that stay available, meet compliance requirements, and keep your project on schedule.
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From Scattered Requirements to Confident Product Development
See how the Requirements Portal transforms disconnected requirements into a single, live source of truth that engineers can trust at every stage of a project! Real customer stories in the article prove it’s already helping teams cut down on rework and bring products to market faster.
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What is the Best PCB Design Tool For Students?
Students need PCB software that’s intuitive, affordable, and useful for building real skills. This article compares the strengths and weaknesses of leading design tools, from hobbyist platforms to industry-standard software.
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What Is Collaborative Engineering?
Collaborative engineering is all about breaking down silos so electrical, mechanical, and sourcing teams can work as one with shared data and real-time updates. This article shows how that approach helps you spot issues early, reduce rework, and get products out the door with fewer surprises.
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Bend Reliability: How Trace Geometry and Materials Impact Flex Lifespan
Focused on durability under repeated mechanical stress, this piece details how routing strategy, copper thickness, adhesive systems, and bend radius selection determine flex lifespan. Engineers will find actionable recommendations for reducing strain concentration and improving long-term performance in high-cycle applications.
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PCB Design Process: The EDA Design Approach
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.
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Getting Started for Mechanical Engineers
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.
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Are Your ECAD Tools Holding Back Engineers’ Productivity?
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.
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How Integrated PCB Design Cuts Development Time for Complex Electronics
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.
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Registration Challenges in UHDI: Why Fabrication Tolerances Matter in Your Layout
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.
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How Engineering Project Management Tools Are Changing Engineering Teams’ Productivity
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.
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7 Ways to Catch Rules & Constraints Early – Checklist
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.
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Do You Need an IPC-D-356 Netlist?
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.
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How Agile BOM Management Helps You Lock in Pricing Before Market Shifts
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.
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Flexible Circuits: Enhancing Performance with Shielding, Heat Dissipation, and Stiffeners
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.
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