News & Updates
Blog
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Altium Designer 22.5 Update
We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.5 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.5 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!
Blog
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How Reliable is Your Hybrid PCB Stackup?
PCB stackups often incorporate slightly dissimilar materials that could pose a reliability problem. Hybrid PCBs are one case where the PCB stackup will include different materials, typically a standard FR4 laminate and a PTFE laminate for RF PCBs. Designers who want to take the lead on material selection when designing their hybrid stackups should consider these factors that affect reliability. As with any PCB stackup, make sure you get your fabricator involved in the manufacturing process early to ensure reliability problems do not arise during production.
Blog
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Monte Carlo Simulation vs. Sensitivity Analysis: What’s the Difference?
In a previous article about circuit simulation and reliability, I looked at how Monte Carlo analysis is commonly used to evaluate circuits that are subject to random variations in component values. Sensitivity analysis is a bit different and it tells you how the operating characteristics of your circuit change in a specific direction. Compared to a Monte Carlo simulation, sensitivity analysis gives you a convenient way to predict exactly how the operating characteristics will change if you were to deliberately increase or decrease the value of a component.
Blog
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Creating Continuous Integration Pipelines for FPGAs
Field Programmable Gate Arrays, or FPGAs, have become ubiquitous amongst high-speed, real-time digital systems. The speed at which FPGAs operate continues to increase at a dizzying pace but their adoption into Continuous Integration pipelines seems not to trail as closely. In this article we will review the concept of CI pipelines, their application to FPGAs, and look at examples on how to set this up.
Blog
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Soft Locks [Conflict Prevention] in Altium 365
Conflicts can occur when multiple people work on the same project simultaneously. The user might not realize that they are not looking at the latest version of the documentation, leading to problems later. To address this issue, Altium features an intuitive graphical user interface that allows you to examine conflicts quickly and carefully
On-Demand Webinar
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Increase Productivity With Easy Component Creation
Component creation is a necessary evil when it comes to design, and it’s something we all need to do. But instead of spending hours creating your components and having them turn into a complete roadblock, let it be just a simple bump on the road. Altium Designer has several tools available to you in order to create the different aspects of a component, including the symbol, footprint, 3D model parametric data, supply chain information, and more
Blog
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The Basics of Monte Carlo in SPICE: Theory and Demo
Anytime you place a component in your PCB, it’s almost like you’re gambling. All components have tolerances, and some of these are very precise, but others components can have very wide tolerances on their nominal values. In the event the tolerances on these components become too large, how can you predict how these tolerances will affect your circuits?
Blog
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What's In Your BGA Land Pattern and Footprint
If you look in datasheets for most components, you’ll often find a recommended land pattern, usually alongside some mechanical package information and assembly information. This is not always the case with BGA components, especially components with high ball count. There are a few reasons for this that we can speculate: those ball counts might just be too big to put into a single page, or the manufacturer just expects you to know how to create that land pattern.
Blog
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MIDs Make a Comeback as Vertical SMD Modules for Your PCB
Molded interconnect devices are essentially plastic molded substrates with traces running along any surface, including at right angles and running vertically. Altium users can use the new 3D Routing extension to design their own component carriers, which can be mounted vertically in a standard assembly process. If you’ve always wanted to vertically mount components or entire circuits, but without the expense of adding a flex section to your design, the new 3D Routing extension with HARTING’s component carrier designs provides a unique solution.
Blog
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MCAD CoDesigner 2.9.0 is Out
Altium has released version 2.9.0 of the MCAD CoDesigner. This version has the option to exclude small components when transferring from ECAD to MCAD. The arc behavior was improved, and the support for splines in board shape and cutouts was added. With this release, you can now select a specific SOLIDWORKS configuration of a part to use on the board and view the improvements made for Siemens NX.
Blog
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Support for Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer
Altium Designer's world-class PCB design features help users quickly get started with new rigid-flex designs and prepare them for manufacturing. Rigid-flex in Altium Designer starts with designing a manufacturable PCB layer stack complete with via transitions and any calculated impedance requirements. Keep reading to see how Altium Designer supports your flex and rigid-flex designs.
NEW
Blog
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IC Components Explained: A Comprehensive Guide to Integrated Circuits
Gain a clear understanding of the fundamental elements within integrated circuits. This guide examines their structure, function, and role in system performance, knowledge that’s vital for anyone involved in sourcing or developing electronic designs.
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Ensuring Precise Connector Alignment in Multi‑Board Manufacturing
Misaligned connectors can cause major issues in multi-board assemblies. In this article, David Marrakchi shows how Altium’s 3D tools help detect and fix alignment problems early in the design process.
Blog
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Getting Started with the Renesas RA8D1 Evaluation Kit and Edge AI
Dive into the power of Renesas’ RA8D1 MCU using the EK‑RA8D1 evaluation kit. Learn how to train, test, and deploy image‑based detection models seamlessly with Edge Impulse, and kickstart your embedded vision AI projects in minutes.
Blog
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How to Effectively Use Jira for Hardware Development Projects
Originally built for software development, Jira has become a popular tool for agile project management across various industries. Our new article explores how hardware teams can leverage core Jira features and adapt agile principles to suit the unique needs of hardware development.
Blog
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Building Supply Chain Resilience: Transforming BOM Management for Modern Electronics
Discover why top electronics companies are replacing spreadsheets with purpose-built BOM management solutions. This whitepaper outlines the risks of outdated methods, offers a readiness checklist, and explores how BOM Portal helps teams cut costs, reduce risk, and speed up development with smarter, data-driven workflows.
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Material and Process Considerations That Influence Performance
Material and process choices play a key role in high-performance PCB design. This article highlights how stack-up configuration, substrate selection, and lamination strategy impact signal integrity, reliability, and manufacturability.
Blog
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How to Make Your PCB Layout AOI and X-Ray Friendly
Designing for inspection is key to reliable manufacturing. This article covers practical PCB layout tips to optimize your board for AOI and X-ray inspection helping you reduce defects, false positives, and production delays.
Blog
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Understanding Systems Engineering
Read our brand-new article where we explore the key areas of an engineering project and the different stages of electronic product development from a project execution perspective. From initiation and planning to design, development, validation, testing, and certification, we walk you through each phase to help you understand how successful electronic products are brought to life.
Blog
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PCB First-Pass Yield: Small Decisions That Make a Big Difference
This article highlights how seemingly minor layout choices like trace spacing, component footprints, or stack-up details can dramatically impact whether a board passes fabrication and assembly the first time.
Blog
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Implementing Design for Supply Chain Principles in Electronic Product Development
Designing with supply chain principles in mind helps you avoid delays, reduce costs, and ensure manufacturability. This article outlines practical strategies for component selection, sourcing, and lifecycle management to make your designs more resilient and production-ready.
Blog
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Beyond the BOM: How Proactive Component Selection Is Transforming Workflows
Learn how proactive component selection helps you avoid supply chain risks, reduce costs, and design more reliably. Our new article outlines key strategies and shows how tools like Altium 365 support smarter part decisions.
Blog
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Power Integrity Issues?
Power problems can be hard to spot until it’s too late. See how easy it is to analyze your power nets, check voltage drops, and improve reliability with Power Analyzer by Keysight - all without leaving your design environment.
Blog
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How to Design High-Speed PCBs Without Signal Surprises
Signal issues can sneak in early and cost you later. Read our whitepaper to see how Signal Analyzer by Keysight (inside Altium Designer) helps you catch problems fast and design with confidence.
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Beyond Basic Part Selection: Using Supply Chain Data to Validate Choices
Learn how to enhance part selection by using real-time supply chain data. This article shows how integrating insights like availability and lifecycle status helps you make smarter, risk-aware design choices.
Blog
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Signal Mistakes Are Expensive
See how the Signal Analyzer by Keysight in Altium Designer lets you run signal integrity checks directly within your design environment. Read our article to learn how to effectively manage impedance, return paths, stackups, and more.
Blog
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Twice the Insight. One Seamless Simulation Bundle
Ensure power and signal integrity with the Keysight Bundle in Altium Designer. Catch issues early, reduce rework, and optimize your PCBs - all within one integrated environment featuring Signal & Power Analyzer.
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