News & Updates
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Like any other advanced PCB, success in HDI design comes from designing the right stackup. One common HDI stackup used to support routing into moderate pin count, high-density BGA components is the 2+N+2 PCB layer stack for HDI boards. We’ll explore this stackup more in this article, as well as how it is related to other advanced stackups used in HDI PCBs.
Altium 365 Web Viewer now includes a built-in PDF viewer that allows you to view PDF files in releases without an external PDF viewer application. Keep reading to learn about new key features that make your work easier
There are two basic reasons for designing a flex circuit into your product: to build a compact and efficiently assembled device, or to make the circuit dynamically integrated with the mechanical function of the product. You may, of course, lean on both of these reasons for justifying the use of flex circuits. On this note, let’s look at some rigid-flex PCB applications and design examples to see the issues that spring to mind when designing flex circuits
When you’re done creating a new board, it’s time to send your design data to the manufacturer. Before releasing your designs, you’ll want to make sure that everything is ready and works as intended. In this informative video, we’ll review some of the must-have checks before sending your output data for fabrication.
With Altium 365, you can grant permission to teams or users based on the specific needs of a project. We have expanded Altium 365’s file-sharing setting, giving you more granular control over who can download source files and reshare projects with others
Rigid-flex PCBs help modern devices get smaller, lighter, and more compact by eliminating connectors and fitting into tight 3D spaces. This article explains how to design them properly to avoid common reliability issues.
This webinar walks through the complete post-release workflow, from generating a managed BOM to sourcing components and assembling the first prototype. It demonstrates how integrated tools streamline data enrichment, supplier selection, and guided assembly to reduce delays and errors.
BOM management is no longer just a checklist. It’s becoming a real-time engine for smarter decisions! Discover how AI, automation, and connected systems are transforming BOMs into powerful tools for navigating supply chain uncertainty.
Working across different ECAD tools can make design reviews messy and inefficient. This article shows how a multi-CAD viewer simplifies collaboration by letting teams view, comment, and manage designs in one place.
This article examines how fragmented ECAD-MCAD workflows create costly misalignments, late-stage conflicts, and inefficiencies in multiboard system design. It shows how unified, collaborative platforms enable real-time synchronization, digital twins, and cross-domain visibility to eliminate rework and streamline development.
Choosing the right PCB tool can define your entire design workflow. Discover how Altium Designer empowers professional product development, while Flux.ai keeps things simple for fast experimentation.
Rigid-flex stackups are more complex than they seem and getting them wrong early can lead to costly failures later. This article shows how smart decisions around materials, transitions, and layer structure help ensure a reliable design.
Understand how structured design reviews within Altium Agile Teams enhance visibility, traceability, and cross-team collaboration. This webinar highlights methods to detect issues early and optimize your development workflow.
Parsing long datasheets manually slows down embedded development and introduces errors. This article shows how to use a local LLM pipeline to convert datasheets into structured data that speeds up driver creation.
PCB simulation isn’t one-size-fits-all and that’s where it gets interesting! Discover the wide range of tools available, from quick circuit checks to advanced multiphysics simulations, and how they help you design with confidence.
This article explores the shift from PCB-centric design to complex, system-level development where wiring and harnesses play a critical role in product performance. It highlights how unified electromechanical workflows and bi-directional ECAD–MCAD integration improve accuracy, reduce delays, and ensure reliable, production-ready designs.
Want to catch manufacturability issues before they turn into expensive delays? Discover the essential DFM tools from real-time checks to post-layout analysis that help you get your PCB right the first time.
Design friction from scattered data and disconnected tools slows down PCB development and leads to rework. This webinar shows how Agile Teams streamlines collaboration, aligns domains, and helps teams deliver faster with fewer errors.
Using multiple disconnected tools slows down PCB development and increases the risk of errors. This article shows how an integrated environment keeps all design data connected, enabling faster workflows and fewer late-stage issues.
Not all cloud PCB tools are created equal, especially when design complexity increases. This article breaks down key differences between cloud-native and hybrid solutions, helping engineers choose the right approach for performance and scalability.
This article explores how traditional, manual DFMA workflows lead to costly rework, delays, and poor collaboration across engineering teams. It shows how a connected, digital approach enables better data integrity, faster design cycles, and improved manufacturing outcomes.