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Embedded thumbnail for Signal Integrity Made Simple - Recording Preview
How-To's
Signal Integrity Made Simple - Recording Preview

Catch up on our “Signal Integrity Made Simple” webinar to explore essential techniques for ensuring high-speed design integrity. Watch the recording to gain practical insights, and don’t miss our upcoming November webinar showcasing the latest Altium Designer release, featuring the powerful Signal Analyzer by Keysight and additional tools to optimize your projects.

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Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey
Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey: Part III - PCB Layout

In this third installment of our series, Piet Callemeyn demonstrates PCB layout creation from scratch for a rigid-flex project, covering key techniques like bend lines and split lines. A must-see for any PCB designer!

Embedded thumbnail for Beyond PCB Design with Altium Designer - Recording Preview
New in Altium Designer 24
Beyond PCB Design with Altium Designer - Recording Preview

We invite you to watch this webinar recording, where you'll discover how to streamline your entire PCB development workflow. Learn how to go beyond design to optimize documentation, outputs, and design specifications using Altium Designer. Check the recording here: COM September Webinar.

Blog
Optimize PCB Design with Integrated BOM and CAD Systems

Discover how integrating BOM management and CAD systems can streamline your PCB design process in this insightful article. Learn how combining these tools enables smoother collaboration, reduces errors, and improves design efficiency, helping you optimize your workflows from concept to manufacturing.

Embedded thumbnail for Advanced Wire Bonding Techniques in Altium Designer - Demo
New in Altium Designer 24
Advanced Wire Bonding Techniques in Altium Designer - Demo

Check out our brand-new demo of the Wire Bonding tool in Altium Designer! Learn step-by-step how to define die chips, create footprints, route bond wires, and set up a proper PCB layout with rules and constraints.

Embedded thumbnail for Use Cases with Dave Young: Harness Design
New in Altium Designer 24
Use Cases with Dave Young: Harness Design

Join Dave Young in this Use Cases video as he walks you through Harness Design in Altium Designer 24. From starting a new harness project to utilizing wires and taps, you’ll discover how easy it is to replace standard schematic views with detailed mechanical drawings. Don't miss this hands-on tutorial and elevate your design expertise!

Embedded thumbnail for Make Smarter Design Decisions - Signal Analyzer Demo
How-To's
Make Smarter Design Decisions - Signal Analyzer Demo

Master the Signal Analyzer by Keysight in this demo! Learn to analyze and fix net classes for impedance, delay, and return loss to optimize your designs. Watch now and take your PCB designs to the next level.

Blog
The Essential Guide to Through-Hole Resistors

Resistors are fundamental components in electronic circuits, essential for controlling current and voltage. This article explores their basic principles, types, and key applications, helping you understand their crucial role in electronics.

Blog
Avoiding Costly Delays: Essential Tips for PCB Designers

Efficient PCB design is crucial for avoiding costly delays in product development. This article offers practical tips and best practices for PCB designers to streamline their workflows, minimize errors, and ensure timely project completion.

Embedded thumbnail for Engineering Aerial Intelligence with Quantum Systems
Altium Stories
Engineering Aerial Intelligence with Quantum Systems

Quantum Systems specializes in engineering advanced drone solutions that deliver critical aerial intelligence to various industries. Watch the new Altium Stories episode to see how Altium Designer and Altium 365 help Quantum Systems streamline their electronics engineering processes, ensuring seamless collaboration across teams.

Blog
Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design: Component Placement for EMC

In the second article of the "Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design" series Dario Fresu explores how effective component placement can reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) in printed circuit boards. He highlights strategies such as board segregation and careful management of high-speed signals and their harmonics to ensure signal integrity and minimize emissions.

Embedded thumbnail for Crover Uses Altium to Develop Subterranean Grain Swimming Robots
Altium Stories
Crover Uses Altium to Develop Subterranean Grain Swimming Robots

Discover how, through Altium's Launchpad program, Crover leveraged Altium Designer and Altium 365 to accelerate iteration and collaborate seamlessly across teams, including their mechanical engineering division. With intelligent part data readily available, they were able to make informed part choices with confidence.

Embedded thumbnail for Use Cases with Dave Young: Multiboard and Harness
New in Altium Designer 24
Use Cases with Dave Young: Multiboard and Harness

In this video, Dave Young demonstrates the use of MultiBoard and Harness in Altium Designer 24, using a custom quadcopter motor part as an example. Learn how these advanced tools can optimize your design workflow.

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Blog
How to Select Copper Foil for High-Frequency PCB Design

The PCB materials industry has spent significant amounts of time developing materials that provide lowest possible signal loss for products with RF applications. For high speed and high frequency designs, losses will limit signal propagation distance and distort signals, and it will create an impedance deviation that can be seen in TDR measurements. In this article, we'll look at the balance between copper foil losses and other types of losses in a PCB, as well as some strategies that are commonly used to overcome roughness.

Blog
Altium Designer 22.8 Update

We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.8 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.8 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!

What is Hybrid Beamforming?
Blog
What is Hybrid Beamforming?

In this article, we’ll look at beamforming implementation in an advanced method combining analog and digital techniques, known as hybrid beamforming. This method blends both digital and analog techniques to create multiple beams and thus reach multiple users with varying intensities. In the case of an RF imaging system or a radar system, hybrid beamforming in a MIMO technique also allows tracking of multiple targets with adjustable resolution.

Is your via impedance calculator accurate?
Blog
Why Most Via Impedance Calculators Are Inaccurate

The problem with every via impedance calculator that I have seen is simple: they are incomplete or totally wrong. The “incomplete” part refers to a lack of context; these calculators can roughly reproduce a well-known estimate from a legend like Howard Johnson in his Digital Design textbooks. However, these calculators never provide insight into what they are actually calculating, or where the calculated via impedance is accurate. Keep reading to see why these calculators get it so wrong, as well as the context surrounding via impedance.

Blog
Buck Converter Simulation in Altium Designer

When designing high power circuits (usually very high voltage and/or current), you’ll need to create a regulator from scratch and place it in your PCB layout. It's also the case that you may want to model a real component using discretes in a simulation in order to qualify the system's expected operating regime. As part of buck converter design, you can easily run a buck converter simulation directly in Altium Designer’s schematic editor. Here’s how you can access these features in the newest version of Altium Designer. 

PCIe 6.0 Overview
Blog
Overview of the PCIe 6.0 Standard

Just as you get used to PCIe 5.0, they decide to release another standard! The newest iteration of PCIe is Gen6, or PCIe 6.0. PCIe 6.0 brings a doubling of channel bandwidth through introduction of PAM-4 as the signaling method in high-speed differential channels. This signaling method is a first for PCIe, and it’s an important enabler of the doubled data rate we see in the current standard. In this article, I’ll run over the important points in the standard and what PCB designers can expect when designing these channels.

SPI vs. I2C For Memory Access
Blog
SPI vs. I2C: How to Choose the Best Protocol for Your Memory Chips

One of the common implementations of SPI and I2C in a PCB layout is as a protocol for reading and writing to an external Flash memory. Flash chips are a very common component in embedded systems and can offer high capacities of non-volatile memory up to Gb values. When choosing a memory chip, you'll want to match the application requirements and functionality with the bus speed you need for read and write operations in your memory chip. There is also the matter of the type of Flash memory you'll need to access (NOR vs. NAND).

Blog
Is There an SPI Trace Impedance Requirement?

There is no SPI trace impedance requirement? The reality is that SPI lines only start to need impedance control when the length of the interconnect becomes very long. And because there is no specific impedance requirement in the bus, you have some freedom in channel design and termination. So what exactly qualifies as “very long” and when is some termination method needed? We’ll break it down in this article.

The Skin Effect and EM Fields
Blog
The Skin Effect, Current Density, and the Electromagnetic Field

During this year's AltiumLive CONNECT event, I recall receiving an interesting question about the skin effect and the distribution of current due to the presence of ground in coplanar transmission lines. In this article, we'll look at the electric field around a transmission line carrying a signal, and how this might be impacted by the skin effect.

Packaging for your PCBAs
Blog
What You Need for PCB Packaging and Shipping

When you get your PCBA back from an assembler, you’ll notice the packaging materials used to pack and ship the PCBA. Those materials are specific to electronics, and if you build products on behalf of clients, it’s important to know the packaging materials used for packing and shipping electronics. In this article I’ll show the main set of materials and equipment used to package electronics assemblies.

PCB Output files
Blog
How to Make PCB Gerber Files in Altium Designer Step-by-Step

Once you've got your PCB layout finished and you're ready to start preparing for manufacturing, one of the critical steps is to create PCB Gerber files. When you're ready to create your Gerber files, you need the right set of CAM processor tools that can take data from your PCB layout. In this article, we'll guide you through this process of how to make PCB Gerber files and show some example tasks you might need to perform to generate them.

Teardrops on Differential Pairs?
Blog
Should You Place Teardrops on Differential Pairs?

One of the major factors impacting reliability of a PCBA is the use of teardrops on traces in the PCB. Like many aspects of reliability, the considerations also span into the signal integrity domain, particularly as more high-reliability products require greater data handling capabilities and run at higher speeds. In this article, I’ll break down the issues present in teardrop usage on differential pairs and how these may affect impedance.

Broken PCB
Blog
The High-Reliability PCBA Design and Test Challenge

High-reliability electronics must go through multiple rounds of testing and qualification to ensure they can withstand their intended operating environment. Designing to performance standards, whether the baseline IPC standards or more stringent industry standards, is the first step in ensuring a reliable circuit board. In this e-book, readers will gain a thorough look into PCB testing and analysis, starting from basic tests performed on bare boards and completed assemblies.

Where to place AC Caps on PCIe Lanes
Blog
AC Coupling Capacitors in PCIe Routing

Coupling capacitors find plenty of uses in analog applications and on differential protocols, acting essentially as high pass filters that remove DC bias carried seen on a signal. In the case of PCIe, there are a few reasons to place AC coupling capacitors on differential pairs beyond the fact that AC coupling capacitors are listed in the standard. In this article, we’ll look briefly at where to place coupling capacitors on PCIe links, as well as the reasons these are placed on PCIe links.

Tuning dialog
Blog
Altium Designer 22.7 Update

We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.7 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.7 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!

The Positive Impact of Supply Chain Visibility on Design to Cost
Blog
The Positive Impact of Supply Chain Visibility on Design to Cost

Design to cost is a lofty idea that is only perfectly executed when supply and demand for components are in perfect harmony. Unfortunately, the current landscape for component sourcing makes design to cost more of a balancing act rather than an exercise in price reduction. To help designers in their efforts to balance cost, capabilities, and procurement, we created this ebook to help users understand how modern supply chain tools can help in these complex design problems.

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Embedded thumbnail for Query Language: How to Easily Create Expressions
How-To's
Query Language: How to Easily Create Expressions

In this video the main tools which allow to simplify the process of building a query in Altium Designer will be considered. There are several such tools and each of them has its own limitations and peculiarities of use.

Embedded thumbnail for PCB Classes overview
How-To's
PCB Classes overview

Are there too many primitives on the board? Having trouble creating design rules? This video gives a brief overview of the classes of primitives that can be created on the board, as well as the possibilities for their further use.

Embedded thumbnail for Creating a BGA Footprint with the Footprint Wizard
How-To's
Creating a BGA Footprint with the Footprint Wizard

Altium Designer makes it easy to create a BGA footprint using our IPC compliant footprint wizard. We'll show you how easily you can create and modify a BGA footprint using the footprint wizard.

Embedded thumbnail for How to work with Pad Classes on PCB?
How-To's
How to work with Pad Classes on PCB?

Sometimes it is required to set different design rules for a different set of pads on the board. The easiest way is to use pad classes and in this video we'll show you how easy it is to create and apply them.

Embedded thumbnail for How to work with multivariate calculations?
How-To's
How to work with multivariate calculations?

Additional modes for obtaining temperature, parametric dependencies and probabilistic distribution by the Monte Carlo method are performed together with basic calculations and allow expanding the possibilities for analyzing design results.

Embedded thumbnail for How to calculate Transient Analysis?
How-To's
How to calculate Transient Analysis?

Transient Analysis simulates the reaction of a circuit over a period of time. It can be supplemented by Fourier Analysis and the use of Initial Conditions.

Embedded thumbnail for BOM Comments
How-To's
BOM Comments

Convenient interaction and coordination of the Active BOM with the help of comments is possible both from the web version of the project and from the Altium Designer between participants of the same and different roles.

Embedded thumbnail for Query Language: What is It For?
How-To's
Query Language: What is It For?

A PCB project contains many different objects. How to manage them? How to find the right ones quickly and efficiently? This video starts the series about query language. Learn the language commands and how to use them and expand your possibilities!

Embedded thumbnail for PCB design with BGA: Via-in-Pad
How-To's
PCB design with BGA: Via-in-Pad

We’ll teach you how to use Via-in-pad to reduce inductance, improve signal integrity, and improve power distribution system performance.

Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: Distributed-Element Circuits
How-To's
Design RF PCB: Distributed-Element Circuits

Distributed-element circuits are a topology of a particular shape and size. Filters, power dividers, directional couplers can be built from them. Being calculated in third-party CAD, the topology of such elements can be easily imported into Altium Designer, and we will show you how to do it!

Embedded thumbnail for How to work with components on a rigid-flex board in MCAD
How-To's
How to work with components on a rigid-flex board in MCAD

With MCAD Codesigner you can quickly add and move components from your MCAD tool and update the design automatically in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to. Add a new component, move components, and change a component’s region in MCAD, and update it to your design in Altium Designer.

Embedded thumbnail for LSM: Impedance profile
How-To's
LSM: Impedance profile

Creating Impedance profiles for transmission lines and how to apply them to the board

Embedded thumbnail for Multichannel Schematic: Creating Channels
How-To's
Multichannel Schematic: Creating Channels

Altium Designer makes creating single and multichannel designs effective and quick. We’ll show you how to create and annotate output and input channels in your design.

Embedded thumbnail for How to efficiently use Blankets?
How-To's
How to efficiently use Blankets?

Blanket is a powerful tool for group assignment of properties in schematic documents. It makes it easier and faster to assign circuit classes, differential pairs, and design rules within schematic documents. This video provides instructions on how to use blanket to simplify work in your designs.

Embedded thumbnail for High Speed: XSignals for DDR3/DDR4
How-To's
High Speed: XSignals for DDR3/DDR4

In high speed design DDR3 and DDR4 memory chips can utilize xSignal classes to match track lengths from the controller to the memory chip easily and quickly. We’ll show you how using the xSignals wizard.

Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: routing (any angle, arc)
How-To's
Design RF PCB: routing (any angle, arc)

It is worth taking a responsible approach to the shape and size of the RF signal conductors. In this video we will cover some practical aspects of working with routing such nets in Altium Designer.

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Iterate Faster in Complex Engineering Projects Webinar Cover
On-Demand Webinar
Iterate Faster in Complex Engineering Projects

Learn how Valispace is transforming the world of requirements and systems engineering, enabling teams to do super fast design iterations and develop quality products while ensuring they comply with standards and regulations.

Data Security and Access Controls for Electronics Development Teams
On-Demand Webinar
Data Security and Access Controls for Electronics Development Teams Using Altium 365 GovCloud on AWS GovCloud Infrastructure

Watch the webinar that brings together the expertise of Altium 365 and AWS to introduce the specialized Altium 365 GovCloud within the robust AWS GovCloud infrastructure. This session is designed for IT and security professionals seeking advanced data protection and access control solutions for their electronics development teams.