News & Updates
Blog
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Copper Pour and Via Stitching: Do You Need Them in a PCB Layout?
To pour or not to pour, to stitch or not to stitch… Over many years, some common “rules of thumb” have become very popular and, ultimately, taken a bit out of context. Rules of thumb are not always wrong, but taking PCB design recommendations out of context helps justify bad design practices, and it can even affect the producibility of your board. Like many aspects of a physical PCB layout, via stitching and copper pour can be like acid: quite useful if implemented properly, but also dangerous if used indiscriminately.
On-Demand Webinar
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What is High-Speed Design?
The primary source of high-speed problems is not due to high clock frequency but rather the fast rise and fall times of component signals. With fast edge rates, reflections may occur at the receiver side, and when the board routing is dense, crosstalk may become a problem. During this webinar, you'll sharpen your knowledge and develop new skills that you can use to design High-Speed PCB's more efficiently and effectively.
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Should You Use Power MOSFETs in Series?
Power MOSFETs enable a huge range of electronic systems, specifically in situations where BJTs are not useful or efficient. MOSFETs can be used in high current systems in parallel arrangements, but what about their use in series? Both arrangements of MOSFETs have their pitfalls that designers should consider. Let’s look at MOSFETs in series as they are quite useful in certain systems, but be careful to design your circuits and your PCB for reliability.
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Controlled ESR Capacitors: Should You Use Them for Power Integrity?
I can’t think of a single product I’ve built that doesn’t require capacitors. We often talk a lot about effective series inductance (ESL) in capacitors and its effects on power integrity. What about effective series resistance (ESR)? Is there a technique you can use to determine the appropriate level of resistance, and can you use ESR to your advantage?
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Microstrip Ground Clearance Part 2: How Clearance Affects Losses
If your goal is to hit a target impedance, and you’re worried about how nearby pour might affect impedance, you can get closer than the limits set by the 3W rule. But what are the effects on losses? If the reason for this question isn’t obvious, or if you’re not up-to-date on the finer points of transmission line design, then keep reading to see how nearby ground pour can affect losses in impedance-controlled interconnects.
On-Demand Webinar
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What is High-Speed Design?
The primary source of high-speed problems is not due to high clock frequency but rather the fast rise and fall times of component signals. With fast edge rates, reflections may occur at the receiver side, and when the board routing is dense, crosstalk may become a problem. During this webinar, you'll sharpen your knowledge and develop new skills that you can use to design High-Speed PCB's more efficiently and effectively.
Blog
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Choosing the Right Microphone for Embedded Applications
If you need to capture sound waves for your electrical device to process, you'll need a microphone. However, microphones these days have become very advanced, and there are so many options to choose from. They range from the relatively simple and popular condenser type microphones to state-of-the-art sound conversion solutions incorporating internal amplifiers and other electronic processing functionality. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the options available.
Blog
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Composite Amplifiers and How They Give the Best of Both Worlds
There are many times where you need an amplifier with high gain, low noise, high slew rate, and broad bandwidth simultaneously. However, not all of these design goals are possible with all off-the-shelf components. Here are some points to consider when working with a composite amplifier design and how to evaluate your design with the right set of circuit simulation tools.
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Reduce Common-Mode Noise in Your Power Supply with Impedance Balancing
Simple switching regulator circuits that operate in compact spaces, like on a small PCB, can usually be deployed in noisy environments without superimposing significant noise on the output power level. As long as you lay out the board properly, you’ll probably only need a simple filter circuit to remove EMI on the inputs and outputs. As the regulator becomes larger, both physically and electrically, noise problems can become much more apparent, namely radiated EMI and conducted EMI in the PCB layout.
Blog
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Part 1: Why Your PCB Design Review Process Is Obsolete and What You Can Do About It
A PCB design review is a practice to review the design of a board for possible errors and issues at various stages of product development. It can range from a formal checklist with official sign-offs to a more free-form inspection of schematic drawings and PCB layouts. For this article, we will not delve into what to check during a design review process but rather look at how a review process itself usually unfolds and how to optimize it to get the most out of your time.
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Part 2: Why Your PCB Design Review Process Is Obsolete and What You Can Do About It
As we established in Part 1, the PCB design review and collaboration practices have room for improvement in many organizations. To address this, we developed Altium 365. Let's examine how running a PCB project through Altium 365 compares to other methods.
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How to Solve Fit, Form, and Function Challenges in Robotics with ECAD-MCAD Collaboration
As robotics systems become increasingly miniaturized and intricate, ensuring perfect fit, form, and function across electrical and mechanical domains is critical to avoid design setbacks. Real-time ECAD-MCAD integration with two-way sync empowers teams to streamline workflows, reduce PCB rework, and deliver more reliable designs faster.
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One Vision, Three Powerful Solutions: Introducing Altium Discover, Altium Develop, and Altium Agile
We are excited to announce the launch of three new platform-based solutions that will transform the way electronic products are designed, built, and delivered: Altium Discover, Altium Develop, and Altium Agile. These solutions are designed to simplify processes, accelerate innovation, and make collaboration seamless across the entire electronics lifecycle. Together, they realize the purpose of Altium and Renesas: To Make Our Lives Easier.
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The Cost of Overreaction: How Misguided Orders Disrupt the Semiconductor Market
Discover how short-sighted ordering practices fuel volatility in the semiconductor market and why smarter, data-driven approaches are key to building resilience and sustainability.
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The Top 5 Workflow Bottlenecks Slowing Down Mechanical Engineering Teams
Mechanical engineering teams frequently encounter delays from fragmented communication, disconnected toolchains, and inefficient synchronization processes. This article examines five critical workflow bottlenecks and highlights how ECAD-MCAD integration with real-time, bidirectional updates can eliminate rework and accelerate design iterations.
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Optimize Your Multiboard PCB System with Intelligent Design and Manufacturing Solutions
Optimizing multiboard PCB systems demands visibility across logical, physical, and manufacturing domains. This article outlines how Altium’s environment lets engineers establish system‑level schematics, 3D spatial validation, harness documentation, and synchronized outputs to streamline design and production.
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Why Mechanical Engineers Struggle With ECAD Collaboration (And How to Fix It)
If you’ve ever been frustrated by clunky PCB-to-mechanical workflows, you’re not alone. Learn why collaboration between mechanical and electrical engineers is harder than it should be and what’s behind the struggle.
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Digital Thread for Electronics: Synchronizing PCB, Multi-Board, and Harness Design
Eliminate costly mismatches and assembly delays. This whitepaper shows you how to apply a unified digital thread across PCB, multi-board, and harness workflows - bridging ECAD/MCAD silos, ensuring connector accuracy, mechanical fit, and real-time collaboration for flawless system design.
Blog
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Building a Model Context Protocol Server for Arduinos
This guide walks you through creating an MCP server that turns AI interactions with Arduino into a predictable, automated process handling tasks like board listing, compilation, and serial communication via a fast, menu‑driven interface. Skip the guesswork of prompt nudging and reduce the risk of unintended device issues.
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Zero Voltage Switching in DC/DC Converters
Our brand-new article explains how zero-voltage switching improves performance in DC/DC converters through reduced losses, lower EMI, and smarter gate-drive control.
Blog
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Getting Started with the GreenPAK Introduction Kit
Take your first steps into mixed-signal design with the Renesas GreenPAK Introduction Kit. Ari Mahpour shows how to design, simulate, and validate a clock divider project, making it easy for beginners to start experimenting with programmable mixed-signal devices.
Blog
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Smarter Electronic Part Sourcing for Automotive Purchasing Professionals
Targeted at procurement professionals in the automotive industry, the article outlines the evolving pressures of sourcing components for electrified and connected vehicles. It highlights Octopart’s ecosystem as a unified tool that centralizes availability, compliance, pricing, and lifecycle intelligence to optimize sourcing efficiency.
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Stack-Up to Success: Avoid the Pitfalls
"Stack‑Up to Success" highlights how a carefully planned PCB stack‑up is foundational to preventing warpage, managing impedance, and avoiding manufacturing delays by clearly communicating layer construction, materials, and tolerance requirements to fabricators.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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