Welcome, Guest

Sign in to learn, create, and do more with the product you love.

News & Updates

Filters:
Tag
Embedded thumbnail for Bottom Terminated Component Guide: Footprint Design Best Practices
How-To's
Bottom Terminated Component Guide: Footprint Design Best Practices

Want to create a reliable footprint for your PCB design? Watch our latest video with Zach Peterson and learn best practices for designing PCB footprints for bottom-terminated components. This tutorial covers how to properly design paste masks for QFNs, BGAs, and other bottom-terminated packages to prevent common assembly issues.

Embedded thumbnail for Design 4x Faster with Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
Design 4x Faster with Altium Designer 25

PCB CoDesign in Altium Designer 25 enables multiple engineers to collaborate on a single PCB design, saving over 10 minutes and 300+ clicks. With an intuitive compare-and-merge workflow, teams can efficiently resolve conflicts and streamline their design process. Check out this video to learn more, and use the Benefit Calculator to see your potential time savings: https://www.altium.com/benefit-calculator.

Blog
Ultra HDI: It’s Not Just Buzzword

Ultra-HDI technology is transforming PCB design, enabling unprecedented miniaturization and performance. In this article, explore what sets Ultra-HDI apart from traditional HDI and how it’s shaping the future of electronics.

Embedded thumbnail for Empowering Hybrid Designs with Wire Bonding
New in Altium Designer 25
Empowering Hybrid Designs with Wire Bonding

Our latest whitepaper on Wire Bonding technology is now available! It explores the role of wire bonding in modern PCB design and how Altium Designer 25 enhances the process with dedicated features. Access it here: Wire Bonding Whitepaper.

Blog
Cloud PCB Design: 5 Cloud Security Myths Debunked

This article addresses common misconceptions about cloud security in PCB design. It explains how modern cloud platforms, such as Altium 365, often provide superior security compared to traditional on-premises solutions. Key features like advanced infrastructure, granular access controls, and compliance with stringent regulations ensure the protection of valuable design data.

Embedded thumbnail for 8 Times Faster Simulations Using Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
8 Times Faster Simulations Using Altium Designer 25

Speed up your simulations with Altium Designer 25—now up to 8x faster! Watch our comparison to see how built-in simulation slashes processing time, saving you valuable minutes on every task.

Embedded thumbnail for Harness Design Top 5 Improvements in Altium Designer 25
New in Altium Designer 25
Harness Design Top 5 Improvements in Altium Designer 25

Harness Design in Altium Designer 25 just got a major upgrade! This video showcases the top five new features that improve flexibility, organization, and efficiency in your wiring workflow. Watch now to see these enhancements in action and take your designs to the next level!

Blog
Renesas and Altium Announce Introduction of Renesas 365, Powered by Altium

Last week, Renesas Electronics and Altium proudly announced the introduction of Renesas 365, Powered by Altium—a first-of-its-kind industry solution designed to streamline electronic system development, from silicon selection to system lifecycle management. Renesas 365 will be demonstrated at Embedded World, Booth 5-371, from March 11-13 in Nuremberg, Germany.

Embedded thumbnail for HitIQ uses Altium solutions to better understand brain injuries in sports sciences
Altium Stories
HitIQ uses Altium solutions to better understand brain injuries in sports sciences

Watch our video about HitIQ and theirs usage of Altium's software to develop a Smart Mouthguard, an advanced concussion management solution. Our software accelerated their development, improved accuracy, and its helpful for detecting and managing sports-related brain injuries.

Blog
DFM/DFA Requirements in Systems Engineering

Learn how integrating DFM and DFA principles into systems engineering ensures manufacturable, cost-effective PCB designs by optimizing CAD, CAM, and requirements management in our new article by Javier Alcina.

Embedded thumbnail for Boost Team Productivity with Seamless Collaboration - Recording Preview
New in Altium Designer 25
Boost Team Productivity with Seamless Collaboration - Recording Preview

Discover how to enhance your PCB design workflow with Altium Designer and Altium 365. Learn to speed up tasks, enhance collaboration, connect teams, and optimize part selection—all in one seamless environment.

Blog
Best Practices for Electronics Project Management - Part 2

Part 2 of this series covers essential project management techniques for electronics design teams. Rafał Stępień discusses effective data organization, revision control, and collaboration strategies to improve efficiency and minimize errors.

Embedded thumbnail for Altium Tutorial: Harness Design to Multi-Board Assembly Workflow
How-To's
Altium Tutorial: Harness Design to Multi-Board Assembly Workflow

Watch our latest tutorial on Harness Design and Multi-board, where we showcase best practices for Harness Design, MCAD collaboration, and manufacturing documentation generation to enhance your PCB assembly workflow.

Blog
Rigid-Flex PCBs: Understanding the Pros, Cons, and Fabrication Considerations

Read our new article which discusses the advantages of rigid-flex PCBs, such as space-saving designs and enhanced reliability, while also addressing potential challenges in their fabrication. It provides essential design and manufacturing tips to help engineers effectively implement this technology in various applications.

Embedded thumbnail for Smart Mouthguard Impacting Concussion Science
Altium Stories
Smart Mouthguard Impacting Concussion Science

Check out our latest Customer Success Story about HitIQ, founded by former AFL player Nathan Murphy. HitIQ harnessed Altium’s design and collaboration tools to develop its Smart Mouthguard—an advanced concussion management solution. The team utilized Altium Designer’s Rigid-Flex PCB capabilities and Constraint Manager, along with Altium 365’s Web Viewer and Cloud Storage, to create a compact yet highly functional design while enhancing cross-functional collaboration.

Blog
The Role of Automation & Robotics in Wire Harness Assembly

Our new article highlights how automation and robotics are transforming wire harness assembly, improving efficiency, precision, and cost-effectiveness. Technologies like robotic wire handling and AI-driven testing are paving the way for smarter production. However, challenges like custom designs and high costs still persist.

Embedded thumbnail for The Hidden Dangers of PCB File Sharing (And the One Solution You Need)
How-To's
The Hidden Dangers of PCB File Sharing (And the One Solution You Need)

Protect your PCB designs from security risks! This video uncovers hidden vulnerabilities in traditional file-sharing methods and shows how encrypted file transfers can safeguard your intellectual property. Learn why email and unsecured cloud storage aren’t enough—and explore secure collaboration solutions used by leading companies.

Tag
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.

Evaluating Stubs on PCIe Lanes
Blog
A Brief Study of Stubs on a PCIe Connector

Stubs are an important topic in high-speed PCB design, and there is a longstanding guideline that stubs should always be removed from all vias on high-speed digital interconnects. While stubs are bad for high-speed lines, they do not always need to be removed. What is more important is to predict the loss profile and frequencies, and to floorplan appropriately to try and prevent such losses.

Surface Layer DFM and Cleanup
Blog
PCB Layout Cleanup Before Manufacturing

Once you finish your placement and routing in your PCB layout, it can be tempting to wrap up the layout and send everything in directly to manufacturing. The reality is that the board may still need some work before it is considered finished. The cleanup you perform at the final stage of PCB layout will help you catch any outstanding errors that can't be programmed into your DRC engine, and it gives you a chance to add any outstanding details to the surface layers.

Tag
Embedded thumbnail for Using Parameters in Variants
How to work with Variants
Using Parameters in Variants

You can use parameters to change your variants in many ways, such as text and titles. We’ll show you how to alter parameters in the PCB, Schematic, and Draftsman so you can create variants with different parameters.

Embedded thumbnail for How to efficiently use Blankets?
Blankets
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 Query Language: How to Easily Create Expressions
Query Language
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 What to Consider when Designing Edge Connectors
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
What to Consider when Designing Edge Connectors

If your design requires edge connectors there are a few important things to consider. We’ll walk you through how to make sure your design with edge connectors is easy and manufacturable.

Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: Distributed-Element Circuits
RF PCB Design
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 Variants in Schematic Editor
How to work with Variants
Variants in Schematic Editor

You can quickly create and edit variants with the schematic Editor in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to create and edit the variants in the schematic editor by utilizing the parameter variation tool, the edit component variation tool, part actions, toggling fitted or non fitted, and the variant manager.

Relative Length Tuning
What's New in 22.3
Relative Length Tuning

Designing high-speed PCB just got easier. The Length Tuning tools is now even more functionality. Complex tasks can now be solved even faster.

Relative Length Tuning
What's New in 22.3
相对长度调节

高速PCB设计变得更加轻松。Length Tuning工具现在具有更多功能。现在可以更加快速地解决复杂任务。

Enhanced UI for Via Stack Editing
What's New in 22.3
Enhanced UI for Via Stack Editing

The via editing mode is now even more convenient. Information about the via, editing its parameters and connections to polygons are now all in a new and simple, but familiar form.

Enhanced UI for Via Stack Editing
What's New in 22.3
可用于过孔堆栈编辑的增强型UI

过孔编辑模式现在更加便于使用。有关过孔、其参数编辑以及与多边形铺铜连接的信息,现在均将以一种全新、简单但熟悉的形式出现。

Generic Components
What's New in 22.3
Generic Components

The way from idea to real devices has become shorter. The new feature will reduce the time it takes to design a schematic.

Generic Components
What's New in 22.3
通用元件

从产生创意到变为实物所需的路程将越来越短。新功能将有助于缩短进行原理图设计所需的时间。

Embedded thumbnail for Designing a Silkscreen
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Designing a Silkscreen

The silkscreen layer allows you to add text and extra detail that will appear in your final designed board. We'll show you how to get started and what to look for when creating a silkscreen.

Embedded thumbnail for Types of Component Variations
How to work with Variants
Types of Component Variations

Altium Designer allows you to implement several different types of component variations. We’ll show you the differences between fitted, modified parameters, not fitted, and alternate Part variations, as well as how to add and manage these variations for your design.

Embedded thumbnail for Query Language: Basic Concept Part III
Query Language
Query Language: Basic Concept Part III

Often the criterion for searching certain objects in Altium Designer is matching parameters to some string (text) values. Learn from this video how to use substitution symbols in queries and increase your productivity when working on projects

Embedded thumbnail for Solder Mask Expansion and Minimum Sliver
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Solder Mask Expansion and Minimum Sliver

Using the solder mask expansion and the minimum solder mask sliver rules, you can make sure your solder mask layer doesn’t interfere with any of your exposed copper and is manufacturable.

Tag
Your search returns no results.