News & Updates
Blog
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Support for Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer
Rigid-flex in Altium Designer starts with designing a manufacturable PCB layer stack complete with via transitions and any calculated impedance requirements. Flex sections also need to be placed in the layer stack before moving into the PCB layout. Once inside the PCB editor, bending lines can be clearly defined in the PCB layout, and these can be visualized in Altium Designer's 3D PCB design tools. Keep reading to see how Altium Designer supports your flex and rigid-flex designs.
Blog
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Communicating PCB Layer Stackup Needs to Manufacturers
In the business of PCB design, communicating needs to manufacturers and vendors is a top priority. The context of our requests is sometimes lost either by not providing the correct information, not listing enough information, or not giving any information. Although the experienced PCB designer can take steps to specify everything they want to see in their PCB stackup, eventaully the manufacturer will handle that decision in an effort to balance available materials with processing capabilities and yield.
On-Demand Webinar
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Intelligent Supply Chain Webinar
Many factors can affect your supply chain. Currently, supply disruptions are being felt due to the effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic. In this webinar, learn how Concord Pro on Altium 365 can mitigate disruptions in your supply chain and help you stay on schedule and budget for your designs.
Blog
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Risk Vs. Reward
During the recent IPC APEX expo, there was a lot of discussion about SAP, or semi-additive PCB processes. As with any new technology adoption there were people that are excited to jump right in and start designing with much finer feature sizes and work through the inevitable changes to the traditional thought process. Others are in a "let’s wait and see" mode and of course there are a few skeptics there as well, so keep reading to learn more.
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Parasitic Extraction with an Electromagnetic Solver in PCB Routing
Parasitic extraction: the integrated circuit design community must grapple with this task on a daily basis, especially once gate features are reduced below ~350 nm and chips run at high switching speeds. The PCB community also has to deal with this idea in order to better design power delivery networks, interconnects with precise impedance, and properly quantify crosstalk and coupling mechanisms.
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Ebook: PDN Simulation and Analysis Guide
Most designers don’t realize they need to worry about power integrity until they have a power integrity problem. Other designers might build boards that can’t handle the demands of modern digital and high frequency components, and they may not realize the problems that lurk in their power delivery network (PDN). Although the basic concepts involved in designing for power integrity are well-known, myths about power integrity abound, and designers need tools to help them evaluate and qualify power integrity in a PDN.
Blog
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Ferrite Beads and Transfer Impedance in a PDN Simulation
The use of ferrites in a PDN is one design recommendation that is fraught with unclear guidance and over-generalized recommendations. If you see an application note or a reference design that recommends placing a ferrite in a PDN, should you follow this in your specific design, or should you ignore this and focus on adding capacitance?
On-Demand Webinar
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Preparing your files for Fabrication Release
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 webinar, we’ll review some of the must-have checks before sending your output data for fabrication.
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Overview of PCB Design Output Files
Before your board can be put into production and prepared for assembly, you have to generate a set of files that assist your manufacturer. These are your PCB design output files, also known as manufacturing files, fabrication data, assembly files, and a host of other names. Before you send your design file off to a manufacturer in an email, make sure to get a list of their required fabrication and assembly files first. If you’re a new designer, take some time to read over the basic PCB manufacturing file extensions below.
Blog
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Transformer Theory Made Simple
Transformers can provide very effective signal isolation and are used to manipulate AC voltage and current levels. They can achieve all this with a greater than 95% power efficiency, which is why we commonly see them used in bench power supplies, audio gear, computers, kitchen appliances, and wall-warts. However, transformer theory can be unintuitive and in this article we answer on questions about them
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.
Blog
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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.
Blog
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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.
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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.
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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.
Blog
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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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