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Explore content from blog posts to technical white papers gathered together for your convenience. All written by Altium's community of PCB design experts.

Streamline Document Creation and Management No more chaos now it's possible all the required documents can be created by running the output job file command of Altium so you get the same documents from each engineer in your organization every time. TOPICS IN THIS SOLUTION PCB DOCUMENT CREATION AND MANAGEMENT SCHEMATIC DESIGN REVIEW PCB LAYOUT MANUFACTURING PACKAGE CREATION PCB ASSEMBLY PACKAGE CREATION PCB DOCUMENT CREATION AND MANAGEMENT Document creation and management has long been one Download PDF
Time Saving Tips and Tricks in Altium Designer Part 2: PCB Design Environment Migration This Second Part of our Time-Saving Tricks and Tips Paper Will Guide you in Using Altium Designer® to Successfully Backup and Streamline the Migration of EDA Core Data from one Computer to Another, Saving you Time and Worry. TOPICS IN THIS SOLUTION IT SHOULD MATTER THIS? HURDLES OF PCB DESIGN ENVIRONMENT MIGRATION STREAMLINING THE MIGRATION OF ALTIUM DESIGNER TO ANOTHER COMPUTER BACKUP PROCEDURE FOR MIGRATION OF ALTIUM DESIGNER IT SHOULD MATTER Download PDF
Security by Design: Internet of Things Authentification and Self Testing Have you noticed how many organizations are getting hacked lately? Businesses like Equifax aren’t the only targets of these attacks; government institutions like the NSA have also been hit. Even the Internet of Things (IoT) has been targeted. Hackers infect and control devices in order to use them as a tool for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) assaults. I’m sure you’ve gotten your credit card hacked, as well; I have. The difficult part about Read Article
Designing a User Database for Card Access Systems How long does it usually take for you to unpack your clothes and organize them after you move? If you’re anything like me, they might slowly move from your suitcases and boxes to a dresser over a healthy span of weeks. In the interim, I have to develop an internal logic of where, in all the clutter, certain clothes are located: dress shirts in the box at the foot of the bed, socks and underwear tucked in front of the dresser. Even my logic fails Read Article
Tips for Real-World PCB Design: Timing, Communication, and Traceability I love food; I love the preparation, finding the ingredients, adding the minute adjustments of seasonings and salt, and cooking multiple courses at once. But when I first started cooking for myself, I prepared each part of the meal individually. I found it immensely difficult to keep track of the different dishes and ensure none stuck to the pan—or went without stirring for too long. So I sacrificed time and did each task individually. What my Read Article
Advanced Driver Assistance Programs (ADAS) The automotive market has been growing and is promised to grow even more. The growing demand for ADAS features and other in vehicle systems and features has made electronics the most valuable part of a vehicle. Learn more about ADAS features, augmented reality in cars, as well as in depth technical considerations regarding ADAS software development and ADAS vehicle safety. Click the PDF above to read more about Advanced Driver Assistance Programs Download PDF
How to Compare Differences in CircuitStudio This video will go over how to compare the differences between two documents in your PCB design. Read Article
How to Utilize Cross-Probe, Masking and Highlighting in CircuitStudio This video will cover how to use the powerful cross probing feature in CircuitStudio, including masking and Highlighting. Read Article
How to Create and Edit Your Board Shape in CircuitStudio This video will go over how to create and edit a customized board shape. Read Article
How to Route in CircuitStudio This video will go over how to edit and route not only single but multiple traces at the same time including different routing modes and options. Read Article
Wearables There is a growing selection of wearable electronics, many of which can be directly credited with a rise in health and lifestyle improvements. They track distance and time on your runs, help assess whether you're getting the right amount of restful sleep, and even keep you connected to your loved ones, hands-free. As a still-emergent technology, there is plenty of room for growth and development, but wearables have already made an undeniable Download PDF
Advanced Driver Assistance Programs (ADAS) The automotive market has been growing and is promised to grow even more. The growing demand for ADAS features and other in vehicle systems and features has made electronics the most valuable part of a vehicle. Learn more about ADAS features, augmented reality in cars, as well as in depth technical considerations regarding ADAS software development and ADAS vehicle safety. Click the PDF above to read more about Advanced Driver Assistance Programs Download PDF
Internet of Things Security Issues Prompt Government Intervention When you look at an Internet of Things (IoT) device like a fork or a juicer, what do you see? Like me, you probably see a gadget that was designed for a particular purpose. Less upstanding citizens may see a digital weapon instead of an innocuous gizmo. In the past several years, there have been several high-profile distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that were enabled by poorly-secured IoT devices. Hackers infiltrate light bulbs and Read Article
The Best Flash Memory Storage Solution: Is NOR or NAND Ideal for Your Project? I must admit that I’m pretty ignorant when it comes to wine: should I get a white wine for my dinner, or would a red be more appropriate? And don’t test me on the differences between different whites or different reds. I know that there are some guidelines for which variety to pair with various foods and flavors, but I have no idea what these recommended pairings are. Just like red and white wines, NOR flash and NAND flash memory storage devices Read Article
Is It Hot In Here Or Is That Your PCB Shorting - Common Causes of Shortages As an undergrad, I once had classes cancelled because of an electrical fire in a neighboring building. Even funnier was that I was actually in a junior-level electrical engineering course when we were dismissed. Several students wanted to go check the fire out; their reasoning was that we were electrical engineers, and thus electrical fires fell under our purview. In this class we’d had quite a few labs ending with blue smoke (and even one small Read Article
Internet of Things Security Best Practices: Passwords, Patches, and Portals If you’ve ever created devices for military applications you’re probably used to designing with security in mind. If you’re more like me, and just build the odd Internet of Things (IoT) doodad, that’s probably the last thing on your mind. However, recent cyber attacks are highlighting why engineers like us should be a little more concerned with security. These design best practices will show you how you can safeguard your systems. Why Secure the Read Article
How the Right Tools in Your PCB Toolkit Can Help Your Next Design When my sons were young, it was a joy for me to introduce and show them how to use tools for repair or construction. They would ask questions about the different tools in my toolkit, and my pair of old Channellock pliers really seemed to catch their interest. To tell the truth, those Channellocks are my favorite too. I inherited them from my dad, and still use them. They’re the first tool in my kit that I look for when I need to solve a problem Read Article