PCB Design Resources and Information

Explore Altium's Resource hub to discover content from blog posts and design guides to technical white papers, all gathered together for your convenience and written by Altium's community of PCB design experts.

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Mastering Magnetism: Hall Effect Sensors and Applications for PCBs Magnetism allows you to do some really cool things—especially when electrons move through a magnetic field. One device that uses the deflection of electron motion for sensing is a Hall effect sensor. These little devices are used in automotive, manufacturing, consumer electronics, and other industries. The Hall effect basically allows a magnetic field to be sensed, which offers several possible applications. Some of the possible applications Read Article

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? Like many answers to important engineering questions, the answer is “it depends.” One type of Read Article

Routing Requirements for a USB 2.0 Impedance Interface on a 2-Layer PCB In an earlier blog, I discussed some of the basic points in preparing routing rules for 2-layer PCBs to support routing and layout with digital signals. In particular, we looked at some of the basic stackup and routing rules needed to support a digital interface like I2C or SPI on a 2-layer PCB. When working with these interfaces, a few simple guidelines can help ensure signal integrity in your board and cut down on EMI. What about an impedance Read Article

Ferrite Core Selection and Design Decisions When designing a transformer or using a ferrite core inductor, you must use the correct design process, and there is no substitution for real-world final testing. Let’s look at the process. Read Article

Schematic Design Review Checklist This article is a simple, no-frills checklist to help you check schematics. Read now and avoid schematic design mistakes that could make their way into prototypes or production without a second thought. Read Article

Beginner's Guide to H-bridge Full Wave Rectifier Design Need to start a new power conversion design? You’ll probably need an H-bridge full-wave rectifier to produce a stable DC output. Read Article

Energy Harvesting Sensors for Medical Devices and Remote Sensors Harvesting energy from the environment is an increasingly popular technique for powering electrical devices. Let’s discuss sources and implementation. Read Article

How Important is your Microcontroller Clock Source

How Important is Your Clock In Microcontroller Source The type of clock signal you need to use for your microcontroller will depend mainly on the nature of the device it’s embedded in and its operating environment. Read Article

MMw and RF Interaction John will generously share with us today a glimpse of his recent keynote presentation at PCB West 2021. Watch now, and don't miss this rare opportunity to learn from expert John Coonrod. Read Article

Copper Pour and Via Stitching: Do You Need Them in a PCB Layout? When is it appropriate to use copper pour or via stitching in your PCB layout? Read our guide on copper pour and how it can be used properly with via stitching. Read Article

PCB Design and Review Checklist It’s essential to check a board for issues before production or prototyping. Here’s an extensive checklist you can adapt or use directly for PCB design review. Read Article

Best Practices in Hardware Version Control Systems Read more about some best practices for using hardware version control systems in electronics design. Read Article

Do You Always Need 1 oz. Copper Thickness on Each Layer? 1 oz. copper thickness is often seen as a standard thickness value used in many designs. Here’s when you might need thicker copper on every layer. Read Article

Getting Started with ESP8266 A project overview on getting started with the ESP8266 device. Expert Ari Mahpour reviews the benefits of using a device such as the NodeMCU board from HiLetgo and how to get up and running with a few examples. Read Article

Getting Started with MQTT Check this out. This is a new project overview demonstrating MQTT by expert Ari Mahpour. In this article, Ari answers the What and Why of MQTT, and gives guidelines to get your project started. Read Article

SAP (Semi-additive PCB process): The Basics Expert Tara Dunn answers what are semi-additive PCB fabrication processes and what are the benefits? Read now and learn more about SAP. Read Article

Can You Route Digital Signals on a 2-layer PCB? 2-layer PCBs are a common entry-level choice for designers, and they can even support high speed designs if built correctly. Read Article