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Switched-mode power supplies seem simple enough to design and analyze: it seems like you plug in wall power, and you get out a stable DC voltage, right? I think it would be great if power supply design was that simple, but that is not really the case. Things like topology, component selection, layout decisions, isolation, and grounding all influence noise, stability, and transients in the supply’s output response. One factor that isn’t always...

This article is from a series of articles looking at some of the popular Serial Communication Protocols.  If you like these articles and want to know more, browse our product page for a more in-depth feature description or call an expert at Altium.  These will cover a few of the more popular protocols and standards in use today. After this series, we will review and compare their advantages and disadvantages. We aim to provide helpful...

In Configuring a Hardware in the Loop Project, we reviewed the hardware concept in the loop testing using the Pytest framework. In that article, we examined the high-level concepts needed to create a basic test framework and structure. In this article, we will be reviewing the Pytest framework in-depth, specifically parameterized tests. At the end of this article, the reader will understand the difference between individual tests and...

Working between the Electronic and Mechanical design domains brings unique challenges. ECAD and MCAD tools have different design objectives and have evolved down different paths, and so has the way they store and manage their design and project data. Today's designs of small and complex product enclosures that house multiple, irregular-shaped printed circuit boards (PCB), demand that this challenge be solved . To successfully design these...

Working between the Electronic and Mechanical design domains brings unique challenges. ECAD and MCAD tools have different design objectives and have evolved down different paths, and so has the way they store and manage their design and project data.  Today's designs of small and complex product enclosures that house multiple, irregular-shaped printed circuit boards (PCB), demand that this challenge be solved. To successfully design these...

Working between the Electronic and Mechanical design domains brings unique challenges. ECAD and MCAD tools have different design objectives and have evolved down different paths, and so has the way they store and manage their design and project data.  Today's designs of small and complex product enclosures that house multiple, irregular-shaped printed circuit boards (PCB), demand that this challenge be solved. To successfully design these...

Working between the Electronic and Mechanical design domains brings unique challenges. ECAD and MCAD tools have different design objectives and have evolved down different paths, and so has the way they store and manage their design and project data.  Today's designs of small and complex product enclosures that house multiple, irregular-shaped printed circuit boards (PCB), demand that this challenge be solved. To successfully design these...

As much as we’d like, the power we supply to electronics isn’t always stable. Real power sources contain noise, they might exhibit power instability, or they drop out unexpectedly. Thankfully, we have power regulators to help prevent some of these problems. For low-power devices, two common types of power regulators are used: linear voltage regulators (or low dropout regulators, LDOs) and switching regulators. These can be combined at various...

Every so often, I get a question from a reader that piques my interest and ends up sparking a lively debate, research dive, or Q&A session. One recent question I received concerns PCB trace length, signaling standards, and component specifications. Here’s the paraphrased question: What is the typical length limit for a high-speed trace? This is always a fun question because it can be addressed from multiple angles. In this case, the component...