The Essential Tools You Need for PCB Design Whether you’re building a house or building a PCB, you need the right tools in your toolbox. Every designer needs to have CAD tools for component placement, but even command line-based CAD software can be used for accurate component placement. With modern electronic devices becoming more complex at all levels, designers need tools that help expedite essential design tasks. Choosing the right set of PCB design tools requires weighing a number of Read Article LVDS PCB Layout Guidelines for Ensuring Signal Integrity When you first get started in high-speed PCB design, you'll spend a lot of time encountering and understanding an alphabet soup of acronyms. MIPI, USB, PCIe interface, SATA PCB layout... the list of acronyms used to name high-speed digital interfaces is long. Low-voltage differential signaling (LVDS) is an older interface that was standardized for differential data transfer at high speeds, but it remains in use today for a variety of imaging and Read Article Routing Topology Configuration in PCB Design for Power, Data, and Peripherals Which PCB routing topology matches with which technologies? Take a look at this article to learn more. Read Article Weekly Digest: Projects and Teams We’re doing our best to provide the most in-depth information to help designers with productivity, project management and everything PCB design related. Get the latest information here from Industry Experts and catch up on everything published this week, all in one place. Let us know your burning questions or tag us in social media to share one of your projects! Octopart On The OnTrack Podcast with Judy Warner This week Chris Calvi came on the Read Article It's a Converging, Electromechanical and Software World Software is eating the world. It’s making its way into traditional, mechanical products, thus forcing companies to rethink their design process. Products that have traditionally been mechanical are becoming jam-packed with software. This expansion of smart, connected products means new demands for engineers, and branching out into new fields. There is a need for a broader set of design skills among engineering staff and a need for more efficient Read Article 21:37 Output Job Files for Rapid, Repeatable PCB Manufacturing Data Generation Watch Video Sourcing Components with Christopher Calvi In today's episode Judy Warner is with Cristopher Calvi, Head and GM of Octopart to discuss about the current challenges and strategies in sourcing components. Watch the full episode here. Read Article Weekly Digest: Optimize Your Documentation and Workflow Get the latest information from Industry Experts, Altium webinars, videos and more to help you maximize your productivity. We know it takes a lot to go from design to assembly and fabrication so we’re working on providing the most in-depth information to help designers with the most challenging questions. Let us know what questions keep you up at night or consider joining our expert team of writers. New Articles on the PCB Design Blog Check out Read Article Selecting FR4 Alternatives of PCB Substrate Materials for Multilayer Boards You don’t have to settle for FR4 for your next multilayer PCB. Read more on selecting other PCB substrate materials. Read Article 30:44 Snapping Grids Guides Webinar Watch Video What to Look for in a Board Fabricator with Steve Williams Steve Williams, President of TRAC shares his tips on what to look for in terms of certifications to source the ideal, reliable board fabricator supplier who will get the job done. Watch full episode. Read Article Flexible Circuit Stiffener Options It is common for a flexible circuit stack-up to include a stiffener, read about the different options here. Read Article Surfing 3D PCB CAD from Inside the Grey Tsunami APEX San Diego – Riding my long skateboard through the streets of the Gaslamp I must have been quite a sight in my suit and tie. Fresh off the IPC APEX show floor, I was carving turns through traffic, heading back to my hotel after spending several hours discussing the positive wave of 3D PCB CAD with some industry colleagues. Suddenly, I heard two guys laugh and shout at me from the crowded street corner: “Hey, you’re too old to be ridin’ a Read Article Project Management Tools My first opportunity to use a project management technique was the Gantt Chart as part of my Engineering Senior Project while in college. At that time, it was all manual. Today, numerous software packages offer it along with other project visibility techniques (Figure 1): Gantt Chart Pert Chart Critical Path Analysis Affinity Diagrams Gap Analysis TimeLine Figure 1. Some of the visualization tools used for project management [1]. No matter what Read Article Preparing Documentation for Output – Who needs What? It is a very common misconception for beginners (and even some experienced) board designers to just push the “buttons” or menu “commands” in the software for outputting fabrication & assembly data. However, there are set-ups that have to be done before you can use those buttons and commands. (Altium Designer® commands highlighted in RED below.) While there are many ways to develop documentation for a board, it is important to realize the need to Read Article Team Development for PCB Designers There Are Lots of I’s in The Word Team The old adage is there is no “i” in the word team. But, in reality, there are a lot of “I’s”—interface, interaction, intercommunication and integration to name a few. In today’s global supply chain (I use the acronym GSC) economy, product development rarely, if ever, rests with just a handful of individuals or even a handful of companies. In the highly competitive electronics market sector, there are Read Article Rigid Outer-Layers to Reduce Cost Why is a 4-layer Rigid Flex Less Expensive than 3-layer Rigid Flex? Designing flex and rigid-flex can be tricky. Not only do you need to design for a product that will bend, fold and flex, you are working with different materials and fabrication processes. Plusm it is difficult to clearly communicate how the part should flex in final application. Typically, the goal is to use the most cost-effective stack up that meets both your electrical and Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page102 Current page103 Page104 Page105 Page106 Page107 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More