Design Libraries

Troubleshooting Your Next PCB Design

Troubleshooting Your Next PCB Design: Printed Circuit Boards Problems with Circuit Simulation and Analysis Troubleshooting a PCB usually occurs after it has been received from a production run, or after it has been used for some time. Using design rules, error checking, and simulation tools during the design process can help you avoid receiving defective boards from a production run. You’ll also be able to diagnose and troubleshoot signal integrity problems that can arise from overlooking important design standards. Only the latest and greatest Read Article

Creating High Pin Count Schematic Symbols Quickly

Creating High Pin Count Schematic Symbols Quickly Making schematic symbols is quick and painless when you use regular expressions and leverage Altium Designer’s expansive toolkit. Read Article

Leveraging Component Data to Build Better Design’s Faster

Leveraging Existing Components Data to Build Better Design’s Faster Altium Concord Pro^™ as a standalone product and brand name has been discontinued and the capabilities are now available as part of our Altium enterprise solutions. Learn more here. In the business of robust electronics design, it’s not enough to build something that works, or even something that works well. Working phenomenally is the bare minimum in a competitive landscape. A robust design at a holistic level is one that is made of the correct Read Article

1:0:56 Explore Concord Pro With Altium’s Chief Software Architect Altium Concord Pro^™ as a standalone product and brand name has been discontinued and the capabilities are now available as Watch Video

Continuous Deployment: An Implementation Using Altium Designer

Continuous Deployment: An Implementation Using Altium Designer In Continuous Integration and Deployment in ECAD we discussed the concept of Continuous Deployment within a build system. In this article, we will take a deeper look at how to set up continuous delivery and deployment systems so your team and vendors can enjoy a continuous stream of updated ECAD packages for review. Continuous Deployment/Delivery: Revisited In Continuous Integration: An Implementation Using Altium Designer we went through the Read Article

Concord Pro and Component Creation

Concord Pro and Component Creation Altium Concord Pro^™ as a standalone product and brand name has been discontinued and the capabilities are now available as part of our Altium enterprise solutions. Learn more here. Introduction First off, before I say anything, the more that I have been using Altium Concord Pro^™, the more I like it. In fact, I love it. Altium has surprised me many times with the quality of the tools they put out. A few examples: Draftsman^®, ACTIVEBOM^® or Read Article

Advancements in Electronic Component Management

Advancements in Electronic Component Management In this volatile business of ours, we can ill afford to rest on our laurels, even to pause in retrospect. Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future. - Walt Disney I stood at the large hospital window looking out at the early evening sky. I could see several stories below just a small section of the nearby freeway. As typical for the late hour, the traffic was at a standstill, with its Read Article

Concord Pro and the Library S.M.A.R.T. Rule Part-2

Concord Pro and the Library S.M.A.R.T. Rule Part-2 Altium Concord Pro^™ as a standalone product and brand name has been discontinued and the capabilities are now available as part of our Altium enterprise solutions. Learn more here. Introduction In the first part of this blog, we saw how you could use Concord Pro^® to set up and support the S.M.A.R.T. Rule of Data Management, specifically the Singularity and the Management of your data. Now, we will continue to look at the additional pillars with a Read Article

Singularity in PCB Design Keeps the Team On the Same Page

Singularity in PCB Design Keeps the Team On the Same Page S.M.A.R.T. Rule First Pillar - Singularity "If we fail to plan then we are planning to fail." -Benjamin Franklin Given a professionally diverse readership composed of many people with differing company structures and situations, my intention isn’t to give a ‘sole’ method or plan that will magically fit everyone’s situation. Rather, I want to give a detailed explanation of how it “could” be done. I aim to give the bird’s eye view of this whole Read Article

Why Your Root Cause Analysis Starts with Component Traceability

Why Your Root Cause Analysis Starts with Component Traceability At this point, we’ve reached a significant milestone. Having followed through with the last article, we now have a very stable and, more importantly, reliable PCB library. Since we can safely use the data in designs, many people decide not to go beyond the review process. You should, however, continue to the fifth pillar if you want to ensure success. So, why the fifth pillar? Because although we have a great structure, we must take the Read Article

BOM Management and PCB Design Data Synchronization

BOM Management and PCB Design Data Synchronization Cloud-based tools for data management can keep your design and production data synchronized If you lead a design team, then your job is already difficult enough. Your design teams need to adhere to a development schedule and manage requirements changes as they create a new product. Collaboration is key in any environment with multiple players, and your design tools play an important role in creating a productive environment. Ensuring that all Read Article

Agile Product Lifecycle Management Methods in PCB Design

Agile Product Lifecycle Management Methods in PCB Design Supercharge your productivity with agile product lifecycle management Any industry that relies heavily on new technologies must frequently reinvent itself and address product obsolescence. Every piece of technology has a finite lifecycle that ends due to obsolescence or malfunction. Electronics and the PCBs that support them are no different; components on PCBs eventually wear out and malfunction, or the product can no longer compete with a Read Article

What is an Engineering Bill of Materials in Agile PCB Design?

What is an Engineering Bill of Materials in Agile PCB Design? If you’ve ever prepared a new device for manufacturing, then you’re probably familiar with the different types of bills of materials. Each document has its place in the design and production planning process. If you understand the role of each type of bill of materials, you can take advantage of the information it contains to improve your design process. If you’re an agile hardware development team, then you know that your design team will need Read Article

Why Your BOM Excel Template is Going the Way of the Dinosaur

Why Your BOM Excel Template is Going the Way of the Dinosaur It’s time to ditch your BOM Excel template The saying goes in software, “great coders use great code”. The same idea applies to Excel templates. I like to use Excel templates for a number of business tasks. I use invoice templates, finance calculators, and an accounting template. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so why not use a great template when someone makes it available for free? The usefulness of an Excel template depends on the data Read Article

Growth and the PCB Design Learning Zone

Growth and the PCB Design Learning Zone The phone rang at my desk. Tracy was on the other end. It had been several weeks since she had surgery for her implant. I could tell from the tone of her voice that she had exciting news. “Do you think you might be able to get an afternoon off?”, she asked. “Sure, how come what’s up?” I responded. “Well, it’s been 5 weeks since my surgery, and everything is completely healed up. I wanted to ask.” She hesitated for a moment, “Wanted to know if you Read Article

High-Quality, Reviewable PCB Component Libraries

Mastering PCB Design: Best Practices for Developing Accurate and Reliable Component Libraries Over many years, I have seen many elaborate PCB Library systems. The best ones were not based on the size, but rather on the quality of the information. The old axiom is “not Quantity but rather Quality.” I recently sat with a VP of Engineering, and I asked what he thought of his PCB Library. He thought for a moment and said, “I believe it is pretty good.” I asked my question another way, “But do you know?” There is a difference. If I tell you Read Article

Smart Architecture for Successful PCB Component Libraries

Smart Architecture for Successful PCB Component Libraries Organizing is what you do before you do something so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up. - A. A. Milne Architecture is the specific structure that governs our collected data. It determines how we store, arrange, and utilize the data in the system. In a way, the architecture of your PCB library is like the architecture of a building. You need to have it completed before you build your library so you don’t wind up with a virtual Hotel Del Read Article