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Browse the latest resources and information from industry experts on PCB Design.

Come evidenziare reti in Altium Designer per semplificare il progetto di schemi e PCB Non importa quanti PCB ho progettato nella mia carriera, alla fine mi sono sempre ritrovato a dover esaminare percorsi di rete sugli schemi circuitali e a dover investigare i vari percorsi presenti sui PCB. Questa complessità mi ricorda quella di un labirinto, nel quale solo un percorso è quello giusto. È fondamentale che tutte le connessioni siano correte perché un errore effettuato in questa fase causa problemi seri in seguito, principalmente Read Article

Podświetlenie sieci w Altium Designer w celu uproszczenia schematów PCB Uproszczenie schematów PCB jest możliwe - zaoszczędź sobie pracy! Bez względu na to, ile płytek PCB projektuję, zawsze muszę regularnie przeglądać ścieżki sieciowe na schematach i wykonywać trasowanie na płytkach PCB. Ich złożoność przypomina mi labirynt, w którym tylko jedna droga jest właściwa dla konkretnej sieci. Niezbędne jest, aby wszystkie połączenia były dokładne. Popełnione na tym etapie błędy na pewno wrócą do Ciebie w późniejszym Read Article

High Density Interconnect Boards and How They Can Benefit Your Design In the world of PCB design, high-density interconnect boards are among the fastest growing designs that are surfacing. Offering lighter weight, faster transmission times, more real estate to place components, and a reduction in signal loss there are few downsides to implementing these designs into your device. In any industry, the push for better, faster, stronger is usually a consumer-driven force. It is no different here. The push for devices Read Article

Light Dependant Resistors: The Fundamentals of Automatic Street Light Design I’m not usually afraid of darkness. In fact, I can’t fall asleep at all if any lights are left on. But a few nights ago, I desperately missed the familiar glow of street lights while attempting to observe sea turtles laying their eggs at a local beach. I missed out on an experience of a lifetime, hidden in pitch darkness. Of course, street lights might sound dull compared to the exciting electronics behind technologies like the Internet of Things Read Article

RF and Microwave PCB Design with John Bushie from ASC What material do I use? Many PCB designers ask this question. This is an episode about RF and Microwave PCB Design as well as Design for Manufacturing or DFM and it will help you to understand material choices and where to get answers about high speed laminates. Join John Bushie, Director of Technology at American Standard Circuits and Altium's Judy Warner in a discussion about High Speed laminates and the exciting world of RF/Microwave PCBs Read Article

BOM Planning for Different Levels of Production There is one really great thing about social media and that is catching up with old friends. I connected with a high school friend who did a lot in his life including some great achievements in the world of Taekwondo. He talks about the different tournaments that he attends, the people that he associates with, and how he has progressed through the different levels of this discipline. There appears to be a lot more to Taekwondo than I would have Read Article

Circular Product Design and PCBs for a Healthier World The world of PCB design is a fast-moving and highly profitable sector. But with the rate of increase we are clearly seeing in the industry, it is apparent that if we are not careful, we may head into some stiff environmental issues that are too deep to repair. Thankfully the push we are seeing from environmental groups is equally correlated to the growth of the industry. The concept of a ‘circular economy’ is at the forefront of these qualms Read Article

Crystal Oscillators in Your PCB Layout Keep Frequencies Steady For most of human history, we relied on astronomical timekeeping to plan our lives. Now we have sophisticated clocks that help us manage daily life. As modern life becomes ever more frantic, we need to keep track of fractions of a second. Electronic pcb layout crystal oscillator guidelines are the secret sauce that makes this possible. The output clock signal from a Schmitt-trigger oscillator or a 555 timer is controlled using an RC time constant Read Article

How an Electrolytic Capacitor PDN Issue Almost Brought Down a Building I recently came across an interesting story that involves the tale of a boiler system that failed to start under the close supervision of a TDK-Lambda rep, only to be solved by none other than the building maintenance technician. The story starts by the shutdown of an aging boiler in the dead of winter a British winter that required replacement of the seven-year-old radiators. After the repair and replacements took place, the boiler was switched Read Article

Voltage Regulators and How to Plan Your Power Budget with PDN Analysis With my first buck regulator design, I had been given a power budget for the circuit block and I had to take into consideration what it was supplying and what topology I’d use. I considered efficiency to remove heat from the enclosure and I wanted to avoid using a heat sink. I also wanted a robust engine, a regulator to keep on working when the CPU, memory, and other utility circuits were exercising their might. I decided on the buck regulator Read Article

Add Any Component to Your Design With Unified Component Libraries When embarking on the PCB design journey, there are some initial hurdles you’ll need to overcome in order to get your design process running smoothly and without interruption. Sometimes the hurdle is as manageable as making sure you get your coffee in the morning. Sometimes the hurdle is as tall as not having the knowledge, comfort, or software you need to accomplish your design tasks. Oftentimes, when sketching out an initial PCB design, there Read Article

Industrial Air Dryer Designs Demand a Keen Eye for Safety Early in my school days, I was lazy and forgetful. I would procrastinate on everything, including washing my school shoes. Pressed for time, I often dried my shoes under the radiator coil of an old-school refrigerator. Of course, that didn’t spare me from an earful of mom’s scolding. In one of my first industrial electronics designs, I did more than drying shoes. I designed an intelligent air dryer controller for a local milk powder processing Read Article

Student-Designed Solar Cars from Down Under Judy Warner: Please share how your team was started, how many cars you have built to date, and give us an overview of Violet. Kristian Bojidarov: Sunswift is a team of undergraduate students from the University of New South Wales who design, build and race the world’s most advanced solar-electric vehicles. With the knowledge gained since Sunswift’s founding in 1995, the team has recently completed the manufacture of our sixth vehicle, Violet Read Article

Getting a Handle on Flex Cost Drivers Judy Warner: You've been in the board fabrication business for over 20 years. What factors do you see as contributing to the rise in flex and rigid-flex designs? Tara Dunn: I believe that space, weight and packaging are the primary factors driving designs to flex and rigid-flex technology. For customers that are already using flex and rigid-flex, I am seeing an increase in their percentage of new designs using flex and I am also noticing an Read Article

Manufacturing Checklists and Tools When it comes to manufacturing, organization is critical. With so many different players involved in the design process (engineers, sourcing agents, manufacturers, etc.), maintaining documentation and utilizing checklists and other tools will keep everyone on the same page and avoid confusion. Additionally, checklists can help ensure that the PCB design is fully complete and ready to send for manufacturing, protecting you from any unexpected Download PDF

Multiboard vs. Multilayer PCB Design Systems In the past, PCB designers were limited with system designs spanning more than one board. However, recent developments in mechanical CAD systems have given designers the ability to now design multiple boards for a system with relative ease. Thanks to 3D PCB design tool technology, designers are able to save both time and money previously spent on prototypes by confirming that their designs are system-ready. Click the PDF above to read more about Download PDF

Important Considerations for Low Energy Bluetooth Design In my twenties, I could easily carry my laptop around the city without any sign of fatigue. These days, I tire out quickly and seek a nice massage after long periods of walking around with my laptop. That’s why I prefer to carry lighter working tablets instead of my bulky laptop. Technology has grown quite a bit since the classic Bluetooth. In electronics, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) does something similar for applications. It transmits short data Read Article