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PCB Component Data Management Resolved with Connected Component Applications PCB Component Data Management Resolved with Connected Component Applications My mouth was watering as I picked up the box sitting on my front porch. Dinner would be ready in 20 minutes. I was so hungry, having just gotten home. The box contained recipe cards and ingredients for making dinners throughout the week. I put on my slippers, and I pulled a recipe card from the box. All the ingredients were there. This new meal delivery service was growing on me. I’d be eating dinner soon, with time to spare for needed downtime Read Article
Avoid Integrated and Netlist Data Flows Slowing Design Starts Avoid Integrated and Netlist Data Flows Slowing Design Starts The chaos theory was used by Edward Lorenz early in the 1960s to model weather. Given multiple data points and nonlinear behavior, integrated circuit and synthesized netlist data starts because of nonlinear behavior. Just like the weather which is difficult to model and predict. It turns out nonlinear complexity produces beautiful, elegant pictures of real things. A tree is fractal; if you were to magnify its branch 1 million times, you’d see the Read Article
Journey Through Embedded Active Components in PCB Substrates with Pacemakers Journey Through Embedded Active Components in PCB Substrates with Pacemakers With 200,000 pacemakers implanted in the United States per year, the surgical process to correct heart abnormalities has become routine. When preparing for the process, cardiologists choose from three different incision types to determine the best implant method. Each type of incision impacts patient comfort and the amount of risk involved with the surgery. The incision provides access to a vein and allocates space for the pacemaker. A Read Article
Now that They’re Assigned, Find and Report Testpoints in Your PCB Design Now that They’re Assigned, Find and Report Testpoints in Your PCB Design Whether it is a test in school, a driver’s test, or some sort of casual mention of a test at work, the word “test” can cause normally calm people to have a sense of anxiety. On the other hand, once beyond the test you can see those same people visibly relax. Perhaps that is why when PCB designers finish assigning testpoints to their design it is easy for them to breathe a huge sigh of relief. But, once you’ve assigned those testpoints there’s Read Article
Scaling, Not Sinking Your Electronics: BOM Management Advice Scaling, Not Sinking Your Electronics: BOM Management Advice The most stressful part of owning a boat was when it came time to launch or recover it from the river. The boat was large and together with the trailer and truck, there was a lot of equipment to maneuver up and down the ramp without making any mistakes. If some kind of problem came up I would end up with the boat, the truck, or me sinking into the water. That sense of anxiety was very similar to the feelings I’ve experienced working with Read Article
7 Benefits of Bringing Additive Manufacturing In-House 7 Benefits of In-House Fabrication and Additive Manufacturing If you are like 98% of the PCB designers out there, you know what it can be like to run through the gauntlet of outsourcing a design to a third-party manufacturer to receive a prototype or two. The process is usually a little painful, often pricier than you’d have hoped, and leaves you waiting for longer than you’d expect. I often think that the manufacturing process is similar to going out to dinner at an overrated restaurant; you’ll wait on an Read Article
John Watson, Senior PCB Designer at Legrand North America on Altium Enterprise Solutions John Watson on Altium Enterprise Solutions Going Beyond PCB Design Curious what a professional PCB Designer thinks about Altium enterprise solutions and AltiumLive? Listen to the OnTrack Podcast to find out what John Watson thinks and how the new solutions can help your team. Read Article
Reduce Propagation Delay: Keep Your Logic Gates and Circuit Boards On Time Minimize Propagation Delay in Logic Gates: Synchronize Pulse Trains When you have an analog watch, daylight savings time can wreak havoc in your personal and professional life. You might wake up and not even realize that you are an hour off schedule. No one wants to admit that they have fallen victim to daylight savings time, and your entire schedule has to resynchronize when this happens. Synchronizing your clock and your electronics components is critical in high-speed PCB design. Applications like bus trace Read Article
Choose Unified Symbols for Your PCB Prototype Design Documents Choose Unified Symbols for Your PCB Prototype Design Documents I love spending hours at the bench soldering parts together and looking at the resultant signals they produce. It is satisfying to see the signals take shape on the oscilloscope as I refine each block. I’m surrounded by tools and equipment, little bits of wire and solder strewed from the invention process. Joining the beautiful mess are scattered components pulled from sample parts binders stored in the lab. Soon my prototype design will be ready Read Article
Customize designs with Consistent and Flexible Custom Rules and Queries Customize designs with Consistent and Flexible Custom Rules and Queries In the early stages of a circuit design, I frequently consider mechanical dimensions along with circuit requirements. Knowing dimensions of large components helps me visualize where they will fit with respect to overall three-dimensional device enclosure and the board’s location within the space. During the thought experiment for fit, I begin making notes about tolerances I’ll push as a tradeoff between electrical functionality and mechanical Read Article
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