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Bugging Out - How to Minimize Your Embedded Design Debug Phase Even if not all engineers will admit it, debugging an embedded system prototype is a lot of fun, so long as it’s going the way we planned. And while we cross our fingers hoping our board passes the first article inspection, it’s inevitable that some bugs will find their way into a design of any complexity. The debug phase in an embedded design can be one of the most challenging tasks for an engineer, as we juggle identifying issues with a project Read Article

How to Successfully Design for Testing or DFT

DFT in PCBs: Design for Testing The overall cost to produce a completed printed circuit board can be broken down into several basic categories: the cost of manufacturing the blank PCB layout, the cost of components, the assembly costs, and the cost of testing. That last one, the cost of the PCB test, can comprise as much as 25% to 30% of the total cost of producing the entire product. Best practices for Printed Circuit Board DFT is key. By designing a product to have the Read Article

Time-Saving Technologies for Your PCB Routing Workflow Whether you’re new to electronics design or have thirty years under your belt, most engineers agree: interactive routing is the most challenging and tedious task in the PCB design process. Experienced designers enjoy the challenge, applying their creative puzzle-solving talents to win the many battles and ultimately the war. Designers who are new to the task and those who would rather focus on other aspects of design wind up struggling in Read Article

IoT and The Three C’s As our designs get more complex, they require more communication between the connected devices themselves and the design teams. The design community, ECAD, MCAD, and software, must come together to facilitate successful creation of IoT products. Collaboration between design teams doesn’t have to be a hassle. We should strive to maximize collaboration in our design process to create higher quality products. Every day we learn more about humanity Read Article

How 3D Modeling Has Changed Electronics Design Forever Designing electronics in the late 1990s or early 2000s was a very different experience than it is today. Older PCB designs often weren’t limited regarding real estate. They also often didn’t have as many mechanical constraints as modern designs do. While it’s true that electronic components are much smaller today than they were 15 to 20 years ago, the mechanical envelopes that they must fit into have gotten smaller as well. Today, it’s essential Read Article

Improve Productivity with Multiple Monitors In electronics design, there’s an inherent need to increase productivity whenever possible. To that end, electronics and PCB designers also tend to have an affinity for technology that will help them do that and boost productivity. They’re willing to invest money in the most up-to-date tools, training, and bells and whistles if it means saving time and money in the long run. However, there’s another area that’s often overlooked and doesn’t cost Read Article

5 Facts On PCB Design Info That Your Boss Needs to Know

5 Facts of PCB Design Info That Your Boss Needs to Know

Designing a top-notch printed circuit board is your job. You understand what components need to be used, what materials are required, etc. On the other hand, your boss’s job is on the business side of things. They understand profits and losses and maintain productivity levels, etc. But they often don’t really understand the ins and outs of printed circuit board design. And since those technical aspects can have a significant impact on profits and

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How to Pack More Complexity into a Smaller Footprint Using HDI The demand for smaller mechanical housing continues, leading to more complexity in the electrical design process to generate a PCB to keep up with the shrinking form factors. To achieve the size and density necessary, engineers turn to HDI. Using HDI, however, means dealing with different routing workflows, and denser, while using the same area or less. What challenges will you face when using HDI techniques in your own design process? HDI Read Article

Simplify Your BGA Routing Using Neck-Down Trace Width

Using Safe Neck Down Trace Width Simplification for BGA Routing How many times have you attempted to route into your BGA (ball grid array) only to be prevented by clearance and trace width constraints? It's possible to math out thinner traces, but computers are particularly good at this kind of work while maintaining a safe current carrying capacity. Learn how to effectively route into your BGA without interrupting the routing process to adjust rules or width size with the neck down features in Altium Read Article

Altium Designer 17 and the Ever-Changing World of PCB Design Software The big news from Altium’s point of view is Altium Designer^®, an exciting new release of our professional PCB design software. Coincidentally, the release of version 17 occurs at a very newsworthy time with the announcement of a major acquisition in the EDA industry. Altium as a company has always focused on the needs of the PCB design engineers, how to make their job of design easier, and providing a truly unified set of tools that are Read Article

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