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PCB Design

3:26 Embedded World 2017 with Altium PCB Design Software Watch Video

BGA PCB Design

How to Successfully Design With a BGA What's the first step in designing with a high pin count BGA in your PCB? You'll start with floorplanning, fanout, and layer assignment to aid routing. Read Article

PCB Noise Reduction

PCB Noise Reduction: Do You Need Isolation, Shielding, or Filters? Do you know which strategies you can use for PCB noise reduction? After you identfy the solution, place it in your PCB layout with these steps. Read Article

Pros and Cons of Having a Manufacturer Source Components for Your PCB Design

Pros and Cons of Having a Manufacturer Source Components for Your PCB Design Turnkey PCB manufacturing and assembly can be convenient, but can you trust these service providers to source your parts? Read Article

The Benefits of a Consistent Interface in Professional PCB Software

The Benefits of a Consistent Interface in Professional PCB Software Software should utilize a common user interface that is consistent with the operating system environment. Nothing is quite as awkward as attempting to do something standard and not getting the expected outcome especially in the realm of Professional PCB Software. Keep your momentum, work with intuitive and professional PCB design tools. I think everyone can agree: it's important that any software shares a common user interface consistent with the Read Article

32:01 Embedded World 2017: Altium Designer 17 Demo (English) Watch Video

32:49 Embedded World 2017: Altium Designer 17 Demo (German) Watch Video

Move 3D Interference Checking to Electronic Design for a More Efficient Flow

Move 3D Interference Checking to Electronic Design for a More Efficient Flow During a typical design process it can take multiple iterations before your PCB fits its enclosure, leading to delayed schedules and missed deadlines. How can you ensure your PCB fits right the first time? With 3D interference checking. Every electronic product consists of both mechanical and electrical assemblies. The two need to fit together — you don’t want electronic components interfering with the mechanical enclosure. Typically, the Read Article

How Proper PCB Layout Can Help You Avoid Adding Heat Sinks to Your Design

How Proper PCB Layout Can Help You Avoid Adding Heat Sinks to Your Design Having to recall products, like faulty computer monitors, is a financial burden that can be avoided How does PCB Layout help to Avoid Adding Heat Sinks to Your Design? Everyone knows that excessive heat can kill components or drive them out of spec, but sometimes it isn’t obvious when heat will be a problem. Heat mitigation issues may appear over time, like a solder joint that fractures due to thermal expansion and contraction over numerous heat Read Article

Advances in Printed Circuit Board Design: Fitbit Takes Fitness from Clunky to Cool

Advances in Printed Circuit Board Design: Fitbit Takes Fitness from Clunky to Cool When Fitbit was first developed neither of its creators had PCB design or manufacturing experience, and they immediately ran into major problems. They ultimately wanted a product that comes in a small package, which meant that proper PCB layout was critical for success. For his birthday, my nephew got a Fitbit. To my astonishment, instead of rolling his eyes and muttering a thank you to the floor, he held it above his head and started jumping Read Article

Implementing Complex Pad Shapes into Your PCB Designs

Implementing Complex Pad Shapes into Your PCB Designs In some instances, geometrically irregular or complex pad shapes may be required in your designs, and getting them just right can drain a significant amount of time and manual effort. Learn how to save time and energy by quickly implementing complex pad shapes in your PCB design in Altium Designer^®. Read on to find out more. Most component package types have consistent and straightforward rectangular or round pad shapes. Creating footprints for Read Article

How to Use a Modular Approach to Simplify Your PCB Design Process

How to Use a Modular Approach to Simplify Your PCB Design Process Modular PCB design can end up taking more time if it is not planned out properly when moving from conceptual spec to actual design. There are a lot of factors to consider at once. For example, where to place major components to optimize space and performance, and which one to drop first. You’ll also need to consider where subsystems fit and which placement will result in the cleanest traces. These initial decisions can be daunting and lead to Read Article

PCB teardrop

Use PCB Teardrops to Increase Yield & Design Quality During the PCB fabrication & manufacturing process, there is always a concern of design quality, high yield, and preventing rework or scrapped boards. If you have even one printed board design under your belt, you have probably already been exposed to a host of unexpected problems at various stages of development. However, there are some simple design decisions that designers can make to prevent low yield and ensure high reliability during Read Article

How to Design Your Rigid-Flex PCB Within a Board Outline

How to Design Your Rigid-Flex PCB Within a Board Outline Medical wearables need to be sleek, unencumbered, and compact; able to collect meaningful medical data with few (or no) wires attached to the patient. This creates demand for flexible PCB layouts. While you’re trying hard to push the limits of space, to use smart materials, and to minimize its footprint, it can be damn annoying when you fall out of a board outline (particularly when dealing with an irregular board shape). Read on to find out how Read Article

The Challenges Of Library Management

The Challenges Of Library Management While there are many paths that can lead to a product failure, such as the challenge of managing a globally dispersed team, undeveloped development processes, working with multiple tools, and poor collaboration, one particular issue should be among the top priorities for any business to tackle: ECAD data library management system problems and solutions. DEFICIENT MANAGEMENT DATA, A HUGE PROBLEM No one questions the reality of electronics Read Article

The Challenges Of ECAD Library Management

The Challenges Of ECAD Library Management Implementing a proper system for ECAD data management enhances team productivity and efficiency to help you deliver products on time and within budget. Read on to learn more. Has the inability to properly manage your ECAD data set back your entire design process? This is often the case for many component engineers who need a reliable resource for managing their data lifecycle. Oftentimes, electronics are in the driver’s seat when it comes to new Read Article

Wearable Electronics Inspire Positive Attitudes Towards Fitness by Quantifying Goals

Wearable Electronics Inspire Positive Attitudes Towards Fitness by Quantifying Goals Image source: Flickr User C_osett (CC BY 2.0) For years, I would just pick a direction and start running. When I lived out in the country, my friends and coworkers would ask me how far I had gone and I’d say, “Man, I don’t know. Looped out to the third cattle guard and back. Probably at least a half-marathon, if not three-quarters.” The only way I could get an idea was by driving that same route afterwards and watching my odometer (it was about a Read Article