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PCB Design

Flexible Circuit Designs with Large or Heavy Components

Flexible Circuit Designs with Large or Heavy Components One of the primary benefits of using a flexible circuit versus a rigid PCB board or wire and cable is the savings in weight and space. Flexible materials are thin, extremely light weight, and allow you to package in 3D, bending and folding to make necessary connections, allowing you to shrink the overall package size or fit additional electronics in a similarly-sized unit. As an example, a very typical two-layer construction for a flexible Read Article

48V to 3.3V Regulators Design Project

48V to 3.3V Regulators Design Project Recently, I have been working on a 300W LED panel project. I’ve already written an article about building a 65W LED driver, and another about simulating it on PDN analyzer. However, there are some features I still want to implement, one of which is wireless dimming capability on the panels. Wireless dimming is important because getting the perfect balance of light is difficult when you have to keep pulling a light down from the top of a tall pole Read Article

Design Philosophy in Printed Electronics Manufacturing

Design Philosophy in Printed Electronics Manufacturing In printed electronics, I think about design philosophy from a new perspective. My question about design philosophy is related to printed electronics manufacturing: do I optimize my layout for electrical performance or manufacturability, which may then mean compromises for electrical characteristics? In printed electronics design I need to make trade-offs between trace resistance, voltage levels, power consumption, and layout area. With proper Read Article

There’s a Lot of Quantum About These Days

There’s a Lot of Quantum About These Days It’s disconcerting to discover how much remains unknown at the quantum level (Image source: pixabay.com) I just heard that China has developed the world’s first mobile quantum satellite communications station. At first, I didn’t know what to think about this news, but this is largely because I don’t understand “quantum.” Much of modern physics is based on two incredibly sophisticated and successful theories: general relativity and quantum Read Article

Types of Printed Circuit Boards Once you start designing Printed Circuit Boards, you’ll find that different applications require have specialized design requirements. In order to meet all your design requirements without sacrificing workflow productivity, you need PCB design software that is adaptable to any design requirements. Working with the best PCB design software with a unified design interface makes it easy to define and satisfy design requirements for your specific Read Article

IPC Compliant Footprint Wizard

Use Altium Designer’s IPC® Compliant Footprint Wizard to Make Unified PCB Library Footprints Altium Designer’s IPC^® Compliant Footprint Wizard facilitates accurate PCB footprint generation for each component in Altium Designer. The footprint generation feature in Altium Designer overcomes some of the biggest productivity bottlenecks in other CAD systems, such as OrCAD/Allegro and PADS. Instead of manually creating every footprint from scratch, use the footprint generation tool in Altium Designer and our suite of automated library Read Article

PCB Creators Look No Further than Altium Designer

PCB Creators Look No Further than Altium Designer When it comes to PCB design software, the best software packages aren’t sold piecemeal. You need an integrated software solution that includes the latest and greatest tools demanded by the PCB design industry. Whether you are new to PCB design or you’ve been in the business for decades, Altium Designer gives you the tools to produce top-quality PCBs for any application. ALTIUM DESIGNER An integrated PCB design software package that contains all Read Article

Reusing Your Old PCB Designs in Altium Designer

Reusing Your Old PCB Designs in Altium Designer Reusing or modifying your old designs is common among engineers and designers as this helps save you a considerable amount of time. There are times where it makes sense to reuse some or all of an old board, and you might as well completely recreate a device at other times. With Altium Designer, you can implement a comprehensive data management strategy that makes it easy to reuse old designs. You can even go further and use design methodologies Read Article

How to Make a Bridge Rectifier For PCB Layout

How to Make a Bridge Rectifier For PCB Layout Power conditioning is critical when working with PCBs and for delivering power to your components. This seemingly simple activity can create signal integrity problems if your components are not designed correctly, leading to bit errors or other signal problems during operation. Your design software can help you avoid problems that might arise when you build your own bridge rectifier circuit for your PCB. Simulation and power delivery tools help Read Article

Guide to PCB Terminology for Altium Designer

Guide to PCB Terminology for Altium Designer Understanding more about PCB design starts with learning the lingo. ALTIUM DESIGNER When working with a PCB design software tool, it’s best you know what it is you’re working with. Whether you are just starting out in the PCB design industry, or you’ve been at it for a long time, you will more than likely run into terminology that you aren’t familiar with. There are technical terms in the electronic design industry that you may never have had Read Article

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

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