Layer Stackup Design

Reduce noise and improve signal timing, even on the most complex boards.

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Multi-Layer PCBs & Layer Stackup

42 Transparency Support Ensure fit, form and function with Altium Designer advanced multi-board viewing features Watch Video

3:31 About the Altium Designer 19.1 Update In this video, Ben Jordan talks about the Altium Designer 19.1 software update, what’s new with some features and bug fixes, and why anyone with Altium Designer should update to this latest release. Watch Video

40:17 Altium Designer 19: Advanced Layer Stack Manager Watch Video

40:17 Advanced Layer Stack Manager in Altium Designer 19 Watch Video

1:28 How to add existing designs to a multi-board project Watch Video

42 How to create a new multi-board project Every new product starts with project creation and multi-board designs are no different. Multi-board projects provide a space to organize individual board design files to keep track of everything your product needs. Learn how to keep your multi-board designs organized so you can focus on define board interconnections and assembly form and fit. Watch Video

56 How to Create an Object in SmartMates You don't have to struggle with enclosure form and fit when you can position boards in real time. Learn how to get the perfect fit and position of boards, connectors, and enclosures. Object smart mates ensure that individual designs can operate as a single functional object inside your entire assembly. Watch Video

The Need To Control Routing Impedance

The Need To Control Routing Impedance The design approach of controlled impedance routing is a key ingredient of high speed PCB design, in which effective methods and tools must be adopted to ensure the intended high speed performance for your PCBs. So unless you carefully design your routes within your PCB, the impedance would be uncontrolled, and its value would vary from point to point throughout the trace. And because your PCB traces don’t act like simple connections at high Read Article

57 How to Check Layer Stack Symmetry in Altium Designer 19 Learn how to enable, set, and check for your layer stack symmetry. To learn more about Altium Designer 19, listen to Altium Engineer David Marrakchi discuss this latest Altium Designer release with Judy Warner on the OnTrack Podcast. Or follow us on the Altium Designer Youtube Channel to stay up to date with the latest. Watch Video

1:45 How to Switch Layers During Routing in Altium Designer 19 Learn how you can quickly change and switch between layers during interactive routing. To learn more about Altium Designer 19, listen to Altium Engineer David Marrakchi discuss this latest Altium Designer release with Judy Warner on the OnTrack Podcast. Or follow us on the Altium Designer Youtube Channel to stay up to date with the latest. Watch Video

Asymmetric Striplines in Your Next Multi-layer PCB

Asymmetric Striplines in Your Next Multi-layer PCB The beauty of symmetricity in art, science, and nature, in general, is something of a wonder. The visual balance between elements in a painting or drawing can make or break a piece of artwork. PCB design is as much art as it is engineering, and symmetricity plays as much of a technical role as it does an aesthetic role. Ever since its humble beginnings as a replacement for high frequency coaxial cables and waveguides, striplines are a mainstay Read Article

Optimal Multi-Board Assembly Placement with Object Smart Mates

Optimal Multi-Board Assembly Placement with Object Smart Mates Ensuring the form and fit of multiple boards in an enclosure can challenge the most seasoned professional. Accurate 3D modeling gives you an intuitive way to picture and understand how your design will be manufactured and assembled. The problem gets worse when you start mixing traditional PCB and rigid-flex designs into a single assembly. Without insight into the complete multi-circuit boards assembly build, you have a better chance of finding a Read Article

Rick Hartley on 4 Layer Boards and Power Delivery Watch Video

43:28 Altium Designer 19 Sneak Peek Watch Video

Select the Right Microvia Aspect Ratio in Your HDI PCB

Select the Right Microvia Aspect Ratio in Your HDI PCB If you’re not familiar with PCB design or electronics in general, you probably wonder how newer electronics can pack so much functionality into progressively smaller devices. It takes more than just Moore’s Law, it takes creative PCB design methods to pack all that functionality into a single device. This gave birth to HDI design for densely packed circuit boards and small electronics, like smartphones and small form factor embedded systems. Vias Read Article

Ceramic vs. FR4 Multilayer PCBs: When to Use Either and How

Ceramic vs. FR4 Multilayer PCBs: When to Use Either and How Ceramic materials electronics are specialty materials used as PCB insulators and as substrates for IC packages. Today, ceramic production capacity for PCBs is easy to access from overseas vendors, and these materials see significant use in aerospace and automotive industries. Ceramic PCBs offer particular advantages over FR4 boards, although there is no single “ceramic” material. The current set of commercialized ceramic materials for PCBs are Read Article

Determining Impedance with a Microstrip Line Calculator

Determining Impedance with a Microstrip Line Calculator Whether you’re new to PCB design or you’ve made your career out of it, there are many times in RF and high speed design where you need to design microstrip and stripline traces to have a specific impedance. This is done by adjusting the width of the line until the desired impedance value is reached. It's important to understand where impedance calculators are applicable as different calculators include specific assumptions on dielectric Read Article