PCB Routing

Routing in your PCB makes copper connections between components, and best routing practices will help ensure signal integrity, low crosstalk, and low EMI. Browse our library of resources to learn more about routing in your PCB and how the best PCB layout software helps you obey routing rules and signaling standards.

PCB Routing in Altium Designer Design Rules for PCB Routing Efficient PCB Routing Tools (Webinar)

The Best High Voltage PCB Design Software Package

The Best High Voltage PCB Design Software Package Of all the different boards a designer can create, a high voltage PCB design can be complicated and requires strict attention to safety. If not laid out correctly these boards can be safety hazards or can fail to function on first power up, leaving a designer with wasted time and effort. In the best case, the board will function reliably for a long period of time thanks to correct layout practices. When you’re planning your next high voltage PCB Read Article

Stay Productive When You Switch to Altium Designer

Upgrade from AutoCAD PCB to Altium Designer's Unified Environment Most designers are familiar with AutoCAD for mechanical or construction drafting, and for making important engineering diagrams. Although AutoCAD is great for many tasks involved in electrical or mechanical engineering, PCB designers need more than mechanical drafting tools to make advanced electronics. To get your designs to the next level, you need the best set of ECAD tools on the market, rather than using the AutoCAD PCB package. If you’re Read Article

Working Through Circuit Simulation Free Often Won’t Work, Try Altium Designer

Working Through Circuit Simulation Free Often Won’t Work, Try Altium Designer Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software provides the tools that support the design and analysis of electronic devices, systems, and printed circuit boards. Within this broad definition of EDA software, some companies offer free PCB design programs while others focus on schematic capture, mixed-signal simulation, Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) circuit design, and customizable design rule checking. While many EDA software applications Read Article

How to do PCB Trace Length Matching vs. Frequency

How to do PCB Trace Length Matching vs. Frequency Keeping high speed signals properly timed and synchronized requires PCB trace length matching vs frequency. Here’s how it works. Read Article

PCB Coplanar Waveguide Calculator

PCB Coplanar Waveguide Calculator RF PCBs can be complex boards that need careful interconnect design and layout. If you’re designing an RF PCB for microwave or higher frequencies, controlled impedance routing should be top of mind to ensure signal integrity. You can choose from many routing styles, but whichever routing style you choose, it should provide isolation against noise and crosstalk. A coplanar waveguide routing style is an excellent choice for RF PCBs as they can be Read Article

3D PCB Design Software Helps You Build Advanced Products

3D PCB Design Software Helps You Build Advanced Products New products are intimately designed to fit their enclosures, and getting the design right takes the right set of PCB design tools. When you can see your entire board, you can spot layout errors and component collisions and make sure your new circuit board will fit inside its enclosure easily. Now you can design and evaluate all aspects of your circuit board layout when you use the native MCAD tools in Altium Designer’s complete PCB design Read Article

Protel PCB Design Software has Rebranded to Altium Designer

Protel PCB Design Software has Rebranded to Altium Designer Protel PCB isn’t gone, it has been rebranded and enhanced as Altium Designer. ALTIUM DESIGNER The most powerful, modern, and easy-to-use PCB design tool for professional use. You don’t have to look very hard to find software such as Protel PCB design software or Diptrace still in use. Since the mid-1980s, Protel has been used for PCB design in companies all over the world as well as in universities for teaching circuit design and in homes for the Read Article

Making the Switch from Proteus to Altium Designer for PCB Design

Making the Switch from Proteus to Altium Designer for PCB Design With so many PCB design software packages on the market, you need design software that is adaptable to any design requirements. Features like interactive routing, layer stack, and copper pour management, and defining design rules can make or break your next design. The best design software makes using these tools easy and gives you the power to customize them to meet your design requirements. With Altium Designer, you can rest assured that your Read Article

Crosstalk or Coupling

Crosstalk or Coupling The words crosstalk and coupling are used to describe the injection of electromagnetic energy from one transmission line to another running nearby. In printed circuit boards crosstalk is usually two traces running side by side in the same layer or one over the top of the other in adjacent layers. This coupled energy appears as noise on the victim trace and can cause malfunctions if the amplitude is too large. Learn how this noise is transferred Read Article

Transmission Lines and Terminations in High-Speed Design

Transmission Lines and Terminations in High-Speed Design A transmission line is a pair of conductors used to deliver energy in the form of an electromagnetic field. Most of us are familiar with the wires that lead to our houses to deliver the power needed to operate our lights and appliances. In the context of PCB design, it is a signal in a signal layer on top of a plane or between two planes. TRANSMISSION LINES AND TERMINATIONS FOR PCB DESIGN The purpose of this section is to explain what Read Article

Clone and Modify an Arduino Mega Schematic in Altium Designer

Clone and Modify an Arduino Mega Schematic in Altium Designer There are many different Arduino boards available for development and prototyping, and you might consider designing your own Arduino variant. If you want to modify an Arduino Mega schematic, you need design software that lets you easily build around an Arduino board and quickly add functionality. Your design software should make it easy to use any Arduino board, like the Uno, Mega, Zero, or another model. The best PCB design software with Read Article

Get Started with the Best Electronic Circuit Design Software

Get Started with the Best Electronic Circuit Design Software Today, there are many electronic circuit design software options available. Determining the best electronic circuit design software for you, your team, and your organization can seem like a daunting task. The answer is to find unified electronic circuit design software that can meet all of your needs. Only Altium Designer integrates all the critical tools you need for design, simulation, manufacturing, and much more into a single platform. ALTIUM Read Article

The Best PCB Layout & Design Software for Your Needs

The Best PCB Layout & Design Software for Your Needs When designing circuit boards, there are some functions that your PCB design tools must excel at without exception. These include the basic functions of schematic design, schematic capture, placing parts, and routing traces. There are other important functions you won’t find in free PCB design software. These include bill of materials compilation, generation of Gerbers and other deliverables, and data management functions. When you have a set of Read Article

Circuit CAD Software for PCB Design

Circuit CAD Software for PCB Design Altium Designer is the complete circuit CAD software for PCB design. Altium Designer unifies capabilities from CAD software to help you complete challenging designs. Read Article

Altium Designer’s Board Layout Software

Altium Designer’s Board Layout Software Handling the ever-growing complexities of today’s routing demands requires board layout software that can keep up. When yesterday’s tools are no longer getting the job done, get back on the road of productive design today with the most powerful PCB design layout software. When you need powerful board layout software, you need to easily complete the following tasks: Visually and easily manage your PCB copper pours Peace of mind PCB layout with Read Article

Why Altium Designer Will Give You Better Results Over OrCAD

Why Altium Designer Will Give You Better Results Over OrCAD A free download of software and a fancy demo can make PCB design tools seem very attractive. You owe it to yourself to do your research before you purchase so that you get the design features you need for success. Altium Designer delivers on its promise of an easy-to-learn, professional set of PCB design tools. When you switch to Altium Designer, you’ll have the same set of design features you’ll find in OrCAD and much more. You can also Read Article

Design Your PCB Stackup with Altium Designer

Design Your PCB Stackup with Altium Designer Your PCB stackup is the foundation for your circuit board and will influence signal behavior. Your signals use internal plane layers as a potential reference, and your signal routing can be made easier with the right layer stack. In addition to determining the right arrangement of board layers, different board materials are placed in your PCB layer stack to satisfy calculations for power, impedance, and signal integrity. Modern designs will use Read Article