April 2010

 
Envision – what's new, changing and over the horizon
   
Welcome to the April 2010 issue of Envision, our regularly updated collection of insights, news and views from Altium. In this installment you can read about managing the release of design data for prototyping and production, find out how to get your design rules under control in an easier way, and learn how two companies have returned order and productivity to the design process – plus more.
   
 
Creating fast, accurate reference designs
   
Photo courtesy austriamicrosystems
Today, it’s not enough to just produce high-performance ICs for the electronics industry – customers also need accurate reference designs to make the most out of the devices in the least amount of time. In an exclusive interview with Altium, Herbert Truppe of austriamicrosystems discusses how improved PCB design capability has given the company a clear edge.
   
 
Get design release data under control
   
Named release
There’s much more to electronics product design than developing an idea and designing the electronics. Eventually the design data must be released from the engineering team to company systems for production, service and beyond. Formalizing and controlling the release process is now vitally important as product designs become more complex and multifaceted.
   
 
Intelligent design systems for intelligent machine vision
   
Joyscan Technology
After battling with cumbersome interaction between the company’s mechanical and electronic design domains, Shenzhen Joyscan Technology turned to Altium Designer to help bring the two words together. The results were dramatic, with the company able to reduce costs and shorten product-to-market times, while improving design collaboration and quality.
   
 
Webinars and Seminars: learn and discuss the latest design technology
 
There’s almost always a current technical event being hosted by Altium, or one that Altium is contributing to. Whether it’s showcasing new Altium technology, stimulating discussion on design techniques or hosting global web events, we’re always looking for new ways to help make design easier and more productive – for everyone. Check out the Events page for more information.
 
 
What's happening, right now?
 
See what’s happening at Altium, in real-time. Follow us on twitter to find out about the latest news, events, videos and design tutorials. There’s so much going on, can we actually condense it to 140 characters or less?
 
 
APRIL TECH TIP
In today’s high speed, complex designs the copper tracks are active parts of the circuit, so critical aspects such as differential pair lengths and routing impedances are defined at the circuit design level. Find out how you can define key design rules on the schematic, right there, as you’re developing the circuit itself.
 
Wombot wins!
Australia's FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team, which Altium sponsors, has had great success at the FRC Championships at Altanta, Georgia – the tally is six awards so far. Find out about the team and its Wombot robot at the team website, or the competition itself at FIRST website.
 
TechBites on tour
Leading TechBites blogger Clive Maxfield is going head to head in a debate with embedded guru Jim Turly at ESC Silicon Valley. Read how Clive’s very excited about the debate, and his forthcoming visit to ESC in India.
 
Wireless health care
The respected Economist publication notes an important design trend.
 
Meet the Envision team
There are real people behind the creation of Envision, and we've stopped hiding.
 
 
     
 
KEEP IN TOUCH No matter where you are in the development process, we're here to help.

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