Altium Helps You Use and Simulate Linear Devices in Electronics
Linear devices are used to build a range of circuits that can be analyzed entirely using Ohm’s law and Kirchoff’s laws. Linear devices comprise everything from passives to integrated circuits, as well as nonlinear devices in some input ranges. When working with purely linear devices and building linear circuits, designers need the right set of CAD tools and integrated simulation features to evaluate their designs.
Altium Designer includes these features and much more in a single program, giving you everything you need to work with linear devices in electronics. From managing parts to creating simulation models, the complete set of electronics design tools in Altium Designer give you full control over your circuit board designs. Here’s how Altium Designer helps you create and analyze linear and nonlinear circuits with a complete set of design, analysis, and management tools.
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ALTIUM DESIGNER
The only PCB design package with a complete set of design and simulation features for linear devices in electronics.
Linear devices are fundamental components that almost always make an appearance in electronic circuits. Designers need ways to find, place, simulate, and source their components as they create new circuit board designs. There are also times where complex circuits need to be evaluated and simulated during the design phase, and simulation tools go a long to expediting simulation and analysis of circuits with linear components.
Whether you’re working with linear or nonlinear components, Altium Designer includes a range of features for working with linear devices in electronics designs. With its complete toolset, engineers can take a new design from idea to manufacturing with Altium Designer. Altium Designer can help you work with linear and nonlinear electronics in both design and simulation.
What Are Linear Devices?
A linear device obeys Ohm’s law; the current and voltage are directly proportional, meaning the current in a linear component is not a function of voltage (and vice versa). The simplest linear components are resistors, capacitors, and inductors, and these fundamental components can be used to build a huge range of circuits. Specific linear components are manufactured by specific vendors, and designers need information on their components in order to build larger designs from linear devices.
Building Linear Electronic Circuits in Your Schematic Editor
Everything you need to find linear devices and linear integrated circuits can be found in Altium Designer. Once you’ve identified the components you need and you’re ready to import them into your design, you can easily import verified component models into your schematics and start building your circuits. Whether you’re working with linear or nonlinear devices, the schematic editor in Altium Designer includes top-notch CAD tools for building out your circuit designs.
- All linear devices need a schematic symbol, PCB footprint, and simulation model so that they can be used in your circuit design tools. With the best set of CAD tools and component libraries, you can create accurate physical and electrical models for your components.
Learn more about creating unique components in Altium Designer.
- The schematic editor in Altium Designer gives you the tools you need to design high-quality circuits and select linear devices for your electronics.
Learn more about creating schematics for your PCB in Altium Designer.
- When you’re creating your circuits, it’s best to source parts for your design early. The goal is to prevent redesigns later before manufacturing and ensure your parts can be procured at the scale you need.
Learn more about sourcing your parts on your own or with a turnkey solution.
The component creation tools in Altium Designer let you add simulation models to linear devices in electronics.
Simulations for Linear Devices in Electronics
Purely linear circuits can be analyzed by hand and the electrical behavior can be calculated, but only if the circuit is sufficiently simple. If the circuit is complex, it can be difficult to resolve signal behavior by hand as the circuit might be too large. Instead of trying to resolve every circuit by hand, the best PCB design software will give you access to integrated circuit simulation tools to help you evaluate circuits with linear and nonlinear devices.
Altium Designer includes just such a circuit simulator with its integrated SPICE simulation tools. These features have long been the cornerstone of circuit design and simulation, and Altium Designer gives you access to these features from within the schematic editor. It’s never been easier to access industry-standard simulations within circuit design software as you prepare to create a new PCB layout.
Simulations You Can Perform in Altium Designer
There are a range of standard simulations that designers may need to perform on linear or nonlinear circuits. For circuits with only linear devices, Altium Designer’s SPICE engine gives designers access to the following simulation tools:
- DC sweeps and frequency sweeps
- Transfer function/Bode plot calculation
- Pole-zero analysis
- Parameter sweeps
- Transient analysis with FFT
- Thermal simulations
These simulation tools are among the best-in-class, and yet they are among the easiest to use thanks to Altium Designer’s integrated design environment. You can access a range of design, management, simulation, and analysis tools when you use Altium Designer.
- The huge range of managed components in Altium Designer include simulation models that you can use to create your circuits and run simulations.
See how library search features make component selection much easier.
- RF circuits and EMI filters are also easy to simulate with Altium Designer thanks to integrated frequency sweep and transfer function simulations.
- Once you’re ready to create your PCB layout, the integrated field solver in Altium Designer helps you maintain consistent impedance, propagation delay, and much more in your PCB layout.
Learn more about Simberian’s integrated field solver in Altium Designer.
Setting up a SPICE simulation for a buck converter in Altium Designer.
Sourcing Your Components in Altium Designer
The integrated sourcing features in Altium Designer help you do much more than just pick out parts from a catalogue. When you need to get accurate component models for your design, Altium Designer gives you access to component models direct from manufacturers and sourcing information from major distributors. You’ll have a complete toolset for managing components in your design, and it’s all integrated into a single program.
Altium Designer does more than just help you find and purchase components. By integrating your design and sourcing features into a single program, designers can easily create manufacturing documentation directly from their design data. No matter which kind of components you’re using, Altium Designer has the features you need to complete your design and create the documentation you need to start production.
The Power of Rules-Driven Circuit Board Design in Altium Designer
The massive level of design integration in Altium Designer is made possible by its rules-driven design engine. By integrating everything into a single PCB design application, designers can instantly catch errors in circuit board layouts and schematics during design. Placing components in a layout has never been easier and more accurate with the CAD tools in Altium Designer.
- Altium Designer’s unified rules-driven design engine helps keep circuit board layouts and schematics error-free. Altium Designer’s engine also makes circuit board design more productive by integrating multiple tools into a single application.
- Designers can find a range of components with the Manufacturer Part Search Panel in Altium Designer. By retrieving data directly from distributors, designers can easily filter down to the components they need and import accurate CAD models.
Learn more about the Manufacturer Part Search Panel in Altium Designer.
- Once you’ve created your circuits and found the components you need for linear and nonlinear circuits, you can instantly share your design data with collaborators or a manufacturer using the Altium 365 platform.
Learn more about sharing your PCB design data with the Altium 365 platform.
You can share your circuit designs and component data with collaborators using the Altium 365 platform.
When you work with Altium Designer, it’s easy to find and place components in your design documents and run simulations with your components. Whether you’re designing linear or nonlinear circuits, Altium Designer includes the simulation tools designers need to evaluate designs and begin creating fabrication documents.
Altium Designer on Altium 365 delivers unprecedented integration to the electronics industry until now relegated to the world of software development, allowing designers to work from home and reach unprecedented levels of efficiency.
We have only scratched the surface of what is possible to do with Altium Designer on Altium 365. You can check the product page for a more in-depth feature description or one of the On-Demand Webinars.
