Powerful PCB Design Software for All Things On a Circuit Board

It takes powerful PCB design software to make sure that all the things on a circuit board are laid out and designed as they should be in order for the PCB to work as it should.

TOPICS IN THIS SOLUTION

Circuit Board Applications in Today’s Technologies

Today’s Designers; Meeting the Challenges of PCB Design

Design Software to Create All Those Things on a Circuit Board

ALTIUM DESIGNER

Helping you understand your circuit board needs better than any other design software.

You already know that at the heart of most electronics these days is a printed circuit board; a solid or flexible foundation for electronic components that form electronic circuits. Circuit boards are composed of non-conductive materials with copper or other conductive materials layered inside to connect the components. Most circuit boards will have a variety of components soldered on them such as resistors, capacitors, transistors, and integrated circuits in order to create the electronic circuits. But did you realize that a circuit board also needs other parts as well? You will typically find connectors and harnesses to connect the circuit board to other electronics, as well as mounting hardware, switches, lights, batteries, fans, and a host of other devices.

This is only a sampling of those things that you will find on different circuit boards. To create a circuit board with its electronic components, the circuitry to connect those components together, and all of these other things requires powerful PCB design software. The application for these circuit boards in technologies such as the internet of things, medical devices and even spaceflight require the most advanced circuit board designs possible. To do this requires carefully arranging all the different things on the circuit board, and then connecting them all together while obeying strict design and manufacturing rules. This is a difficult task that demands the most powerful and advanced PCB design software available; Altium Designer.

Circuit Board Applications in Today’s Technologies

Printed circuit board technology has changed a lot over the years. From simple boards with wide copper traces you will now see boards with extremely dense circuitry on them created with very thin copper traces. You will find every configuration of PCB possible from one or two layer boards to complex boards with multiple layers. There are PCBs in all kinds of different sizes and shapes as well as PCBs made out of flexible materials in order to bend or fold within the devices that they are used in.

Printed circuit boards are used in every kind of application imaginable. You will find them in tiny wearable devices, common everyday consumer appliances between the wires, and in the most intricate aerospace electronics as well. Everywhere you turn the need for well-designed PCBs is an important part of our lives and those designs require the most powerful design software that you can get. Finding the technology you need to understand a circuit diagram for an electrical circuit can be as easy as looking for the right software.

Technologies that Require Well-Designed Printed Circuit Boards

Take a look here at some of applications for modern printed circuit boards that you will find.

Smart technology and wearable devices all require circuit boards.
Learn More about flexible PCBs and the internet of things.
As new medical breakthroughs require the latest in medical hardware, the need for new electronic designs will never end.
Learn More about electronic design in medical technology innovations.
Controls, communications, and all other electronics aboard a spacecraft require PCBs designed to strict parameters.
Learn More about how PCB design factors in to new horizons of spaceflight.

PCB layout would feature things like ground plane, solder mask, and other connections

There really can be a lot of things on a circuit board

Today’s Designers; Meeting the Challenges of PCB Design

As the technology requirements continue to grow and change, the world of PCB design will need to change with it. In order to do that, PCB designers need to be ready for those changes and grow with them. PCB designers need to be skilled in their craft, and have the flexibility to change those skills to meet changing design requirements. To help them, PCB designers will need the most powerful and flexible design tools that they can get. They will need Altium Designer.

PCB layout will need to have a great deal of communication in order to be done well. Navigating pins, wires, and any type of component including surface mount or surface-mount technology is a tall ask, especially when trying to take into other considerations like heat and short circuit errors, or a power supply, or preparing a breadboard to move your design further into manufacturing and solder application.

What it will Take to Meet the Design Challenges of Tomorrow

PCB design will continue to change with the evolving technology, and PCB designers need the best design software to help them through.

What it means to be a PCB designer.
See what it takes to be a PCB designer in today’s world.
The latest design challenges are just over the horizon, see what you will need to meet those challenges.
See what it will take for today’s designers to build tomorrow’s technology.
To design the best you need software that is the best, and Altium Designer is the most powerful PCB design software that you can get.
Learn More about how the power of Altium Designer can help you with your PCB design.

Schematic and layout working together to help with things like ground fault, soldering, resistors, and other components

Altium Designer gives you the tools you need to design printed circuit boards

Design Software to Create All Those Things on a Circuit Board

There is a lot that goes onto a circuit board to make it a complete and functional PCB. Components must be placed so that they can be routed with the shortest lines possible. At the same time you must take into consideration the components proximity to other parts for power distribution, thermal problems, and signal interference. And while an optimum placement will give you a good start on your routing, that’s only part of what you must consider while trace routing. Line widths and spacing must be calculated for impedance while trace topologies must be adhered to for specific signal routing, all while maintaining trace lengths to satisfy the needs of your high-speed transmission line parameters.

If that sounds like a lot, then you are absolutely right. There really is a lot that goes into the design of your circuit board. Fortunately Altium Designer has the complete set of PCB design tools that you need to get the job done. From schematic capture through circuit simulation to its all-encompassing set of design rules and constraints, Altium Designer has the tools you need to get your board into layout. Altium Designer is able to offer all of this to you thanks to its unique unified design environment that allows all of its different tools to function seamlessly together with similar user interfaces so that you can work with fewer distractions. Once in layout you will find some of the best design features on the market today for placing your components and routing your traces to meet your design rules. With Altium Designer’s robust 3D engine, you can finish your job confident that all of your design’s clearances, whether they are components, mechanical parts, or even other system level boards, are as they should be.