Product Overview of Altium Designer
Altium Designer is a comprehensive electronic design automation (EDA) software package developed by Altium Limited, designed to facilitate the creation, design, and manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other electronic products. Here’s a detailed look at what the product does and its key features.
What Altium Designer Does
Altium Designer is an integrated platform that encompasses all aspects of electronic product development, from the initial schematic capture to the final design documentation and manufacturing files. It provides a unified design environment that streamlines the entire design process, allowing users to work seamlessly across different design realms, including front-end design, mixed-signal circuit simulation, physical PCB design, and more.
Key Features and Functionality
Schematic Capture and Design
Altium Designer includes advanced schematic capture tools, enabling users to create logical representations of electronic circuits. This feature allows for high-quality schematic creation, circuit simulation, and easy transfer of designs to PCB layout tools.
3D PCB Design and Simulation
The software supports interactive 3D editing of the board and MCAD export to STEP, allowing for precise and detailed design visualization. It also includes SPICE simulation capabilities, enabling designers to validate and verify circuit designs without the need for physical prototypes.
Workflow and Collaboration
Altium Designer integrates with Altium 365, a cloud-based infrastructure platform, which connects all key stakeholders and disciplines involved in PCB design. This includes mechanical designers, engineers, PCB designers, parts procurement, fabrication, and assembly. The platform facilitates collaboration, secure data storage, and version control through Workspaces, which can be hosted on the cloud or on-premises.
Advanced Design Tools
- Constraint Manager: Allows for detailed design rules management, ensuring scalability and intricate control over complex projects.
- HDI Design: Supports the design of advanced devices with smaller components, tighter traces, and improved performance.
- High-Speed PCB Design: Provides solutions for high-speed design challenges, including advanced routing and signal integrity analysis.
- Rigid-Flex PCB Design: Facilitates the design of complex rigid-flex PCBs with ease.
- Harness Design: Enables the creation of harnesses within the familiar environment of the software.
Component and Supply Chain Management
Altium Designer includes features like Real-Time BOM Management with ActiveBOM®, which allows for the management of components, suppliers, and sourcing data directly within the design environment. It also offers supply chain intelligence and a manufacturer part search to reduce design time.
Multi-Board and Multi-Discipline Design
The software supports multi-board system design, making it easy to create complex designs and error-free system interconnections. It also integrates with mechanical design tools through MCAD export, ensuring seamless collaboration between different disciplines.
Customization and Productivity
Altium Designer features a fully customizable interface, allowing users to set up the design space according to their preferences. The unified design environment and consistent user interface across all tools enhance productivity and reduce the learning curve.
In summary, Altium Designer is a powerful and integrated EDA solution that covers all facets of PCB and electronic product design. Its extensive set of features, collaborative tools, and unified design environment make it an indispensable tool for engineers and designers working on complex electronic projects.