Elementary Mr. Watson: Routing Hunger Games—May the Traces Be Ever in Your Favor
Target Condition: Floor Planning Without a Floor
Happy’s Tech Talk #42: Applying Density Equations to UHDI Design
Most-Read PCB Design News Stories of 2015
December 30, 2015 | Andy Shaughnessy, PCBDesign007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Each December, we like to look back at the year in PCB design news. January seems like yesterday, doesn't it? Since then, we've seen plenty of innovative new tools and a variety of partnerships, and we've said goodbye to a couple of longtime friends. As we approach 2016, enjoy this list of the 10 most-read news items on PCBDesign007 in 2015.
Engineer Steve Weir Has Passed Away
Steve was a power and signal integrity guru with a variety of patents to his name. A fixture of DesignCon and a constant presence on the SI-List signal integrity forum, Steve wrote over a dozen papers on power integrity. He also had a crazy, irreverent sense of humor that you don’t find among most engineers. He will be missed.
Mentor Graphics Launches New HyperLynx SI/PI Product
Mentor Graphics Corporation has announced its newest version of the HyperLynx Signal Integrity/Power Integrity (SI/PI) tool for high-speed printed circuit board (PCB) designs. HyperLynx addresses high-speed systems design problems throughout the design flow—starting at the earliest architectural stages through post-layout verification.
EMA and Arena Solutions Form Strategic Alliance
The OrCAD and Arena integration provides a number of benefits for organizations using both systems. Components from the enterprise PLM system are available directly within the OrCAD Capture CIS design environment making search, selection, and placement very simple. Parts listed as obsolete in the PLM system can be easily identified and swapped out in an OrCAD design.
Sunstone Circuits Chooses InSight PCB Software for Pre-CAM and Sales
Sunstone Circuits has purchased Orbotech’s InSight PCB pre-sales and pre-engineering software. InSight PCB is a web-based tool for managing and assessing incoming customer PCB data for salespeople and engineers who are not CAM experts. From automatically retrieving comprehensive product information to generating precise summary reports, InSight PCB empowers sales and engineering people to work more independently, efficiently and profitably.
Improving PCB Design with Advanced Circuits' PCB Artist
Advanced Circuits' free PCB layout software PCB Artist has become a favorite not only with engineering students but also advanced engineers due to its easy schematic-to-PCB layout, Gerber format, autorouter, and extensive library of over 500,000 parts.
Pulsonix 8.5 Build 5902 is Released
WestDev Ltd. has released the latest version of Pulsonix 8.5, Build 5902. This maintenance update is issued as part of our on-going process of product improvement and response to customer feedback. In addition to bug fixes, the latest release contains several additions to the Report Maker function.
Exception PCB Solutions Design Service Boosts CID+ Qualifications
Heading up the design service is Neil Day, who has completed the IPC PCB Designer Certification Program and became qualified as an Advanced Certified Interconnect Designer (CID+). In addition, Technical Support Manager Paul Beech has completed the IPC CID training course and attained CID certification.
Polar Instruments Launches New Language Versions of The Speedstack PCB Layer Stackup Design System
Polar Instruments has launched new language versions of Speedstack, the industry’s best-selling PCB layer stackup design system. In addition to English, Speedstack is now available in German, Japanese, simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese versions. Speedstack allows PCB fabricators to fine-tune the stackup design by assessing the impact of different PCB materials on cost, performance and manufacturing yield.
EDA Analyst Gary Smith Dead at 74
Longtime EDA analyst Gary Smith died July 3 in Flagstaff, Arizona at the age of 74. Gary worked at Dataquest from 1994 to 2006, and later founded Gary Smith EDA. He knew more about the EDA market than anyone I’ve ever known. I once asked Gary, “How many PCB design seats do you think are in China?” He sent me numbers for all of Asia and broke them down by country. He loved EDA.
ICD Releases 2015 Version of the ICD Stackup and PDN Planner
In-Circuit Design Pty Ltd (ICD) has released the 2015 version of its popular software. Impedance plots have been incorporated into this new release. “The impedance plots are simulated by multiple passes of the field solver (in the background) to create heads-up graphs of how to adjust the particular variables to achieve the target impedance,” said Barry Olney, CEO.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Advertising in PCB007 Magazine has been a great way to showcase our bare board testers to the right audience. The I-Connect007 team makes the process smooth and professional. We’re proud to be featured in such a trusted publication."
Klaus Koziol - atgSuggested Items
Mastering PCB Floor Planning
08/28/2025 | Stephen V. Chavez, Siemens EDAPlacement of PCB components is far more than just fitting components onto a board. It’s a strategic and critical foundational step, often called “floor planning,” that profoundly impacts the board’s performance, reliability, manufacturability, and cost. Floor planning ties into the solvability perspective, with performance and manufacturability being the other two competing perspectives for addressing and achieving success in PCB design.
Elementary Mr. Watson: Routing Hunger Games—May the Traces Be Ever in Your Favor
08/26/2025 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonI’d like to share a harsh truth, and I say this as a friend: PCB designers are often their own worst enemy. It’s rarely the complexity of the circuit, the last-minute changes from mechanical, the limited enclosure space, or the ever-expanding list of design rules that send projects to the dust heap of failed boards. More often, it's our own decisions, made too quickly and narrowly, and with too little foresight, that sabotage an otherwise good design.
Target Condition: Floor Planning Without a Floor
08/27/2025 | Kelly Dack -- Column: Target ConditionBy a show of hands, how many PCB designers have been asked to start a layout without a board outline, keep-out zones, or even height constraints? How many have had to work within a specific enclosure before the schematic was finalized? If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. Starting a PCB layout without critical constraints is like hiring an interior designer to buy furniture and carpet for a house you haven’t even purchased yet, or, even worse, trying to fit four bedrooms' worth of furniture in a one-room cabin.
I-Connect007 Editor's Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
08/22/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007In this week’s roundup, we have a variety of articles covering design, manufacturing, sustainability, and, of course, tariff negotiations. We have a milestone anniversary to celebrate as well, with Dan Beaulieu about to publish his 1,000th column. When does Dan even sleep? Here’s to hoping that we have 1,000 more weeks of "It’s Only Common Sense."
New Episode Drop: MKS’ ESI’s Role in Optimize the Interconnect
08/26/2025 | I-Connect007In this latest episode, Casey Kruger, director of product marketing at MKS’ ESI, joins On the Line With… host Nolan Johnson to share how CO₂ laser technology delivers faster, more accurate vias in a smaller, more energy-efficient footprint.