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FEATURES

• CAM
  Improving Fabrication Yields
  A large portion of manufacturing yield is tied up in the CAM process, and these "fabrication planners" can make the difference between profits and losses. Plus: The designer's role.
  by Zulki Khan
  

• EDA Tools For Today and Tomorrow
  'We Need to Facilitate Faster, Smarter Design'
  Leading design and layout tool suppliers talk about their software, designers' needs, the industry's biggest challenges, and why FPGAs could do for PCB designers what microprocessors did for their digital forerunners.
  by Pete Waddell
  

• Design Tools
  Predicting PCB Density
  Comparing design data requirements to design resources can result in better electronic performance at a reduced cost. A density-predicting calculator is a tool that performs a tradeoff analysis at the feasibility stage, given the constraints of the assigned area.
  by Ruth Kastner and Eliahu Moshe
  

• Productronica Recap
  Trading Up
  For the first time in 10 years, we saw the sun in Munich. Is it a sign of a new dawn for the industry? OK, no, but amid tepid expectations, Productronica turned out stronger than expected, again defying gravity and the pundits to remain the mother of all trade shows.
  by Mike Buetow
  

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  "Conflict metals" fight deepens.
  Mike Buetow

• Database
  The design game.
  Pete Waddell

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Resolutions for a new year.
  Peter Bigelow

• Focus on Business
  Hiring's golden age.
  Susan Mucha

TECH TALK

• Designer's Notebook
  Enclosed in.
  John Isaac

• Better Manufacturing
  Improving test coverage by design.
  Andrew Murrietta

• The Defects Database
  Plating-related opens.
  Dr. Davide Di Maio, Ph.D.

• Solar Technologies
  Solar Power International was a return to the past.
  Chrys Shea

• Tech Tips
  Boundary scan extends its use.
  ACI Technologies Inc.

DEPARTMENTS

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