FKN Systek introduces the N100 Nibbler for singulating tab-routed printed circuit boards. Blades come in standard thicknesses of 0.120 inch, 0.093 inch and 0.062 inch, was well as custom sizes.
 
Because the N100 cuts tabs cleanly on each side, additional clean up isn’t required. During the process, only one tab is cut at a time so the panel isn’t pressed between two points during the cut, placing minimal stress on the board.
 
Features include a quick connect pneumatic port that plugs directly into factory air and a waste compartment that collects excess tab material.
 
www.fknsystek.com

Sigrity Inc. introduces XtractIM Version 3.0, establishing a new industry standard for IC package modeling. According to the company, this latest version enables designers to find weak pins with a push of a button.
 
The tool’s electrical performance assessment capabilities are extended with a signal net assessment analysis and results display. Self-impedance and coupling to other nets are computed and displayed, so designers are able to pinpoint performance issues in complex designs efficiently and intuitively.
 
Designers can assess performance of signal and power delivery nets, characterize a broader set of package types and extract electrical models with improved accuracy.
 
XtractIM Version 3.0 supports quad flat pack, quad flat pack no leads and VQFP. It provides both a practical assessment method for complex SiP power delivery nets and support for single-die packages.
 
www.sigrity.com

AWR Corp. introduces Version 2009 of its Microwave Office design suite that includes patent-pending Multi-Rate Harmonic Balance simulation technology (MRHBT).
 
MRHBT technology is reported to significantly increase speed and to reduce computer memory needed to perform steady-state analysis of complex nonlinear systems with multiple signal sources.
 
Version 2009 features include constant output power simulation, enhanced load-pull analysis, expanded support for open access process design kits and behavioral model support for Mesuro’s active load-pull system.
 
In addition, a customizable project tree is able to reconfigure nodes, improving the organization of large projects that support hundreds of graphs and schematics.
 
www.awrcorp.com

PCB Matrix introduces the Symbol Viewer. The free cross platform correlation tool allows users to import schematic symbols from multiple EDA formats and libraries.
 
Schematic symbols from Cadence Concept, OrCAD Capture, Mentor DxDesigner and the Symbol Wizard can be correlated and matched against the Land Pattern Wizard.
 
The tool is able to import an FPGA Compiler report from Altera and Xilinx, matching the pin map to the schematic symbols and land pattern. Users can extract a complete spreadsheet across multi-section schematic symbol sets.
 
The system can cross probe between spreadsheets, schematic symbols and PCB Land Pattern views, with discrepancies highlighted. Actual signal names are annotated to the Land Pattern, pin types, pin numbers and directions.
 
The Symbol Viewer can be downloaded from the company’s website. Click here.