SANTA CLARA, CA – A group of leading companies in the semiconductor and printed circuit board design, fabrication and assembly industries will convene Sept. 28 at the Santa Clara Convention Center to discuss an exciting new solution to age-old electronics data transfer problems.

The “Data Transfer in the 21st Century” panel, featuring representatives from Cadence Design Systems, Fujitsu, DownStream Technologies and Sanmina-SCI, among others, will introduce the new IPC-2581 Consortium at PCB West, the leading conference and exhibition for printed circuit board design.

PCBs have changed significantly over the past three decades, yet industry still uses 30-year-old ways of communicating design intent to manufacturing. Several data formats have vied for market acceptance through the five decades of computer-based electronics design. Some formats have been driven by trade associations, others by individual companies. No single intelligent format has captured a large share of the market, however.

The IPC-2581 Consortium is a new group of OEMs, EDA companies and electronics manufacturers whose collective aim is to accelerate the adoption of IPC-2581 as an open, neutrally maintained global standard to encourage innovation, improve efficiency and reduce costs. For the first time, leading OEMs and software developers such as nVidia, Lockheed-Martin, Fujitsu, Cadence and Zuken are supporting a common, third-party format.

Panelists will discuss the various standards and reasons for supporting them, and include Hemant Shah, Cadence; Gary Carter, Fujitsu; Rick Almeida, DownStream Technologies; Dana Korf, Sanmina-SCI; Max Clark, Mentor Graphics; and is moderated by Mike Buetow, UP Media Group.