Printed Circuit Design & Fab Online Magazine - Products

New Products

PCB123 v. 5.1.0 free PCB design tool includes new edit panels with several user preference options, drag-and-drop functionality for parts, and smoother rendering performance. Includes a change in uniformity between control panels for layout and schematic views. Parts from libraries can be added from the layout using a new tab in the edit panel. Zooming and panning designs with polygons is reportedly more responsive. Can pan and zoom in layout by holding down right mouse button and moving mouse or scrolling mouse wheel. Display Tab for layout view has been reworked. Edit controls have been configured. Panes are resizable horizontally and vertically. Tooltips on controls teach user what is useful about the feature. In Layer Display pane, a scrollbar has been added for designing many layers. Color visibility selection on Layout Appearance pane is identical to Layer Display.

Sunstone Circuits, http://www.sunstone.com/PCB123.aspx

ROG Mobile, free mobile app for Apple and Android devices provides access to Rogers’ calculators, including the MWI (Microwave Impedance) simulation tool, literature, technical papers and the ability to order samples via smartphones and tablets. Includes tools and technical information to assist with high performance printed circuit board materials. Perform electrical, thermal and mechanical simulations for microwave PCB designs, impedance predictions and transmission line losses.

Rogers Corp., rogerscorp.com/rogmobile

Software-designed instrumentation includes

Read more: NI Announces FPGA-Based Analyzer Tools

Explorer real-time monitoring uses DataMan barcode reader. Incorporates scalable architecture, a web-based performance statistics interface, and novel vision technology. Trends read rates, evaluates images from packages that were not read and classifies those images. Connects to a network of DataMan readers and regularly pulls read rate information and images from packages. When a process error results in a package with an unread barcode, images are sent; automatically evaluates and categorizes each image and stores them in a database.

Cognex Corp., http://www.cognex.com

MultiSIM Blue NI Multisim Component Evaluator – Mouser edition features a library of more than 100,000 electronic components with intuitive simulation features and SPICE analyses. Visualizes and evaluates linear performance, creates schematics, simulates circuits and builds printed circuit board layouts. Handles bills of materials (BOM) and purchasing. Simulation driven by NI Multisim advanced parser technology with support from BSIM and other advanced parameters. Circuit diagrams can be defined with up to 50 components. Fully interactive schematic interface with a full-right-click menu. Fully integrated wiring and reviewing platform. Supports a range of component types including passives, discretes, analog ICs, discrete signal ICs, mixed signal ICs, sensors, power ICs and protection devices.

Mouser Electronics, http://www.mouser.com/MultiSimBlue

A free impedance and power-handling calculator predicts design attributes for microstrips and striplines based on the design’s target impedance and dielectric properties of RF, microwave and mm-wave laminate materials. Dielectric properties calculated by this tool include the effect of dielectric anisotropy, the difference when measured along different axes in a material's dielectric constant and dissipation factor. Provides design or equivalent dielectric constant to facilitate modeling for printed circuit board designers to predict impedance and other design attributes. Computes changes in the dielectric constant due to dispersion at higher frequencies. Computes total insertion loss – a measure of power lost through heat for power-handling calculations, including dielectric loss, conductor loss, and loss due to surface roughness.

Isola, https://isodesign.isola-group.com/phi-calculator/