Renesas to Acquire PCB Design Software Leader Altium

Renesas Electronics announced an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of the global leader in electronics design systems, Altium. The announcement, with important repercussions for product developers globally, enables Renesas to create a system-level integrated and open electronics system design and lifecycle management platform, leveraging Altium’s popular design software and cloud platform capabilities to increase innovation and overall productivity.

The first article from audio expert Ethan Winer about Modern PCB Design Practices, gave a general overview of board design using surface-mounted devices (SMDs). The article examines current practices and methods for designing four-layer printed circuit boards using surface mounted components (SMDs), and this second part explains specific strategies and related issues to deal with the design and production of great quality PCBs. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2023.

In this two-part series, Ethan Winer examines current practices and methods for designing four-layer printed circuit boards using surface-mounted components (SMDs). A great article for our DIY readers and many developers who often are faced with the need to build and test their projects on a properly designed, prototype printed circuit board. Part 1 presents an overview of the process, while Part 2 he will explain specific strategies. Many related issues will be described along the way.