March 2017 • The PCB Design Magazine 63
5
Beyond Design: PDN–Decoupling
Capacitor Placement
The impact of lower core volt-
ages and faster edge rates has
pushed the frequency content
of typical digital signals into
the gigahertz range. Conse-
quently, the performance of
decoupling capacitors must
also be extended up into this
range. However, rudimentary design rules, ad-
equate for frequencies below 100MHz, may not
be suitable for today's high-speed digital circuits.
6
Mentor Graphics Reports
Fiscal Q4 Results
Mentor Graphics Corpo-
ration announced finan-
cial results for the com-
pany's fiscal fourth quar-
ter ended January 31,
2017. The company re-
ported record revenues
of $478.0 million for Q4, For the full fiscal year,
revenues were up 9% to $1.282 billion.
7
Selling PCB Design Services
in a First-World Country
As the business opera-
tions manager for Bet-
ter Boards Inc., I have
a front row seat to the
critical problem facing
a PCB design services
company: How do we
sell these services back
to the companies who
have cast off their own
skilled employees? How do we sell PCB design ser-
vices into small companies that can barely afford
the one overworked electrical engineer that they
hired last year?
8
Cadence Sigrity 2017 Delivers
Fast Path to PCB Power
Integrity Signoff
Cadence Design Systems
has announced availabil-
ity of the Sigrity 2017
technology portfolio,
which introduces several
key features specifically
designed to speed up PCB power and signal in-
tegrity signoff. Among the features included in the
newest version of the Cadence Sigrity portfolio are
the Allegro PowerTree topology viewer and editor,
which enable designers to quickly assess power
delivery decisions early in the design cycle.
9
The Evolution of PCB
Design and Designers
According to Rainer Asfalg of
Altium, VP Sales EMEA, EDA
companies owe it to their cus-
tomers to provide much more
than just a standard design
tool. I met with Rainer at the
recent electronica show to dis-
cuss the continued evolution of the design process
towards automation, and what this might mean
for the education and overall requirements of PCB
designers going forward.
J
EMA Releases Ultra
Librarian for OrCAD
EMA Design Automation has
just released Ultra Librarian
for OrCAD providing sym-
bols, footprints, and 3D mod-
els for an expanding library of
currently over 8 million parts.
"Symbols, footprints, and 3D models are the
building blocks of any electronic board design,"
said Manny Marcano, president of EMA Design
Automation.
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