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50 The PCB Design Magazine • April 2014 article The Internet of Things Drives New PCB Design Approach by Mark Toth CADsOFT COMPuTer The most common question asked of elec- tronic product developers today is how to do more with less. How do you incorporate newer, faster technologies in smaller packages to take advantage of new products and architectures that provide more functionality and power ef- ficiency, all on time and under budget? Is it pos- sible to retool processes without negatively im- pacting designer productivity? Can advanced techniques and current best practices be made available at the designer's fingertips during de- velopment, without leaving the design envi- ronment? Increased consumerization of electronics and a convergence of various elements of func- tionality, due in part to the Internet of Things (IoT), are putting intense economic pressure not only on time-to-market, but on cost of de- velopment as well. Add to that increased com- petition in the electronics industry and contin- ued globalization, and we're seeing increased investments in tools, training, new best prac- tices and increasing openness to collaboration. To illustrate the continued globalization, according to information released by the EDA Consortium in an October press release, PCB and multi-chip module revenue is at $148.3 million, a YoY increase of 5.2% compared to the same quarter in 2012. The four-quarter moving average for PCB and MCM, however, increased 10%. This is compared to overall in- dustry revenue which increased only 3.8% YoY for the same quarter reported, but dropped al- most 1% in sequential quarters. The four-quar- ters moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, increased by only 5.3%. Not surprising, a geographic trend for the design tool industry shows revenue for all de- sign tools in the Asia-Pacific region increased This article originally ran in the February issue of The PCB Magazine.