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Altium Designer

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Altium Designer
Developer(s)Altium
Initial release2005; 19 years ago (2005)
Stable release
22.8.2[1] / 26 August 2022; 2 years ago (2022-08-26)
Written inDelphi, C#, C++
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
TypeECAD/EDA, CAM
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.altium.com/altium-designer/

Altium Designer (AD) is a PCB and electronic design automation software package for printed circuit boards. It is developed by Australian software company Altium Limited.

History

Altium Designer was originally launched in 2005 by Altium, known at the time as Protel Systems Pty Ltd. It has roots back to 1985 when the company launched the DOS-based PCB design tool known as Protel PCB (which later emerged into Autotrax and Easytrax). Originally it was sold only in Australia.[2][3] Protel PCB was marketed internationally by HST Technology since 1986.[3] The product became available in the United States, Canada, and Mexico beginning in 1986, marketed by San Diego-based ACCEL Technologies, Inc. under the name Tango PCB.[3] In 1987, Protel launched the circuit diagram editor Protel Schematic for DOS.

In 1991, Protel released Advanced Schematic and Advanced PCB 1.0 for Windows (1991–1993), followed by Advanced Schematic/PCB 2.x (1993–1995) and 3.x (1995–1998). In 1998, Protel 98 consolidated all components, including Advanced Schematic and Advanced PCB, into a single environment. Protel 99 in 1999 introduced the first integrated 3D visualization of the PCB assembly. It was followed by Protel 99 SE in 2000. Protel DXP was issued in 2003, Protel 2004 in 2004, Altium Designer 6.0 in 2005. Altium Designer version 6.8 from 2007 was the first to offer 3D visualization and clearance checking of PCBs directly within the PCB editor.[citation needed]

Features

Altium Designer's suite encompasses four main functional areas, including schematic capture,[4] 3D PCB design,[5] field-programmable gate array (FPGA) development[6] and release/data management.[7] It integrates with several component distributors for access to manufacturer's data.[8][9] It also has interactive 3D editing of the board and MCAD export to STEP.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Public Release Notes for Altium Designer".
  2. ^ "Nick Martin .: SemiEngineering.com". semiengineering.com. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  3. ^ a b c TangoPCB. Tango-PCB 3.12. ACCEL Technologies, Inc. 1987-12-01 [1986]. It was originally written in 1985 by Nick Martin, of Australia, and sold under the name of PROTEL-PCB. In 1986, ACCEL Technologies, Inc., of San Diego, California, acquired marketing and support responsibilities for the product in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. […] The reference manual was re-written for the American market. ACCEL markets the product under the name Tango-PCB.
  4. ^ "The Ultimate PCB Design Software Comparison | SFCircuits". www.sfcircuits.com. Retrieved 2017-12-21.
  5. ^ Moretto, Gabe (2007-11-26). "Altium releases 3D PCB visualization".
  6. ^ Holland, Colin (2010-05-25). "Aldec FPGA simulation added to Altium Designer". EE Times.
  7. ^ "Altium announces new publishing and version control capabilities". EE Times. Retrieved 2010-12-21.
  8. ^ "CAD links to disty databases gain momentum". EE Times. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  9. ^ "Altium releases 3D PCB visualization". EE Times. Retrieved 2010-09-06.

Sources

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