Altium
Next generation electronics design solutions
When you’re involved in a challenging design task the last thing you need is to have your focus pulled away by the need to resource information.
Researching and comparing component parts is one of the main culprits. Which device is most cost effective, is it about to be discontinued and for that matter, has a change in another part of the design process made it unsuitable? Traditionally, this job has been tackled by trawling through volumes of data books and supplier lists to compare options and pin down the right part for the design.
The proliferation of online data has helped the problem, but a large number of factors beyond the device parameters must also be considered; including volume price, availability and down the track, delivery packaging (reel, tape, etc). And of course the information is only accurate at the time you gathered it, or the last time the component database was updated – the prospect of missing a component’s end-of-life notice doesn’t bear thinking about.
At whatever depth you consider when selecting the right parts for your design, the salient point remains that you’re pulled away from the focus on innovative design to flip through data books or scan multiple web pages and documents. What’s needed for a focused design environment is a system where the information you need to make decisions is available at your fingertips, within the design space itself
Altium Designer is bringing this concept into reality with an increasing range of in-design data access features. This includes the Live Links to Supplier Data feature, which delivers the capability to link live information to components, as you design.
Integrated, live component data
By linking directly to key supplier web services, the supplier data interface allows you to search though a supported suppliers’ catalogue from within the design space itself. You can drag and drop any (or multiple) parameters from the supplier panel to components in the design schematic. This is exactly where and when you need the information to make the right decisions, and it allows you to maintain focus on the design itself.
The live information you source can be integrated with the
design process right up to release time, which means the linked data is always
current. And you’re not constrained to the basic component device parameters,
as a wide range of other important data such as data sheets, stock and pricing
information can also be linked to the components in your design – or to the
parameter entries in database libraries.
It’s not all about having the right information at design
time either. The linked supplier data you choose, including pricing information
with currency conversions, can be made available for release time procurement
in the Bill Of Materials. The currently supported suppliers for Live Data Links
are Digi-Key, Farnell and
With Altium Designer’s live data linking features, engineers no longer need to go outside of their productive sphere to gather crucial design information. It’s another way that Altium Designer frees you to focus on the task of developing cost-effective, unique designs for the next generation of electronic products.
To see live supplier links in action, take a look at the great webinar presented by Altium’s Ben Jordan.
And as an update on the webinar, Ben also shows you how the system works with company database-driven libraries (DBLib), or when version-controlled database libraries (SVN DBLib) are used for component management.
For more detailed information on Altium Designer’s live supplier links check out the entry in the Altium Wiki.
