Embedded World: Altium unveils Designer 12

According to Altium, Designer 12 is an 'industry leading' software delivery model and, unlike earlier versions, will not necessitate a large software upgrade – but will be delivered as part of the company's continuous update model. This, says the electronics design software specialist, means that new features and functionality, as well as improvements and bug fixes, can be rolled out instantly to subscribers. Some of the key features delivered to subscription customers include: Custom pad shapes - non-standard pad shapes, switch contacts and metal shielding can now be created easily out of complex structures, while the masks are still managed automatically based on rules; No ERC directives - this design directive is placed on a node in the circuit to suppress reported warning and/or error violation conditions (such as an unconnected pin), while still performing a comprehensive check of the rest of the circuit; More control in high speed designs - Impedance controlled routing is an integral part of managing signal integrity for critical signals on a pcb and the algorithms, which calculate the track width based on the pcb layer stack, include more physical parameters of the pcb to produce better results. Altium adds that subscribers will get access to the continuum of Altium Designer updates and thousands of ready to use board level components (including live links into the supply chain), software plugin modules, design templates, reference designs and a growing library of example projects. All the resources are accessible through the AltiumLive Content Store and can be used directly from within Altium Designer. Altium Designer 12 will be available to ship from 1 May 2012 and Altium subscription customers will receive the update as soon as it is available.