ltium Designer 20.0 "Open Beta" cycle has started!
The first Open Beta version of Altium Designer 20.0 is now available for download. For installation details please check the Installation section below.
We are very pleased to share with you the first Open Beta Release for Altium Designer 20. With this forthcoming release of Altium Designer, we are extending our commitment to the users' ownership stake in their PCB design tools by focusing our efforts on the stability and overall performance of the product - addressing user-submitted bugs and enhancement requests, and balancing these efforts with the addition of new capabilities that enable our users to exploit the latest trends in the PCB design industry. At all times we strive to bring you a design experience that is Easy, Modern and Powerful, and Altium Designer 20 is no exception.
Highlights of some of the key new features and enhancements
- Routing Enhancements. This release introduces new features that significantly improve the process of Interactive Routing. Snake routing has been introduced that allows routing to flow at any angle, with corner arcs if required. Dragging has also been improved, the push and shove mode now supports arcs and any angle routing, which can be configured from the Properties panel during dragging. Tuning has also been improved to be much more intuitive, fast and easy to use with the same experience for both single traces and differential pairs.
- Properties Panel Enhancements. We have spent a lot of time reviewing and discussing the feedback since the release of AD18. Although we have made some incremental improvements over the past two years, this is our first major attempt to address the main productivity issues and concerns. Enhancements include:
- Dialog Style Properties - this is probably the #1 issue where some users could not get comfortable using the Properties panel for quick object editing using double-click. We have implemented modal dialogs with a similar layout as the Properties panel. This option can be controlled using the Double Click Runs Interactive Properties option, found in the Preferences dialog on the Schematic - Graphical Editing page (for Schematic) and PCB Editor - General page (for PCB).
- Layout Optimization - the goal here is to minimize scrolling, optimize panel space usage and arrange elements in the panel in a more convenient and logical way. As part of this task, all previews are now optional and can be hidden.
- Performance Optimization - this improvement mostly affects the first selection for each type of primitive when a session of Altium Designer is started. Now the Properties panel will be launched much faster for the first and any subsequent selection.
- Schematic Dynamic Compilation. The Unified Data Model is now available from the moment a project is opened and should not require additional compilation - a true Dynamic Data Model. Initial benefits include saving time with increased speed of compilation and persistent listings of nets and components in the Navigator Panel. Moving forward, it will greatly open the way for the improvement of the Schematic Editor in the future - making it easier to work with circuits, rules, and components in the Schematic Editor. Two areas underpinned by this new Dynamic Data Model are:
- ERC - giving a noticeable performance increase over Altium Designer 19, along with the removal of obsolete and redundant checks, and a better messaging structure.
- ECO - giving a noticeable performance increase over Altium Designer 19.
- New Schematic Drawing. DirectX is now being used for schematic drawing. Working with large schematic sheets with many elements (components, pins, ports, etc) will now be much smoother and faster when panning and zooming.
- PCB Design rules improvements
- Creepage Distance Design Rule. This new design rule flags a violation when the creepage distance across the non-conductive surface and edge regions of the board, between the targeted signals, is equal to or less than the specified Creepage distance. The rule identifies the closest points on the targeted nets and checks the distance between them in the X-Y, and Z planes. It will trace around the edge of, and through, slots and holes in the board.
- Return Path Design Rule. This new design rule checks for a continuous signal return path on the designated reference layer above or below the signals targeted by the rule. The return path can be created from fills, regions, and polygon pours placed on a signal layer or plane layers. The return path layers are the reference layers defined in the selected Impedance Profile.
- Delay-based Net Matching. Both rules used for net length matching (High Speed - Length and High Speed - Matched Lengths) can now also be used to adjust delays. We use the same solver from Simberian to calculate the trace delay and allow the user to enter Pin Package Delay and Via Delay in the object's properties. In the initial release of Altium Designer 20.0 we do not plan to calculate delays for vias but we do plan to improve that in future versions (this version supports manual via delay definition). You can find the delay for each primitive in the Properties panel (for Track, Pad & Via), as well as the Net delay in the PCB Panel. The Properties panel also displays the cumulative delay for the currently selected primitives (Tracks, Pads & Vias).
- Spice Simulation. We are pleased to introduce a fresh up-to-date simulation engine, which provides new algorithms and paves the way for future enhancements. The goal for Altium Designer 20.0 is to replace our current engine and build a scalable foundation. Compared to the previous versions, our new Simulation engine will be much faster, stable, reliable, and accurate. As of Altium Designer 20.0, we no longer support SimCode models and we are going to replace it with the most popular digital model support in the future.
- Multi-board Enhancements. In this release, there are a number of improvements and enhancements to functionality for multi-board projects. You can add a BomDoc to your multi-board project and generate a BOM for the entire assembly. This removes the need to generate individual BOMs for each PCB in the assembly. Additional improvements include new special parameters for the BOM, the ability to export Multi-board Assembly documents as PDF3Ds, as well as Bill of Materials output support.
- Library Migration Improvements. The Library Migrator has been substantially updated to provide a highly automated one-click solution for converting file-based component libraries to server-based managed components. The user interface has been completely revised, focusing on the simplification of the library migration process for new users of Altium Concord Pro (hosted on Altium 365).
