Altium

Altium Limited (formerly known as Protel until 2001) is an American, Australian-domiciled owned public software company that provides PC-based electronics design software for engineers who design printed circuit boards. Founded as Protel Systems Pty Ltd in Tasmania, Australia in 1985,[2] Altium now has regional headquarters in the United States, Australia, China, Europe, and Japan, with resellers in all other major markets.

Altium Ltd.
Public
IndustryEDA, Printed circuit board, FPGA, Embedded Systems, Electronics Design
Founded1985
FounderNick Martin[1][2]
HeadquartersLa Jolla, California,
United States
Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
(Registered office)
Area served
United States
Australia
China
Europe
Japan
Key people
  • Aram Mirkazemi (CEO)
  • Martin Ive (accountant)
  • Samuel Weiss (chairman)
ProductsAltium Designer, Altium Concord Pro, Altium NEXUS, Vault, CircuitStudio, CircuitMaker, TASKING, Octopart, Ciiva, Upverter
RevenueUS$171.8 million (FY 2019)
Websitewww.altium.com

History

Nicholas Martin, an electronics designer working at the University of Tasmania in the 1980s, recognized that the tools then available limited the ability to design printed circuit boards, either through a difficult manual process, or by requiring high-priced software that required expensive mainframe computers. With the development of the personal computer, Martin saw an opportunity to make the design of electronics product affordable, by marrying the techniques of electronics design to the PC platform. In 1985 he founded Protel Systems Pty Ltd, launching the company's first product later that same year — a DOS-based printed circuit board (PCB) layout and design tool.[2][3] Protel PCB was marketed internationally by HST Technology Pty Ltd. since 1986.[2] In October 1986 the San Diego-based ACCEL Technologies, Inc. acquired marketing and support responsibilities of the PCB program for the US, Canada and Mexico under the name Tango PCB.[2] In 1987, Protel launched the circuit diagram editor Protel Schematic for DOS. This was followed by Autotrax and Easytrax in 1988.

Protel's headquarters resided in Hobart, TAS, Australia until 1990 when Nick Martin decided to move the company to California's Silicon Valley, which was proving to be a hot spot for technology companies. In 1994, he moved operations back to Sydney, followed by the successful IPO in August 1999.

In 1991, Protel released Advanced Schematic/PCB 1.0 for Windows, the world's first Windows-based PCB design system.[4]

The company continued to develop and release new versions of this design tool, including Protel 98 in 1998, Protel 99 in 1999 and Protel 99 SE in 2000.

In August 1999, Altium was listed as a public company (ASX:ALU) to assist in funding of strategic technology development and acquisition.

After a number of strategic technology and company acquisitions (see below), Protel Systems changed its name to Altium in 2001. Through various acquisitions Altium has maintained a significant presence in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Protel DXP was issued in 2003, Protel 2004 in 2004, Altium Designer 6.0 in 2005.

In 2011, Altium announced it would be expanding its presence in Shanghai, China in the second half of 2011 to take advantage of lower wages. The company will remain an Australian headquartered company and will continue to be listed on the Australian stock exchange, with a major administration presence in Sydney. Development continues to be a global effort, with product development staff in United States, Ukraine, Australia and the Netherlands.[5]

On October 15, 2012, the Altium board removed Nick Martin as CEO and named executive vice chairman Kayvan Oboudiyat to replace him.[6] On October 23, 2012, Martin called for a general board meeting and disclosed he planned an attempt to oust four directors, including Oboudiyat.[7] Briefly afterwards Martin called off the meeting and conceded that the company should continue on without belligerence.

On January 16, 2014, Altium announced Kayvan Oboudiyat's retirement and succession by Aram Mirkazemi as CEO.[8] In May of the same year, Altium announced that the core R&D operations for its flagship PCB CAD tools would again relocate in a "cost neutral" move to San Diego, California.[9] This move is proposed in order for the development and senior management to be closer to the North American user base in an effort to maintain customer centricity for PCB CAD tools. Key hardware design services and Internet of Things (IoT) development teams remain in Shanghai, to better service customers and business partners in China; again reflecting a commitment to what the customers in each region need most.

Acquisitions

In 1998, while still doing business as Protel, the company acquired Accolade Design Automation, founded by Dr. David Pellerin, co-author of VHDL Made Easy![10]

In 2000, while still doing business as Protel, the company acquired Accel, a San Diego-based EDA software developer (P-CAD, TangoPCB).[11]

Altium acquired Tasking in 2001 for A$73.4 million,[12] a supplier of embedded software design technology that was integrated into Altium's product offerings to create a complete electronics design system.

In 2002, Altium acquired Hoschar AG, the largest EDA software distributor in Europe, which formed Altium's European regional headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany.[13]

In 2010, Altium acquired Morfik Technology Pty Ltd., a developer of visual design tools for engineering and deploying cloud-based software applications.

In 2015, Altium acquired Octopart, a search engine for electronic and industrial parts.[14][15]

In 2015, Altium acquired Ciiva, a cloud-based electronic component management system.[16]

In 2016, Altium acquired Perception Software, a provider of enterprise PLM integration solutions.[17]

In 2017, Altium acquired Upverter, a cloud-based EDA tool.[18][19]

Other strategic acquisitions Protel / Altium has acquired several technologies and related companies throughout the company's history, including:[20]

  • NeuroCAD (hence, the NeuroRoute autorouter and its algorithms)
  • IDK
  • Techspert
  • INCASES Engineering GmbH (Acquisition of Signal Integrity Simulation source code)
  • MicroCode Inc.
  • Green Mountain (VHDL simulation software source code)
  • Metamor Inc.
  • Innovative CAD Software Inc.

Unifying electronics design

In the mid-1990s, the industry was moving towards the use of newly-affordable technologies such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) instead of individual components fixed to a PCB,[21] but the design tools used for PCBs and those used for programmable logic systems were markedly different and the difference was becoming an obstacle to electronics design.[22]

To counter the limitations imposed by separate stand-alone design tools or domain specific tool-chains, the company began developing a unified electronics design system, which uses a single data model to hold all of the design data required to create a product. FPGA, PCB and embedded software development processes were unified with a common project view and data model. A variety of editing tools could then be used to access and manipulate the design, covering areas such as board layout and design, schematic capture, routing (EDA), testing, analysis and FPGA design.[23]

In the second half of the 1990s, the company began acquisition of various companies with the technologies needed to create a unified electronics design solution. In 1999 it listed on the Australian Securities Exchange to generate the capital to conclude these acquisitions,[24] and in 2001, the company changed its name to Altium, to distinguish its products from the earlier Protel PCB layout solutions.

Due to the limitations of existing software platforms, Altium created its own platform called Design Explorer (DXP), hosted on Microsoft's Windows operating system, which formed the foundation of the Altium Designer product. The first version was released in 2004, with major new releases in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009.

In September 2010, Altium announced the pending acquisition of Morfik Technology, a provider of cloud-based software applications, in an all-stock transaction worth an estimated A$3.3 million. The move signaled the company's expectations that cloud technology will pervade future electronic and embedded systems. The deal was completed in November 2010. Morfik's founders originally worked for Altium/Protel before leaving to found the company after Altium's IPO.[25][26]

Products
  • Altium Designer – unified electronics design solution with schematic capture.
  • Altium Concord Pro – single source for component data, real-time sourcing information, component traceability within designs, and collaboration tool.[27]
  • Altium NEXUS – team-based PCB workflow solution designed to provide the transparency.[28]
  • AltiumLive – the cloud-based community that connects Altium designers, collaborators, suppliers, manufacturers and customers.
  • Altium Vault – Formal release, re-use and design data management server software.
  • Autotrax/Easytrax - The original Protel PCB design software for DOS.
  • CircuitMaker – free PCB design tool targeted at students, hobbyists, hackers and makers.
  • CircuitStudio – PCB design software tool[29]
  • NanoBoard – reconfigurable hardware development platform.
  • P-CAD - Obtained through AccelEDA acquisition, retired in 2006.
  • PDN Analyzer - analyze Power Distribution Network (PDN) voltage and current performance
  • TASKING – An embedded systems software development tool.
gollark: Apiologically gradientous.
gollark: The jabuapiolic algorithm?
gollark: There are probably out of band signals too anyway.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Does that work for you?

See also

References
  1. Nick Martin Executive Focus Archived 2008-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, February 1, 2005 , Kevin Morris, FPGA and Programmable Logic Journal
  2. TangoPCB. Tango-PCB 3.12. ACCEL Technologies, Inc. 1 December 1987 [1986]. […] CREDITS […] Program Design: Nick Martin […] Reference Manual: Tom Lupfer […] Production: Cathy Vermillion, Walt Foley […] Product Management: Tom Lupfer, Ray Schnorr […] Derivative Manual Copyright (c) 1986 ACCEL Techologies Inc. […] Original Manual Copyright (c) 1986 HST Technology Pty Ltd […] Software Copyright (c) 1985, 1986 Protel Systems Pty Ltd […] The History of Tango-PCB […] Tango-PCB is a personal computer-based software CAD package for designing Printed Circuit Boards. It was originally written in 1985 by Nick Martin, of Australia, and sold under the name of PROTEL-PCB. HST Technology Pty Ltd maintains sole-worldwide marketing rights for 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. […] Working together, engineers from ACCEL, HST and Protel Systems have implemented numerous enhancements to the original product. The Reference Manual was re-written for the American market. ACCEL markets the product under the name Tango-PCB. Tango and Tango-PCB are trademarks of ACCEL Technologies, Inc. PROTEL is a trademark of Protel Systems Pty Ltd. […] ACCEL Technologies, Inc. […] 7358 Trade Street […] San Diego, California 92121 […] (619) 695-2000 […]
  3. "Nick Martin". semiengineering.com. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  4. Tomorrow's world: the Australian initiative. North Sydney: Associated Publishing Corporation (APC). 1995. ISBN 0-646-25348-4.
  5. "Altium to Relocate its Global Headquarters to Shanghai, China" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  6. End of an era - Martin out of Altium
  7. Martin's response to Altium Board
  8. "Kayvan Oboudiyat announces retirement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  9. Altium to relocate HQ to USA
  10. Pellerin, David (1996). VHDL Made Easy!. Duvall, WA: Prentice Hall. pp. 432. ISBN 0136507638.
  11. "Accel Technologies Inc.: SemiEngineering.com". semiengineering.com. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  12. Altium, Pty Ltd (30 June 2001). "Altium Annual report 2001" (PDF). Altium. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  13. Altium, Ltd (17 July 2002). "Media Release July 17, 2002" (PDF). Altium. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
  14. Wurzel, Sam (13 August 2015). "Octopart is Joining Altium". Octopart. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  15. "Altium says to acquire octopart". Reuters. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  16. "Altium Acquires Ciiva". Ciiva. 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  17. "Altium Announces the Acquisition of Industry-Leading Enterprise PLM Integration Provider". www.altium.com. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  18. "Altium Full Year Investor Presentation" (PDF). www.altium.com. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  19. "Upverter Joins Altium". 28 August 2017.
  20. Altium, Pty Ltd (30 June 2001). "Altium Annual report 2001" (PDF). Altium. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  22. Chen, Wai-Kai (1 December 2002). Circuits and Filters Handbook, 2nd Edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press. pp. 2159–2161. ISBN 0-8493-0912-3.
  23. Morris, Kevin (19 July 2007). "Altium's Alternative: Turning System Design Inside Out". FPGA and Structured ASIC Journal. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
  24. "ALTIUM LIMITED (ALU)-ASX Listed Company Information Fact Sheet". Australian Securities Exchange. 2009. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  25. Martin, Nick (8 October 2010). "Morfik and Altium". Morfik. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  26. Yousofi, Siamack (8 October 2010). "Morfik: Past, Present and Future". Morfik. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  27. "Altium Concord Pro".
  28. "Altium NEXUS".
  29. Rako, Paul. "Altium CircuitStudio review: The glory". EDN Network.

Further reading
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