Altium’s Protel DXP now shipping
A new approach to board design: the first single application to address the entire design process
SYDNEY, Australia – July 29, 2002 – Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), a leading developer of Windows-based electronic design and development software, is pleased to announce that Protel DXP – the latest version of its Protel board-level design system – has been released and is now available for purchase. Protel DXP brings a strong holistic approach and true project-level integration to the PCB design desktop, as well as a host of generational improvements, new features and technologies.
Protel DXP is the first single application to address the entire board-design process. Based on Altium’s proprietary Design Explorer (DXP) technology integration platform, Protel DXP has been engineered as a single board-design application that provides seamless integration between its different design capabilities and allows designers unprecedented freedom to move unimpeded throughout the board design process.
“Altium has long held the belief that integration is one of the key elements in effective design, and recently this view has gained increasing recognition in the industry and among designers,” says Nick Martin, Joint CEO and Founder, Altium. “Most Desktop PCB design software has been moving towards trying to more closely integrate independent point tools, but Protel DXP goes beyond this by providing one single, integrated tool with a full range of board-design capabilities. This approach is different because it puts all design capabilities into a single design environment – not compartmentalized within individual applications. This has allowed us to deliver significant benefits to engineers and designers, such as project-level bidirectional design synchronization and the elimination of data translation issues between tools.”
With Protel DXP, engineers and designers have access to the full range of PCB design capabilities within a single and consistent design environment. This provides increased ease-of-use and enables designers to focus on the natural design flows without worrying about transitions between design tools. With Protel DXP engineers and designers can organize their design processes the way that works best for them – without the artificial constraints imposed by their design tools. For example, Protel DXP includes integrated signal integrity analysis that can be run from the schematic prior to board layout, as well as on the finished board. The ability to identify signal integrity issues early means less late rework and therefore significant time savings.
New and enhanced features that Protel DXP brings engineers and designers include native multimonitor support, support for multichannel design, the creation of multiple board variants, and enhanced error checking and synchronization. Protel DXP’s powerful design capabilities integrate schematic entry, schematic-based FPGA design, SPICE 3f5/XSPICE mixed-signal circuit simulation, and pre- and post-layout signal integrity analysis, as well as rules-driven board layout and editing that incorporates next-generation Situs� topological autorouting� and complete CAM output capabilities.
Protel DXP supports a project-level approach to design and provides support for popular third-party document version control systems, project-level design error checking and verification, bidirectional design document synchronization, and extensive project navigation features. These enhanced features are coupled to a fully-customizable and intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI) that provides consistency across all editors and makes Protel DXP an easy-to-use, highly efficient and productive design environment.
Protel DXP is the first of a number of significant product releases from Altium scheduled for 2002/03. With this next generation of the highly-successful Protel product line, Altium continues to break down barriers to innovation and technological advancement by providing every engineer, designer and developer with easy access to the best possible design tools.
Availability
While Protel DXP features a host of generational improvements, new technologies and a level of integration not seen before in desktop PCB design software, pricing for Protel DXP will remain in line with the previous Protel 99 SE product. Protel DXP new licenses are priced at US$7,995 and upgrades start at US$1,995.
Protel DXP is the most affordable professional board design system available – there are no hidden “high-cost” extras or additional tools to buy. There is no up-front fee for support as Protel DXP also comes with 12 months free membership to Altium Total Support (valued at US$1,495).
Existing Protel customers who are members of Altium Total Support (ATS) will be shipped the new version free of charge as part of their ATS membership. ATS members can expect to receive their new Protel DXP product by the end of August.
For more product information, or to download a 30-day, fully functional trial version, visit the Protel website at www.protel.com or contact your local Altium Sales and Support Center.
About Altium Limited
Altium Limited (ASX: ALU), trading as Protel International Limited (ASX: PRI) prior to August 6, 2001, is a leading global developer and supplier of desktop Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and embedded software design tools for the Microsoft Windows environment.
Since the Company’s foundation in 1985 and its release of the world’s first Microsoft Windows-based EDA tool in 1991, Altium has continued to apply the most advanced software design methods to provide powerful, easy-to-use and affordable design software to engineers and electronics designers worldwide.
Altium’s current product brands include Protel, P-CAD, TASKING, Accolade, CircuitMaker and CAMtastic!. These products offer tailored solutions covering a range of hardware and software design processes.
Altium is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, and operates a number of sales and support offices in Australia, the United States, Japan and Europe, as well as maintaining a large reseller network in all other major markets. More information about the Company and its products and services may be obtained from our website at http://www.altium.com.
Altium, Altium Total Support, Protel, Protel DXP, DXP, Design Explorer, nVisage, P-CAD, TASKING, Accolade, CircuitMaker, CAMtastic!, Situs and Topological Autorouting and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Altium Limited or its subsidiaries. All other registered or unregistered trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners, and no trademark rights to the same are claimed.
Altium USA Media Contact
Janice Hughes
Hughes Communications, Inc.
15 Oak Tree Lane
Lyme, CT 06371
USA
Telephone: +1 860 434 3782
Fax: +1 860 434 3781
Email: janice@hughescom.net
Corporate Media Contact
Jessica Maxwell
Altium Limited
Level 3, 12a Rodborough Road
Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086
Australia
http://www.altium.com
Telephone: +61 2 9975 7710
Fax: +61 2 9975 7720
Email: jessica.maxwell@altium.com.au
