We start the year with the sad news that Nigel Barkus, ALS co-founder, director and PCB designer, has passed away after a long fight against cancer. Nigel will be deeply missed by us all at ALS and by the very many clients that he worked with over the years.

LOUISE TUBBS JOINS ADVANCED LAYOUT SOLUTIONS! 

We are very pleased to welcome Louise Tubbs to Advanced Layout Solutions in the role of Office Manager. Louise, a graduate of the University of Leeds, has only been with us a short time but has already become an invaluable member of the team, managing the many design projects that we undertake.

NUMBER OF ALS DESIGNS SMASHES 4,000! 

After 12 years of layout, ALS have just completed design number 4,000. Although this tally includes modifications and revisions, it is still a very impressive figure, representing an average of 1.25 finished designs per working day for 12 years! If you'd like your new design to be our 4,001st, then click here to find out more about Advanced Layout Solutions..

NEW SIGNAL INTEGRITY FLOW

After much head-scratching and discussion with our customers we have introduced a new signal integrity design-flow aimed at clients who truly want to outsource the entire PCB design task. The new approach provides a kind of 'set menu' of signal integrity checks through the design process. Customers choosing this route can expect their designs to be thoroughly reviewed and simulated to ensure that their termination schemes and trace topologies cut the signal integrity mustard! The final layout will come complete with exhaustive crosstalk, delay and ringing reports (to name but a few) to allow the customer to 'sign-off' the design for signal integrity. It is hoped that this more formal approach to signal integrity analysis will make the process simpler and allow us to catch more SI violations.

For more information about this new service, contact chris.halford@alspcb.com, +44 (0)118 971 1939

ONLINE MEETINGS

After reviewing the way we work with our clients it became apparent that we could improve communications and increase productivity by making more use of online meeting capabilities. We have now purchased GoToMeeting™ and are able to host online meetings, and share the layout designer's desktop with the client to significantly speed up the design review process.

ANDY WHALLEY JOINS ADVANCED LAYOUT SOLUTIONS!

We are pleased to announce that Andy Whalley has become a permanent member of the ALS team. Andy has a background in electronic engineering and developed his PCB design skills during sixteen years service at Sun Microsystems. Andy has extensive experience in the design of large, complex high-speed digital systems - his knowledge of Constraint Manager and signal integrity tools making him ideally suited to ALS and our approach to PCB design.

ALS MOVE INTO NEW PREMISES IN ALDERMASTON, READING!

After 10 years at Padworth Common ALS have moved 2 miles up the A4 to new premises in Aldermaston. As ‘design for signal integrity’ becomes the normal design flow it is imperative that an extremely close working relationship exists between our team members. As such our Chippenham office will close and all design activity will operate from the one site. As designs continue to increase in complexity a close working relationship with the client is more important than ever before. The new facility will provide space for design reviews, training and teleconferencing, allowing us to better serve our clients.

Our new details:

Advanced Layout Solutions Ltd, Fronds Park, Frouds Lane, Aldermaston, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 4LH, UK, Tel:  +44 (0) 118 971 1930, Fax: +44 (0) 118 971 1931

NEW SIGNAL MAN POINTS THE WAY AT ADVANCED LAYOUT SOLUTIONS!

As PCB designs become more complex, signal integrity is becoming more and more important for designers and manufacturers. Aware of this, Advanced Layout Solutions, the UK's No.1 PCB design bureau, has recruited Chris Halford to help support their customers who are finding that signal integrity is increasingly becoming a concern within their PCB designs.

Nigel Barkus, Director of Advanced Layout Solutions, commented: "As a leading PCB design bureau, we have been at the forefront of the implementation of various new technologies. We had recognised some time ago that signal integrity was becoming a major issue for a number of our customers but how to address this was more of a problem. It could not be resolved simply by buying additional software. It required the combination of a high level of experience as well as class leading tools, so we were very pleased when Chris decided to join us. He brings his real-world engineering experiences into the heart of our business and along with his knowledge of the Cadence SPECCTRAQuest(tm) SI Expert toolset, allows ALS to be perfectly positioned to offer it's customers solutions to their signal integrity problems."

The SPECCTRAQuest(tm) SI Expert solution from Cadence provides the signal integrity engineer with the ability to explore, simulate, predict and characterise high-speed signal integrity requirements for a PCB design, developing graphical topology-constraint sets that can be used as an electrical blueprint to drive the physical PCB design process and measure the final signal integrity performance of a PCB layout.

After more than 10 years high-speed hardware design experience, Chris joins ALS from 3Dlabs Ltd, a Creative Technology company specialising in high-end graphics. He is obviously excited about his new role, "Having been an ALS customer for five years, I know first-hand the level of layout expertise that exists within this company. Both myself and ALS recognised that it has become a necessity to have engineering competence within today's layout bureaus."

Chris went on to add,

"Over the years, as signalling rates have rocketed, PCB design has been transformed from a drawing office activity to a critical part of system-level electrical engineering; to design a high-speed digital layout without competence in both can lead to failure. The combination of layout designer and SI engineer is already working very well. The designers produce robust, physical interconnect that is easy to manufacture and test. We can now analyse the same interconnect in our signal integrity tools and assess the impact the layout topologies and parasitics are having on performance. It's my job to ensure the PCB interconnect has adequate bandwidth to faithfully reproduce our customer's signals with minimal distortion. The resulting design is usually a compromise between these two ideals, giving our customers a board that is both high in performance and cost effective to fabricate."

When Chris, originally from Kingston-Upon-Thames, isn't simulating PCBs he is usually busy entertaining his 3 year-old, Rebecca, and 4 month-old, James. When he escapes, he can often be found jumping out of aircraft above Salisbury Plain(!).

For further information contact chris.halford@alspcb.com

ADVANCED LAYOUT SOLUTIONS RE-LAUNCH THEIR WEBSITE!!

Padworth Common, Berks - Advanced Layout Solutions, the UK's No.1 Cadence PCB design bureau has re-launched it's website. The site which has a fresh 'look and feel' is packed full of information about the services that ALS offers to its customer base.

As a business ALS has developed the systems and infrastructure necessary to meet the challenges of today's technologies, and its website is no different, now including detailed case studies on key projects, plus testimonials from customers, all of whom are keen to communicate the level of service being offered by ALS.

Nigel Barkus, a Director of ALS stated "Our objective, is to offer web visitors an efficient and logical layout so site visitors can easily and quickly obtain information on the PCB services that they are looking for from us. The new website has been designed to present an image that is more consistent with ALS's high level of technological innovation and with its current brand and other marketing materials."

Using simple navigation techniques, nearly every page on the site is accessible from every other page by using a single mouse click. Presentations, case studies and key technologies, are also featured. On going ALS plan to continuously develop new and innovative content that will drive new and existing customers to the site, so they can find out what ALS are doing.

About Advanced Layout Solutions

Advanced Layout Solutions, based in Berkshire, United Kingdom, is the largest Cadence PCB Design Bureau in the UK, offering PCB design services including: - Single/Double/Multi-layer; Backplanes; Flexi & Flexi-rigid; Analogue and Digital; Blind & buried; micro-vias; Stacked MicroVia; Impedance controlled; Matched lengths; Differential / balanced pairs; Crosstalk; Timing controlled; Signal integrity. Since 1995 ALS have provided a professional PCB Design service to the UK and overseas electronics industry, built around leading edge software and hardware. Today ALS has a team of seven design engineers, with an average of over twenty years working with the PCB design industry.

SIGNAL INTEGRITY ISSUES? ALS HAS THE SOLUTION - Allegro PCB SI! (AKA SPECCTRAQuest™)

As PCB design becomes more complex and the speed of memory devices and memory controllers increases, simulations are required to highlight and correct signal integrity issues. ALS has recently purchased Cadence Design System's, Allegro PCB SI to enable the simulation of these types of board.

The Allegro PCB SI  solution from Cadence provides the signal integrity engineer with the ability to explore, simulate, predict, and characterise high-speed signal integrity requirements for a PCB design. Allegro PCB SI develops graphical topology-constraint sets that can be used as an electrical blueprint to drive the physical PCB design process and measure the final signal integrity performance of a PCB layout. PCB Design Expert is the partner solution to Allegro PCB SI and provides a production-proven solution for today's high-speed, high-density system PCB designs.

Ian Ladds, Director of Advanced Layout Solutions, commented, "We feel that adding Allegro PCB SI to our application portfolio is really important to our business development, as Signal Integrity issues are becoming more common place in the work we are doing for our customers. Allegro PCB SI now enables us to offer the complete PCB design solution."

About Advanced Layout Solutions

Advanced Layout Solutions, based in Berkshire, United Kingdom, is the largest Cadence PCB Design Bureau in the UK, offering PCB design services including: - Single/Double/Multi-layer; Backplanes; Flexi & Flexi-rigid; Analogue and Digital; Blind & buried; micro-vias; Stacked MicroVia; Impedance controlled; Matched lengths; Differential / balanced pairs; Crosstalk; Timing controlled; Signal integrity. Since 1995 ALS have provided a professional PCB Design service to the UK and overseas electronics industry, built around leading edge software and hardware. Today ALS has a team of seven design engineers, with an average of over twenty years working with the PCB design industry.

INTERNET CONNECTIONS

Our connections to the internet have been upgraded to match the growing demand for data transfer. Either through our Satellite dish at Reading (1Mb download, 256Kb upload) or our ADSL connection in Chippenham (512Kb download, 256Kb upload). With the backup for both systems to revert back to ISDN connections if the worst happens!

GOVERNMENT APPROVALS

Accredited with approvals to undertake Government Contracts.

RELOCATION OF THE CHIPPENHAM OFFICE

As from the 10th of Feb the Chippenham office will be moving to newer and better premises. Just 500 yards from our current location the environment and working conditions will be worlds apart. (Far to good for them if you ask me!)

Advanced Layout Solutions Ltd
Unit 2B
Cavalier Court
Bumpers Way
Chippenham
SN14 6LH

All the phone numbers will remain the same and business will be as usual. We look forward to your continued support and welcoming you to our new home!

BS EN ISO 9001:2000

ALS has now been audited and approved to the revised ISO2000 requirements.

ACQUISITION CREATES GROWTH AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BERKSHIRE BASED PCB DESIGN SPECIALISTS

Advanced Layout Solutions Limited (ALS), a leading provider of PCB design services today announces that it has acquired Interactive PCB of Chippenham, Wiltshire. This move signifies a major step forward for ALS. The Reading based company has experienced rapid organic growth since its inception in 1995, obtaining ISO 9001 certification in its first year of trading and increasing turnover year on year.

This acquisition enables ALS to further expand the range of services and support offered to its client base. After spending much time on the acquisition trail Interactive PCB became the perfect choice with over 27 years in the industry. The convergence of these combined skills puts ALS into a leading edge position with PCB design work being undertaken on the latest Cadence Allegro and Valor's Enterprise 3000 suite of tools allowing complex, constraint driven designs to be undertaken. With the in-house CAD design engineering skills ALS is able to make full use of the latest technologies and innovations emerging from within the industry.

The stage is now set for further growth. Interactive will continue to operate from its Wiltshire base under the ALS branding and already there is an increased level of business being developed as a consequence of the acquisition.

Comments ALS Director, Ian Ladds,

"We have been careful in our search for a suitable company to bring alongside ourselves and Interactive are a well respected, established company. We are now in a very strong position, our core skills continue to be in demand and both new and existing clients are as excited as us about the future".

For further information, contact:

IPC DESIGNER CERTIFICATION COURSE

We are very pleased to announce that two members of our design team have passed the IPC Designer Certification Course.

As part of our continuing investment in quality and people we feel that this course represents a useful method of giving our customers the confidence that the designers working on their projects have the understanding and knowledge that's required.

We expect all our designers to be accredited over the next few months.