Components are the core of a successful electronics design. CERN Altium and Cadence component libraries are managed by the BE-CEM-EPR Design Office as a free service to all members of the CERN electronics community.
KiCAD libraries are managed as a conversion from the Altium libraries, by the KiCAD team.
Our librarians follow a Design For Manufacturing (DFM) ethos based on many years of experience and in full consultation with our assembly workshop. All components are created according to IPC-7x51 standards with attributes defined by IPC-7251 and IPC-7351, including:
- SMT/THT land pattern/pad definition
- Associated design rules (keep out area, etc)
- Footprint naming convention
- Part illustration as realistic as possible (silkscreen layer)
- 3D model
The CERN KiCAD libraries are not maintained by our team, but there is a document on DFS with information about how to use them: \\cern.ch\dfs\Applications\KiCad\Documentation\kicad_configuration.pdf
New Component Requests
To request a new component, please fill out this form and send it to the relevant address below:
- Altium requests: service-electronics-components-altium@cern.ch
- Cadence requests: service-electronics-components-cadence@cern.ch
Be sure to specify the complete part number (including any suffixes related to specific package and footprint, etc) and include the datasheet as an attachment or a link in your email.
Search
To search the libraries directly in your web browser:
- Altium: https://em-design-office-data.web.cern.ch/altium_lib.asp
- Cadence: https://em-design-office-data.web.cern.ch/cadence_lib.asp (Cadence tool only works for parts introduced since 2011)
- List EDA designs by component: https://em-design-office-data.web.cern.ch/partnumberSearch.asp
The databases include links to a copy of each component datasheet, archived as they were at the date of introduction into the CERN library.
These search tools are maintained by the Design Office, please contact service-electronics-design@cern.ch for any questions.
Datasheets
At the time of component creation, the datasheet is archived for future reference:
- Altium: \\cern.ch\dfs\Applications\Altium\Datasheets
- Cadence: \\cern.ch\dfs\Services\cdslib\Datasheets
Installation
- The guide for installing the Altium libraries is available here: https://enghelp.web.cern.ch/Altium/19_1_5/Instructions.htm
- Location of Altium libraries: \\cern.ch\dfs\Applications\Altium\CernLib
- Cadence libraries are automatically installed with Cadence, by CMF.
- The CERN KiCAD libraries are not maintained by us, but there is a document on DFS with information about how to use them: \\cern.ch\dfs\Applications\KiCad\Documentation\kicad_configuration.pdf