National Instruments (NI) today announced new enhancements to the NI Multisim and NI Ultiboard printed circuit board (PCB) design experience, including the release of the Multisim and Ultiboard 10.1.1 software packages. The latest versions of the software deliver functional enrichments, such as several enhancements to user interface functionality including improved database synchronization, added temperature simulation parameter support and more than 300 new components from leading third-party manufacturers. These new resources help those new to circuit design with National Instruments tools quickly begin prototyping with improved accuracy.

With the latest versions of the software, users can simulate popular device designs by including SPICE models from National Semiconductor, a leading manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors. As a part its contribution to the NI design resources, National Semiconductor makes models of operational amplifiers and company-approved land-pattern definitions available to students, academics and professional designers. This ever-expanding community of device manufacturers simplifies the component and design evaluation process.

To make prototyping easy, NI now offers new community elements that help make efficient design possible. A new online community for Multisim provides professionals, educators and students a forum to discuss and collaborate on circuit design. Through the NI Circuit Design Community, users can share and create custom components and circuit designs and discuss a variety of electronic design topics such as custom design for NI embedded platforms like NI CompactRIO or NI Single-Board RIO. The NI Circuit Design Community delivers easy access to resources that facilitate design, regardless of the user's experience. Domain experts, students and experienced designers can share development techniques, learn about advanced technologies and connect with circuit design experts working on prototyping applications.

As part of this community, NI also helps PCB designers meet prototyping needs beyond the design process. Sunstone Circuits, a circuit fabrication house, is now a contributor to the NI circuit design resources for PCB designers. Sunstone has established itself as a leader in online ordering of quick-turn prototypes. With this relationship, engineers who export designs for fabrication can take advantage of order integration and online resources provided through the Sunstone ECOsystem(SM) Design Environment, which removes the traditional barriers to effectively transitioning to physical prototypes.

For more information on Multisim and Ultiboard 10.1.1, visit www.ni.com/multisim. You can also visit the new NI Circuit Design Community here.  

About National Instruments

National Instruments is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3% of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10% of revenue.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past 10 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America. Readers can obtain investment information from the company's investor relations department by calling (512) 683-5090, e-mailing nati@ni.com or visiting www.ni.com/nati.