Case Study: Digital Design Corporation achieves rapid, error‑free 22‑layer VAADR controller design with Altium Designer

Digital Design Corporation - Customer Case Study

Digital Design Corporation (DDC) is an engineering firm that builds high‑end video, image‑processing and data‑recording systems for military and rugged industrial applications. Designing the VAADR high‑resolution video/data recorder meant handling multi‑gigabit I/O, dense FPGAs, thermal and electrical constraints, cramped mechanical envelopes and noisy power — a complexity that led to a 22‑layer board challenge executed by a single hardware engineer.

DDC used Altium Designer’s integrated environment, component libraries and automation (including automated pin‑swapping, synchronized schematic/PCB updates, and automatic manufacturing outputs) to accelerate iterations, prevent errors and focus on critical routing. The board powered up within an hour of first assembly, passed environmental testing, became part of DDC’s standard product line, and set the stage for a next‑generation VAADR.

Digital Design Corporation

Mike Cortopassi

Principal Staff Engineer