NI Ultiboard or formerly ULTIboard is an electronic

Printed Circuit Board A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in Electrical engineering, electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a L ...

Layout program which is part of a suite of circuit design programs, along with

NI Multisim NI Multisim (formerly MultiSIM) is an electronic schematic capture and simulation program which is part of a suite of circuit design programs, along with NI Ultiboard. Multisim is one of the few circuit design programs to employ the original B ...

. One of its major features is the Real Time Design Rule Check, a feature that was only offered on expensive work stations in the days when it was introduced. ULTIboard was originally created by a company named Ultimate Technology, which is now a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

National Instruments National Instruments Corporation, doing business as NI, is an American multinational company with international operation. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. Comm ...

. Ultiboard includes a 3D PCB viewing mode, as well as integrated import and export features to the

Schematic Capture Schematic capture or schematic entry is a step in the design cycle of electronic design automation (EDA) at which the electronic diagram, or electronic schematic of the designed electronic circuit is created by a designer. This is done interactiv ...

and Simulation software in the suite, Multisim.

History

Market Penetration

ULTIboard was originally created by Ultimate Technology in

Naarden Naarden () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and former List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Gooi region in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. It has been part ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. ULTIboard was sold for $800–$2500, depending on the design size required. Student versions that were offered for very low prices were limited; they could not produce photo plot files. They also contributed to the popularity of the software as most students knew how to work with the program. Ultimate Technology's Managing Director, James Post, was known for his innovative marketing approach and customer oriented thinking. In 1989 they distributed 180,000 demo-discs via electronics magazines, a first in history. Soon thereafter, ULTIboard became marketing leader in Europe in the field of PC based PCB design products. The company held worldwide User Meetings where customers could attend free and even got a free gourmet lunch. Optionally, customers could take an afternoon training to get up and running with the latest features. Priced at US$75, most users took this option. Other PR activities included invitations for customers to have a lunch during trade shows and conferences, boat rides, cart racing, flying for their best accounts. This strategy helped ULTIboard to become the leader in customer loyalty.

Rebranding

Ultimate Technology merged with

Interactive Image Technologies National Instruments Corporation, doing business as NI, is an American multinational company with international operation. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. Comm ...

in 1999 and eventually renamed itself to

Electronics Workbench The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification a ...

. In 2003 all development of ULTIboard was moved to the head office in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Ultiboard is now supported and distributed by

. The product has been renamed from ''Electronics Workbench'' back to Ultiboard with the schematic capture and simulation tool named Multisim.

External links

*
NI Ultiboard product page

Getting Started with NI Ultiboard
{{CAD software Electronic design automation software

History

Market Penetration

Rebranding

See also

External links