NI Ultiboard, formerly ULTIboard, is an electronic
printed circuit board
A printed circuit board (PCB), also called printed wiring board (PWB), is a Lamination, laminated sandwich structure of electrical conduction, conductive and Insulator (electricity), insulating layers, each with a pattern of traces, planes ...
(PCB) layout program which is part of a
suite of circuit design programs, along with
NI Multisim. 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 (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of
National Instruments
The National Instruments Corporation, doing business as NI, is an America, American multinational corporation, multinational company with international operations. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated tes ...
. Ultiboard includes a
3D PCB viewing mode, 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 interac ...
, 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
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. It sold for $800–$2500, depending on the design size chosen.
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
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
, James Post, was known for his innovative marketing approach and customer oriented thinking. In 1989, they distributed 180,000 free demonstration
floppy disk
A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...
s (demo-discs) via electronics magazines, a first in history. Soon thereafter, ULTIboard became market 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
In 1999, Ultimate Technology merged with
Interactive Image Technologies and eventually renamed itself to
Electronics Workbench. In 2003, all development of ULTIboard was moved to the head office in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
Ultiboard is now supported and distributed by
National Instruments
The National Instruments Corporation, doing business as NI, is an America, American multinational corporation, multinational company with international operations. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated tes ...
. The product has been renamed from ''Electronics Workbench'' back to ''Ultiboard'' with the schematic capture and simulation tool named Multisim.
See also
*
Comparison of EDA software
This page is a comparison of electronic design automation (EDA) software which is used today to design the near totality of electronic devices. Modern electronic devices are too complex to be designed without the help of a computer. Electronic dev ...
*
List of free electronics circuit simulators
List of free analog and digital electronic circuit simulators, available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and comparing against UC Berkeley SPICE. The following table is split into two groups based on whether it has a graphical visual interface or not. ...
*
NI Multisim, schematic capture and simulation software integrated with Ultiboard
*
OrCAD
OrCAD Systems Corporation was a software company that made OrCAD, a proprietary software tool suite used primarily for electronic design automation (EDA). The software is used mainly by electronic design engineers and electronic technicians to ...
, an Ultiboard competitor
External links
*
NI Ultiboard product pageGetting Started with NI Ultiboard
{{CAD software
Electronic design automation software