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Serial interfaces have had difficulty keeping pace with the needs of high sample rate data converter components, namely ADCs and DACs. One option for doing this was formerly LVDS links between data converters and a host controller. These links would provide high data rates over differential pairs to a single device, offering high throughput data transfer from fast-sampling ADCs. Later, JEDEC released the JESD204 specification, and it has since...

Capacitance is your friend whenever you need stable power integrity, which is why there is so much focus on decoupling capacitors. While these components are important and they can be used to provide targeted power integrity solutions to certain components, there is one specialty material used to supercharge capacitance in your PCB stackup or package substrate. This type of specialty material is called an embedded capacitance material, or an ECM...

Making a Smooth Transition to Altium Designer from KiCad Layout In this guide, we’ll focus on importing KiCad Layout PCB designs. Please refer to specific guides if you need to migrate other files. Legacy Translation Before You Begin This guide will show you how to import data from your legacy system into Altium Designer. Before importing all of your legacy data, it’s important to ask yourself, “why do I need to import my legacy data?” Below...

If you speak to almost any hardware or embedded engineer who dabbles in code, you’re most likely to discover that they have some (if not lots) of experience with the Python programming language. This scripting language became extremely popular over the years due to its user-friendliness, being quick to learn, and immediate runtime through an “interpreter.” Over time, embedded engineers looked for that same, fast language without all the...

Software developers have it easy. They can prototype infinitely, and they don’t have to worry about building a physical device that implements their application. As soon as you bring a piece of hardware into your product ecosystem, you’ve opened a totally new can of worms that requires a collaborative process for success. Hardware/software co-design aims to implement a streamlined process for building these products that can optimize costs...

In this article, we will be discussing what PCB build-ups are, and which elements make up a typical PCB—all the way from the basics of PCB build-up, to pre-preg materials, core materials, and copper foils. Let’s get started! Build-Up Basics Essentially, a PCB’s build-up is the physical construction of the printed circuit board and its layers  made up from different types of materials, mainly copper and dielectric materials.  Adjacent to every...

Matt Kelly is the  Chief Technologist at IPC. In this episode we will discuss all about the technological challenges the industry is facing. Matt will help us understand the “ecosystem” involving the semiconductor industry, advanced packaging, and IC substrates. Watch this episode or listen on the go! Check the show notes and additional resources below. Listen to Podcast: Download this episode (right-click and save) Watch the Video: Show...

Project Overview In this article, we will be covering the basics of ESD protection and TVS diodes. We will cover a few different aspects, such as why we require ESD protection, how an ideal TVS diode operates, and typical TVS diode parameters. ESD Protection Basics ESD, which is short for electrostatic discharge, is a sudden release of electricity from one charged object to another when these objects come into contact. One of the most common...

In my years as a practising electronics engineer, one of the most significant inefficiencies I have noticed has always been communication between teams, freelancers, contractors, and clients. This has always been the most noticeable when working with firmware developers. And it doesn’t matter if I am working with the firmware developer internally on a permanent team or if I am working with an external contractor who will develop the firmware for...