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S-parameters are fundamental quantities in signal integrity, and an ability to understand them from measurement or analysis is very important. If you have a 3-port network, like a power divider or circulator, it may appear that you must use a 3-port VNA to measure these S-parameters. It is always acceptable to measure between two ports, but you need to know what exactly it is you are measuring. As it turns out, you can use a 2-port VNA...

Building a board means conforming to the manufacturing process for your layer stack and material selection. At some point, you will have to design the connections on your PCB, and even these have specific requirements as that are intended to ensure manufacturability. In this section of our DFM crash course, we'll look at some of the basic DFM constraints on conductive elements in a PCB, as well as the development of the surface silkscreen/solder...

Every design should begin with selecting the materials that will appear in the PCB stackup, as well as arranging layers in the stackup to support layout and routing. This section of our PCB manufacturing and DFM crash course focuses on selecting the right materials for your PCB design. Materials should be selected given the particular design requirements outlined in your specifications. For brevity of the new designer, we will be focusing...

One major benefit of using a version control system is comparing PCB design revisions against one another. If you’re comparing code, using a code difference tool is relatively straightforward. You’re just comparing text. But if you are comparing PCB designs, you need an electrically intelligent version control system. It’s important to know who made a change, and when they made it. Altium Designer® and Altium 365® make file comparison easy. You...

One major benefit of using a version control system is the ability to compare PCB design revisions against one another. If you’re comparing code, using a code difference tool is relatively straightforward. You’re just comparing text. But if you are comparing PCB designs, you need a version control system that is electrically intelligent. It’s important to know who made a change, and when they made it. Altium Designer® and Altium 365® make file...

One major benefit of using a version control system is the ability to compare PCB design revisions against one another. If you’re comparing code, using a code difference tool is relatively straightforward. You’re just comparing text. But if you are comparing PCB designs, you need a version control system that is electrically intelligent. It’s important to know who made a change, and when they made it. Altium Designer® and Altium 365® make file...

Before implementing design for manufacturing, it is important to understand the underlying process behind producing a physical PCB. Regardless of the various technologies present in each facility, a large majority of industry-leading manufacturers follow a specific set of steps to turn your design from a drawing in a CAD application into a physical board. The standard PCB manufacturing process follows a specific set of steps, and it's up to...

In this episode, a returning guest Gabriel Goldstein shares the electronics behind the thrills in escape rooms. He also generously gives some valuable advice on finding your niche and starting your own electronics business. Gabriel was the former owner of Anidea Engineering and Escape Room Tech. Listen to this episode and be inspired by how he married two industries together and become the master of this very unique niche. Listen to the Podcast...

FPGAs come in quad or BGA packages that can be difficult to floorplan, especially with the high number of I/Os often implemented in these components. FPGAs offer a lot of advantages in terms of their reconfigurability, but they can require a lot of effort to layout and route without headaches. If you’ve never worked with an FPGA in your PCB layout, we have some guidelines that can help you get started. Creating an FPGA PCB layout is mainly...