How to Create a Test Point Schematic Symbol and Footprint in Altium Designer Bare board testing is like a moment of truth, where your fabricator and your design team determines whether a board passes inspection. Some basic test fixtures and testing points should be indicated in your schematic and your PCB layout, especially when they are critical for evaluating board functionality. So what is the best way to do this? You might rely on your manufacturer to assign test points, but for critical circuit blocks, you should Read Article Transmission Line Impedance: The Six Important Values When looking through the various transmission line impedance values, characteristic impedance and differential impedance generally stand out as the two important values as these are typically specified in signaling standards. However, there are really six transmission line impedance values that are important in PCB design. Sometimes there are seven, depending on which textbooks or technical articles you read. Characteristic impedance equations Read Article PCBs vs. Multichip Modules, Chiplets, and Silicon Interconnect Fabric (2023 Update) An article in the September 2019 issue of IEEE Spectrum claimed that silicon interconnect fabric, a method for connecting chiplets on a multichip module or advanced package, would eliminate PCBs and bulky SoCs for many applications, specifically motherboards. It's now 2023, and no one seems to have ditched PCBs yet; the demand for PCBs remains as strong as ever and is still projected to grow at double-digit CAGR. This is despite the expected Read Article Decoupling Capacitor and Bypass Placement Guidelines Power integrity problems are normally viewed from the perspective of the power supply, but looking at the output from ICs is just as important. Decoupling and bypass capacitors are intended to compensate for power fluctuations seen on the PDN, which ensures your signal levels are consistent and a constant voltage is seen at the power/ground pins on an IC. We’ve compiled some important bypass and decoupling capacitor design guidelines to help you Read Article PCB Design for Hyperspectral Sensor and Imaging Systems What was once confined to the most advanced aerospace applications is now commonplace enough to be found in our everyday lives. Insulation, CCDs, air purifiers, and other technologies wouldn’t be possible without a robust space program in the 1960s and 1970s. One less well-known technology that deserves such attention is remote sensing, which has been used casually and for scientific research since the first American and Russian space flights Read Article NB-IoT Antenna Design and Layout for Your PCB With all the possible wireless communication protocols available for use in a mobile device, it can be difficult to keep them straight. Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and LTE-M are two low-bandwidth protocols that provide remote monitoring capabilities over several miles of distance. While the data rates are quite low in both protocols, these protocols are excellent choices for lightweight embedded systems, such as small sensor arrays, industrial or Read Article Single-Ended Signal vs Differential Transmission Just about every place you look these days when you talk about high-speed PCB design, the signaling required for a product is, by default, differential signaling. But, differential signaling was not always at the forefront of product development. The original method of moving data was single-ended signaling. And, in some instances, it is still in use today. This article will describe the differences between single-ended vs differential Read Article Is it Simultaneous Switching Noise or Crosstalk? How can you distinguish simultaneous switching noise and crosstalk? Take a look at the difference between these two signal integrity problems in this article. Read Article Antenna Impedance Matching Network Circuit Simulation in Altium Designer Need to simulate an antenna impedance matching network? The SPICE tools in Altium Designer can help. Read Article Analog Signal Bandwidth and its Relation to Power Integrity Here’s how your analog signal bandwidth interacts with your PDN, and how it affects power integrity. Read Article Designing for Antenna Isolation in Your Wireless System Antenna isolation is designed to prevent interference between antennas and ensure diversity in wireless systems. Read Article Differential Crosstalk and Spacing Between Differential Pairs Differential crosstalk causing problems in your signals? Here’s how differential signals produce crosstalk and how you can ensure differential signal integrity. Read Article PCB Debugging: Tips, Tools, and Tricks There are some basic testing and PCB debugging steps you should take when your new prototype has some functionality and signal integrity problems. Read Article Switchback Routing vs. Serpentine Traces Routing for Maximum Density Choosing between switchback routing or serpentine routing means considering signal integrity and crosstalk in your board. Read Article Integrated Electronics Manufacturing and Design Collaboration Advanced devices require collaboration among multiple team members, both to ensure functionality and manufacturability. With embedded systems, this extends beyond a hardware team to include software developers. If you want your new product to be manufacturable at scale, then at some point, you will need to involve your manufacturer in the collaborative process. This is especially true with high speed digital devices and high speed analog devices Read Article What You Need to Know About GaN and SiC FETs New FETs on the block. What you need to know about high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Read Article Getting Closer to Creating an Unlimited Power Source with Artificial Suns Graphical representation of a Tokamak fusion reactor (Image source: pixabay.com) Many of us spend a lot of time patting ourselves on the back and telling ourselves how clever we are as a species. We often hear claims that the total sum of human knowledge is doubling every ‘X’ years, where the value of ‘X’ depends on who you are talking to. The inventor and visionary Richard Buckminster Fuller originated the concept of the “Knowledge Doubling Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page72 Current page73 Page74 Page75 Page76 Page77 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More