How to Control Switching Signals with Terminations for Best Signal Quality A transmission line is a pair of conductors used to deliver energy in the form of an electromagnetic field. Most of us are familiar with the wires that lead to our houses to deliver the power needed to operate our lights and appliances. In the context of PCB design, it is a signal in a signal layer on top of a plane or between two planes. TRANSMISSION LINES AND TERMINATIONS The purpose of this section is to explain what transmission lines are Read Article Building Your Treasure Trove of Component Information Learn about PCB data Management and how it interrelates to the PCB Design process and roles of everyone involved. According to the business dictionary, a process is defined as: “A sequence of interdependent and linked procedures which, at every stage, consume one or more resources (employee time, energy, machines, money) to convert inputs (data, material, parts, etc.) into outputs. These outputs then serve as inputs for the next stage until a Read Article Systems and Structures to Avoid the Sound of Deadlines Whooshing By Adopt the SMART rules of PCB Data Management and avoid additional cost and/or lost design time. When we begin to look in more detail at how to do anything, it becomes a little problematic. The reason is that every organization varies in product, structure and management requirements. We can guarantee that there will not be a “single” answer or solution to the questions at hand. My intention therefore is not to prescribe a sole structure or Read Article Drinking From the Firehose of PCB Data There are several problems that are directly impacting the PCB Design area and specifically the PCB Data Management. For some time, it has not been business as usual, it is vital to understand these issues and develop a good strategy to handle them. With the invention of the internet, civilization dragged itself (sometimes kicking and screaming) out of the industrial age and into the “Information Age”, as an official description of the 21st Read Article A Brave New World: PCB Data Management and the Great Paradigm Shift PCB Data Management is the acquisition, storage, verification, usage, distribution and maintenance of all the data connected to the development of printed circuit boards or PCBs In what some refer to as the “Olden Days” of the Electronics industry, it was definitely a different time. There wasn’t much need for PCB Data, let alone anything to manage it with. Tasks such as creating schematics, BOMs, drawings, and gerber files were problematic at Read Article Get to Know Microvia Manufacturing Processes and HDI Substrates Initial HDI Fabrication High Density Interconnect printed circuits actually started in 1980, when researchers started investigating ways to reduce the size of vias. The first innovator is not known, but some of the earliest pioneers include Larry Burgess of MicroPak Laboratories (developer of LaserVia), Dr. Charles Bauer at Tektronix (who produced photodielectric vias), [1] and Dr. Walter Schmidt at Contraves (who developed plasma-etched vias) Read Article 11 HDI Materials You Need to Know Happy Holden shows us some of the important materials used to produce high density interconnect PCB designs. Read Article Introduction to High Density Interconnects and the Evolution of Electronics The Evolution of Electronics Electronics is a relatively new industry, since it has been only 65 years since the transistor was invented. The radio tube was developed nearly 100 years ago but blossomed in WWII, with communications, radar, ammunition fusing (especially the radar-altimeter electronic fusing for the first atom bomb) and has evolved into the world largest industry. All electronic components must be interconnected and assembled to Read Article How Does the Cloud Change the DFX PCB Design Process? Let’s face it: Engineers rarely design modern board systems on their own. However, it didn’t use to be that way. Not long ago, engineers primarily focused on form, fit, and function. Addressing those requirements was extremely difficult on its own. Constraints on cost, power, or part availability were secondary concerns. The prime directive was to get it to work. Fast forward to today, and the focus has flipped. It is a given that board systems Read Article Layer Management as a Circuit Board Design Tool Priority Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same could be said for printed circuit boards. PCBs are similar to cities in that they contain pathways connecting components. Components have dimension into the surrounding air space, as well as into the thickness of the board itself. Hidden subsystems similar to underground wiring and cityscape piping reside within the thickness of the boards. Printed circuit boards mimic cities with their layers of Read Article Design Rules for Large BGA Fanout I have known people during my career who insisted on hand-routing every PCB design that they worked on. They would say that their manual routing performed better, looked better, and was just better in general. I’m not going to argue one way or the other on that, but I will say that there is one thing that can not be argued with; all of that manual routing took them a much longer time to complete than if they had used automated routers. With today Read Article Electronic Components Shortages in 2019, Insights from John Watson PCB design expert John Watson shares some ideas that can help electronic component shortages & address this crisis proactively. In this episode he shares tips on how to succeed through the challenge. Read Article Using an IPC-2152 Calculator: Designing to Standards If you look at modern EDA programs, there are many calculators and simulators built into these applications. But one of the areas of simulation that has lagged behind everything else is thermal simulations. Thermal calculations are important particularly in power electronics, and in high-reliability electronics, even if these systems are running lower overall power. There are other instances where we can determine the potential need for an Read Article Asymmetric Striplines in Your Next Multi-layer PCB The beauty of symmetricity in art, science, and nature, in general, is something of a wonder. The visual balance between elements in a painting or drawing can make or break a piece of artwork. PCB design is as much art as it is engineering, and symmetricity plays as much of a technical role as it does an aesthetic role. Ever since its humble beginnings as a replacement for high frequency coaxial cables and waveguides, striplines are a mainstay Read Article Building Your Next Multi-Level Bill of Materials My wife and I always argue about what goes on the grocery list each week. I’m a total carnivore, while she prefers I get everything we need from local farmers. Planning out our shopping trips in multiple lists does more than just allow us to plan our Saturdays coherently, it helps ensure marital bliss. Any PCB that you intend to manufacture will need an associated bill of materials. If you’re building a complex product that includes multiple sub Read Article Managing 3D Electrical MCAD/ECAD Models for Data Transfer Communication is tricky when oppositional semantics fail to play well together. This sentence is a good case in point. When ill stated, information is rarely understood. The same goes with software infrastructures. Many do not play well together when information in one is defined differently in another. 3D models of components for use by mechanical and electrical CAD programs are historically represented quite differently across platforms. This Read Article Working with IPC Compliant Footprint Models Industry standards have been a boon for designers and the electronics industry. Standards are important because they tell designers and manufacturers what to expect from certain component packages, and they assure designers that the components they select can be reused across their designs. It’s all about increasing productivity and ensuring your devices will work as you intended. The IPC 7350 series of standards (specifically, IPC 7351B) Read Article Pagination First page « First Previous page ‹‹ Page115 Current page116 Page117 Page118 Page119 Page120 Next page ›› Last page Last » Load More