About Author

Phil Salmony

Phil Salmony is a professional hardware design engineer and educational engineering content creator. After graduating from the University of Cambridge with a master's degree in electrical and control systems engineering, he began his engineering career at a large German aerospace company. Later on, he co-founded a drone startup in Denmark, where he was the lead electronics and PCB design engineer, with a particular focus on mixed-signal, embedded systems. He currently runs his own engineering consultancy in Germany, focusing predominantly on digital electronics and PCB design.

Aside from his consulting work, Phil runs his own YouTube Channel (Phil's Lab), where he creates educational engineering videos on topics such as PCB design, digital signal processing, and mixed-signal electronics.

Recent Articles

Add USB Type-C Power Delivery to Your Designs!

Add USB Type-C Power Delivery to Your Designs! In this article Phil Salmony explores the fundamentals of USB Type-C Power Delivery and learn how to easily incorporate a dedicated PD IC into your own PCB designs. Read Article

Crosstalk Basics in PCB Design

Crosstalk Basics in PCB Design Learn the basics of crosstalk in PCB design, what parameters influence crosstalk magnitudes, and some tips on how to reduce crosstalk in your own designs. Read Article

Baxandall Volume Control for Audio

Baxandall Active Volume Control for Audio An Introduction to Baxandall Active Volume Control Inspired by Douglas Self’s book on audio electronics (‘Small Signal Audio Design’) and his power amplifier design consisting of a massively-parallel array of NE5532 op-amps, I set out to design a headphone amplifier that uses similar techniques but scaled down due to the lower power requirements. The resulting amplifier utilizes many NE5532 op-amps (the first version used 44 in total!) and is Read Article

Interfacing DDR Memory with AMD/Xilinx FPGAs

Interfacing DDR Memory with AMD/Xilinx FPGAs Learn how to interface DDR memory with AMD/Xilinx FPGAs. Read Article

How To Learn PCB Design

How To Learn PCB Design This handy compilation of PCB design learning resources will keep your PCB design skills on top of the game. Read Article

Designing Custom Hardware with Microcontrollers

Designing Custom Hardware with Microcontrollers Learn how to design custom hardware using microcontrollers. Read Article

High-Speed PCB Design Tips and Guidelines

High-Speed PCB Design Tips and Guidelines Essential tips for high-speed PCB designs, and when you need to start being concerned about how and where you route your traces. Read Article

PCB Stackup Basics

PCB Stackup Basics How to assign layer types in a PCB? Expert Phil Salmony shares with us some of his favorite multilayer stackups, complete with guidelines. Read Article

Layers, Pre-Preg, and Core Materials

PCB Build-Up Basics 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. Read Article

Types of TVS Diode

ESD Protection Basics with TVS Diodes Learn about ESD protection basics with TVS diodes, why we need them, and what key parameters make up a typical TVS diode. Read Article

Transfer Vias and Stitching Vias

Vias 101 Part 2 In this part two of the “Vias 101” blog, Philip examines the aspects of via placement, problems with via placement leading to plane voiding, and will discuss some unique use cases of vias termed transfer vias and stitching vias. Read Article

Proper Placement and Recommended Parameters

Vias 101 Part 1 In this blog, Phil Salmony offers beginner PCB design engineers a good starting point to understanding vias. In part one, we will tackle the basics and recommended parameters. Read now to learn more. Read Article

PCB Routing and Layout to Minimise EMI

PCB Design Tips for EMI and SI Part 2 In this article, Philip tackles the basic principles and ways you should route and lay out your PCBs to minimise risks of EMI problems, and to maintain proper signal integrity. Read Article

PCB Design Tips for EMI and SI Part 1

PCB Design Tips for EMI and SI Part 1 Read and learn the basics of signals, energy, and fields, as well as rise and fall times in the digital domain and what this means for us as PCB designers. Read Article

Buck Converter Component Sizing

Buck Converter Component Sizing An overview of what calculations are required when sizing components for a switching buck converter. Read Article

USB High Speed (ULPI) Routing

USB High Speed (ULPI) Routing Learn what ULPI is for USB High Speed interfaces, as well as best practices for routing this bus on a PCB. Read Article

Footprint Creation Made Easy

Footprint Creation Made Easy Learn how to create footprint with ease using the IPC Compliant Footprint Wizard, built-in to Altium Designer. In this guide, you’ll learn how to quickly create an example SOIC-8 footprint, including automatic generation of an accurate 3D model. Read Article