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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
Quarter-Wave Transformer Quarter-Wave Transformer Design For Real and Reactive Loads All quarter-wavelength transformers can be used for real loads, but some can be used for reactive loads with an additional transmission line section. 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
bga fanout pcb routing Which BGA Pad and Fanout Strategy is Right for Your PCB? Your BGA fanout strategy depends on the BGA pad size and your pin density. Learn how to pair the right BGA pad size with PCB trace width in this article. Read Article
Plated Through-Hole Vias in mmWave PCBs Plated Through-Hole Vias in mmWave PCBs Plated through-hole vias in mmWave PCBs can ruin signal integrity in your RF interconnects if not implemented properly. Learn how to size and place stitching vias in this article. Read Article
PCB autorouter Automated PCB Routing With the Situs Topological Autorouter This page looks at the Situs Topological Autorouter. This part of the PCB Editor uses topological mapping to define the PCB routing path and convert this to a high-quality route. Read Article
Non-functional Pads PCB How Non-functional Pads Affect Your PCB Design Non-functional pads are sometimes framed as an all-or-nothing debate, and the debates about reliability and effects on signal integrity abound. Should you keep them on your vias, or should you remove them from all vias? Like any design decision there are tradeoffs to balance, and typically one aspect of a design will take precedence over all others. Because there is no generalized rule about the use of non-functional pads, designers should Read Article
How to Select Copper Foil How to Select Copper Foil for High-Frequency PCB Design Learn how to choose the right kind of copper foil for your high frequency PCB stackup. The same ideas apply to selection of copper for high-speed PCBs. Read Article
via impedance calculator Why Most Via Impedance Calculators Are Inaccurate Via impedance calculators are only useful in the low frequency range, where impedance control is typically not needed. Read Article
pcie 6 Overview of the PCIe 6.0 Standard In this article, we give an overview of changes in the PCIe 6.0 standard as it has been currently published by PCI-SIG. Read Article
SPI Trace Impedance Is There an SPI Trace Impedance Requirement? There is no SPI trace impedance requirement or termination requirement. If this sounds surprising, read this article to see why. Read Article
The Skin Effect, Current Density, and the Electromagnetic Field The Skin Effect, Current Density, and the Electromagnetic Field Do you know how the skin effect alters the electric and magnetic field around a transmission line? We’ll address an important misconception in this article. Read Article
PCB Teardrops on Differential Pairs Should You Place Teardrops on Differential Pairs? We’ll look at an interesting question from an OnTrack podcast guest about teardrops on differential pairs. Will they create signal integrity problems? Read Article
pcie ac coupling capacitors PCIe Routing with AC Coupling Capacitors AC coupling capacitors remove DC offset so that high speed PCIe lanes can operate properly. Learn more about PCIe AC coupling capacitor selection and placement. Read Article
PCB Design Software Download The Best PCB Design Software Downloads There are many PCB design software packages available for download or purchase. Newer designers and startups who are just starting out will likely build up their skills from a free software program just to get to a proof of concept and initial design of a prototype. Once a design has been proven and it is time to design for a real product, a new designer or startup startup company will need to make the switch over to a paid software package. To Read Article
Best PCB Design Software Altium Designer: The Best PCB Design Software Start working with the unified design environment in the best PCB design software. See what features you need in your design tools. Read Article
NVMe M.2 PCIe connector stubs A Brief Study of Stubs on a PCIe Connector Stubs are an important topic in high-speed PCB design, and there is a longstanding guideline that stubs should always be removed from all vias on high-speed digital interconnects. While stubs are bad for high-speed lines, they do not always need to be removed. What is more important is to predict the loss profile and frequencies, and to floorplan appropriately to try and prevent such losses. In this article, I’ll look at some simulation results Read Article