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PCB Routing

Via current carrying capacity for PCBs

PCB Via Current-Carrying Capacity: Is My PCB Too Hot? What does PCBA too hot mean? It's a common question from designers, particularly new designers that are learning about industry standards, and refers to the PCB via current-carrying capacity of conductors. Trace and via current-carrying capacity are legitimate design points to focus on when designing a new board that will carry high current. The goal is to keep conductor temperatures below some appropriate limit, which then helps keep components Read Article

Gibbs phenomenon

How the Gibbs Phenomenon Produces Measurement Artifacts The Gibbs phenomenon is a measurement artifact that can be mistaken for real signal integrity problems like ground bounce, ringing from reflections, or resonance on short lines. Read Article

Reduce copper losses

Recover Conductor Losses By Clearing Your PCB Ground Layer Need to recover some conductor losses? Here’s how clearing out your ground plane near an I/O or connector can help. Read Article

Differential Impedance Specification

How to Design to a Differential Impedance Specification Differential impedance is sometimes misunderstood and it depends on multiple factors. Learn more about trace width design needed to reach a specific differential impedance target. Read Article

Differential Pair Spacing

Should You Use Tight vs. Loose Differential Pair Spacing and Coupling? We get a lot of questions about trace impedance and how to calculate the right trace size to hit a specific impedance in a manufacturable PCB. Just as important as determining an appropriate trace width for a single-ended trace is determination of an appropriate spacing between two traces in a differential pair. So the question is, how close do the traces in a differential pair need to be to each other, and is the need for “tight coupling” really Read Article

USB 2-layer PCB

Routing Requirements for a USB Interface on a 2-Layer PCB In an earlier blog, I discussed some of the basic points in preparing routing rules for 2-layer PCBs to support routing and layout with digital signals. In particular, we looked at some of the basic stackup and routing rules needed to support a digital interface like I2C or SPI on a 2-layer PCB. When working with these interfaces, a few simple guidelines can help ensure signal integrity in your board and cut down on EMI. What about an impedance Read Article

2-layer PCB Routing

Can You Route Digital Signals on a 2-layer PCB Design? 2-layer PCBs are a common entry-level choice for designers, and they can even support high speed designs if built correctly. Read Article

What Skills Are Needed to be a PCB Designer?

What Skills Are Needed to be a PCB Layout Designer? To readers who have been working in the PCB industry for most of your career, you have probably seen a very diverse group of professionals with varied skill sets and backgrounds. My own background is odd, having come into the profession from optics and lasers, and then focusing on analog and RF electronics. Other designers might get started as engineers or as technicians, and some designers learn how to create beautiful PCB layouts in university Read Article

4 Layer PCB Stackup

Two 4 Layer PCB Stackups With 50 Ohms Impedance Need a 4-layer PCB stackup that can support high speed components on both sides of the board? Consider these alternatives to the typical 4-layer stackup. Read Article

Transmission Line Impedance Measurement

Transmission Line Impedance Measurement: Even vs. Odd Mode If you need an accurate transmission line impedance measurement, here are the important values you need to use in your next board. Read Article

microstrip to ground clearance

Microstrip PCB Ground Clearance Part 2: How Clearance Affects Losses In a previous article, I provided a discussion and some simulation results on the necessary clearance between impedance controlled traces and nearby grounded copper pour. What we found was that, once the spacing between the pour and the trace becomes too small, the trace becomes an impedance-controlled coplanar waveguide (with or without ground). We also saw that the 3W rule for the spacing between the trace and the grounded copper pour is a bit Read Article

Front-end Engineering A PCB Product

Front-End Engineering A PCB Product PCB front-end engineering consists of all the tasks required to get a board into production. Here's what goes into your design review and how to plan for it. Read Article

Design Your Small Circuit Board in Altium Designer

Design Your Small Circuit Board in Altium Designer Large circuit boards, small circuit boards, and anything in between might seem like they need separate sets of PCB layout features. In reality, your PCB design software shouldn’t delineate your PCB design based on size. Whether you need to design a large or small circuit board, a design application with high-quality CAD tools will help you get the job done quickly and prepare your board for production. Small circuit board designs are much easier Read Article

Circuit Diagram Maker: Your Guide to Building with Altium Designer

Online Circuit Block Diagram Maker: Your Guide to Building PCBs with Altium Designer Some PCB design software packages make you feel like you’ve been bamboozled. On one hand, you’re told that you’ll have access to tools that will let you move through the entire design process. Then all of a sudden, you can’t finish your design without purchasing critical features as add-ons. Only Altium Designer integrates all the best design tools in a single circuit diagram maker. You can get access to free versions that include critical design Read Article

Altium Designer’s Board Layout Software

Altium Designer’s Board Layout Software Handling the ever-growing complexities of today’s routing demands requires board layout software that can keep up. When yesterday’s tools are no longer getting the job done, get back on the road of productive design today with the most powerful easy draw PCB design layout software. When you need powerful board layout software, you need to easily complete the following tasks: Visually and easily manage your PCB copper pours Peace of mind PCB Read Article

PCB power plane routing

Should You Route Signals in Your PCB Power Plane? Before you cut up your PCB power plane with signals, pay attention to things like impedance control power plane current capacity to ensure reliability. Read Article

Step Up Into Altium Designer from PCAD

Step Up Into Altium Designer from PCAD The original goal of PCAD, to give PCB designers the best tools possible, lives on today in Altium. Altium Designer is made for designers like you and will import your legacy PCAD designs so you can continue your work. ALTIUM DESIGNER CAD software that will continue through the years. Back in 1982, an innovative new PCB design software CAD tool called P-CAD was introduced to the world. This PCAD PCB design tool quickly outgrew its competition and Read Article