Signal Integrity

Browse our library of resources to learn more about pcb design and signal integrity.

36:34 SPICE Simulation Made Simple SPICE simulation saves you critical time in the prototyping phase. Understanding your simulation interface makes it simple to analyze how Watch Video

Interference Amplitude Distortion I’ve talked about COM and channel analysis in previous blogs, and I’d like to continue the discussion with more visual aids and some example code to enable readers to do some analysis themselves. To start, let’s review what COM is and a high level overview of how COM is calculated. COM is a signal-to-noise ratio of voltage at a point in time. The point in time is the sampling point, and the available signal is the voltage of the pulse response at Read Article

Through Thick And Thin — How Do You Get High Current Into a High Speed PCB? The typical large currents in today’s high speed PCB designs require a different approach. This article will describe the stackup requirements associated with these very large current PCBs and how to design them so that they can be readily manufactured properly. Read Article

Bandwidth Requirements For Differential Signals This article provides an overview of the benefits of differential signaling and how it operates in a working electronic product. Read Article

Analyzing Crosstalk on FIFO and DDR4 Parallel Bus Interfaces Do you need to spot crosstalk on a parallel bus? Use a field solver that integrates with your PCB design and layout tools. Read Article

Preventing Ground Loops in Your PCB Design I think we’ve all been there. You buy that awesome stereo system only to hear that familiar humming sound in the background. When you take it back to the store the clerk blames the manufacturer. What components are to be considered a problem? The decoupling capacitor or ground wire? How about the bypass capacitor or ground loop interference? The stereo manufacturer will blame the component manufacturer and the component manufacturer can’t blame Read Article

High Currents and Higher Temperatures: PCB Design Tips for Heat Management I remember the first (and hopefully the only) time one of my circuits caught on fire. It started with the resistors and quickly spread to a nearby decoupling capacitor. Thankfully, the destruction was minor and most of the components were salvageable. Why did this happen you ask? No, this was not due to a short circuit. Very simply, I did not take into account the high current PCB layout. As electronics continue to be miniaturized, the thermal Read Article

Ground Bounce Reduction Techniques to Minimize Signal Integrity Issues Unlike my dad who thrived on the basketball team during his school days, I could barely bounce the ball during tryouts. Needless to say, I quit sports before I even started. While my dreams of becoming an NBA pro were dashed, I later discovered my passion for martial arts. I never really got into handling a basketball well, but in martial arts at least I could bounce off the balls of my feet to meet my opponent. Not being able to bounce the Read Article

What Causes Gibbs Ringing in High-speed Channel Simulations? Gibbs ringing is both a measurement artifact and a calculation artifact that arises in band-limited channels. Make sure you understand how this arises due to transform and convolution operations. Read Article

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

Which Types of Opto-Isolators Are Right For Your Signal? An opto-isolator is an electronic device that can be used to pass information between a diode without passing an electrical current. Because there is no need ot directly pass voltage or current between the inputs and outputs in an opto-isolator, these components can be used to provide electrical isolation two regions in a PCB. Opto-isolators act as a protection mechanism, ensuring that harmful electrical currents cannot flow across the device. In Read Article

Comparing All Serial Communications Protocols At the end of this series, we summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each type of Serial Communication Protocol available to transfer information between microcontrollers, data-producing, and data-processing peripherals, and other intelligent devices. Read Article

Serial Communications Protocols - CAN and LIN In this article, Part 8 in our series of articles looking at different Serial Communication Protocols, we discuss the popular CAN and LIN protocols combined. Read Article

Bogatin’s “Practical Guide to” Book Series Eric Bogatin, the Dean of Signal Integrity Academy, is here to talk about empowering PCB designers to become their own experts. Eric also shares the inspiration behind his new book. Read Article

How to Use Input Impedance in Circuits and Transmission Lines The concept of input impedance is used to understand power transfer and matching in complex interconnects. Read Article

Microstrip Ground Clearance: How Close is Too Close? Make sure to account for microstrip ground clearance when using copper pour on the surface layer. We’ll examine what happens with microstrips, striplines, and coplanar waveguides. Read Article

Wideband Signal Analysis in Ultra-high Speed PCB Design Wideband signal analysis may seem like black magic, but it does more than create pretty graphs. Read our introduction to wideband signal analysis to learn more. Read Article