Signal Integrity

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

xSignals in Altium Designer Signal Integrity Stimulus Design Rules Basics of Signal Integrity Analysis

Gibbs ringing

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

Which Types of Opto-Isolators Are Right For Your Signal?

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

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

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

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

Microstrip ground clearance

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 integrity

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

Troubleshooting EMC from your Workbench

Troubleshooting EMC from Your Workbench EMC expert Ken Wyatt joins us in this episode to answer frequently asked EMC questions—a sneak peak to his EMC Book Series. Read Article

50 Ohm impedance

The Mysterious 50 Ohm Impedance: Where It Came From and Why We Use It 50 Ohm impedance became the standard impedance used in RF transmission lines long ago, but it is still useful today and is a standard reference impedance used in test equipment. Read Article

Circuit Board Design

FR4 Dielectric Constant and Material Properties High-speed and high-frequency boards need accurate dispersion calculations to ensure signal integrity and accurate propagation delay. FR4 is the most popular type of PCB laminate, and its material properties are well-documented. We’ve compiled the important material properties for FR4, including FR4 dielectric constant, thermal conductivity, and more. Altium Designer includes an accurate wideband Debye model calculation for FR4 dielectric Read Article

S-parameter measurement

S-Parameter Measurements and Errors in Power Integrity No matter where you look, it seems S-parameters never go away! They are mandatory tools for understanding some systems, such as an interconnect or antenna, while other network parameters can sometimes give a better conceptual understanding of electrical behavior. These parameters are normally reserved for signal integrity among electronics engineers, but if you look hard enough, you’ll find that S-parameters are also used for power integrity Read Article

Controlling Crosstalk In Connector Pinoutsarticle

Controlling Crosstalk In Connector Pinouts This article will describe this type of crosstalk, the types of disruptions it causes, wherein the design cycle it needs to be factored in and how it can be successfully controlled. Read Article

Interference Amplitude Distortion

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

PDS Impedance: The Traditional Approach To PDS Design vs. Energy Flow

PDS Impedance: The Traditional Approach To PDS Design vs. Energy Flow Take a look at traditional PDS impedance versus the “energy flow” view of PDS design. We’ll debunk misleading information that could cause your designs to fail. Read Article

Phase distortion in a transmission line

How to Analyze Phase Distortion in a Transmission Line Pay attention to your transfer function if you want to spot phase distortion in a transmission line. Read Article

Huge Vu-meter with RGB LEDs Project

Huge Vu-meter with RGB LEDs Project A laboratory journal to guide you through the steps to develop a successful product that value-conscious customers are sure to love. Read Article

Electrical design rules

Customizing Performance-Based Electrical Design Rules in Altium Designer Electrical design rules go beyond manufacturing and assembly. PCBs also require electrical design rules that are based on a signals’ electrical behavior. Read Article