Technology

Browse our library of resources to learn more about new technology used in pcb design.

When Should You Use a Flex Circuit? The two predominant reasons for using flex or rigid flex, are to solve a packaging issue or reduce the space and weight of the electronics package. These two are often interrelated and space, weight and packaging, (SWaP) will continue to be a driving force in PCB design. Read Article

2020 Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Engineer Check out our list of the best holiday gifts for engineers in 2020. Read Article

Creating a Ground Plane for Your PCB Design It used to be that printed circuit boards seemed to have the same basic layer configuration, or at least that’s the way I tend to remember it. This meant that they were usually six layer multi-layer boards, with a ground plane and a VCC plane. The old CAD systems didn’t really have the ability to do much with power planes except to designate layers as a bottom layer or the like. The most you would see in them would be some “X’s” where there was Read Article

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Active and Passive RFID Technologies When I’m designing a new PCB or product one of the hardest parts for me is choosing exactly which components I should use. It seems like every technology out there now has a different configuration to achieve the best performance. Even when you’re dealing with a fairly straightforward technology like radio frequency identification (RFID) circuit board there are a lot of flavors to choose from. While every type of RFID design label uses an active Read Article

Circuit Design Tips: PCB Moisture Protection for Humid Environments I pride myself on being meticulous when I check my designs. I can spend hours checking schematics, footprints and the proper values of components before finalizing the design. Unfortunately, the same zeal and perfectionism cannot be said with my housekeeping skills. A cleaner would have been horrified by the accumulated dust in the corners of my house. It was particularly embarrassing when I forgot to wash my dish tray and it became the home to a Read Article

How to Use a Ferrite Bead in Your Design to Reduce EMI EMI can be a tricky subject. That’s why I’ve been writing about things like proper grounding, AC/DC circuits, high speed routing, and differential pair routing. Next on the list is how to reduce EMI using ferrite beads. Ferrite cores can be finicky, which is why it’s important to first understand the theory behind them. Most electronic components are essentially plug and play; however, ferrites have to be designed into your system. Once you know Read Article

Using ESD Grounding Techniques to Protect Your PCB from Electrical Damage I was in high school before I considered engineering as a career outside of the engine room on any Star Trek show. Although, subconsciously I was definitely interested in it. The signs were there early considering I could name all the chief engineers from Star Trek. The deal was sealed though when I was ridiculously excited to receive an ESD grounding wrist strap bracelet as a gift. Don’t have one in your jewelry box? Well, it’s composed of Read Article

Quantum Computing Electronics vs. Photonics: New Chips Will Shift the Balance Read more about the newest advance in photonics for quantum computing. The electronics in quantum computers are being challenged by new photonic chips. Read Article

The SOSA Standard: What PCB Designers Need to Know Learn more about the new SOSA standard for embedded systems. PCB designers working on aerospace and military embedded systems will need to design to this standard. Read Article

IPC-2551 Digital Twin Standard Released Read our brief on the new IPC-2551 standard and how digital twins might be used in the PCB industry. Read Article

All About ORANs: A PCB Designer's Guide to Open Radio Access Networks Open radio access networks, or ORANs, are a new paradigm in telecom architecture that will enable future 5G and 6G network architectures. Read Article

PCIe 5.0 Signal Integrity and Analysis PCIe 5.0 signal integrity follows many trends from other high speed signaling standards. Learn more about this high speed signaling standard in this article. Read Article

DDR5 vs. DDR6: Here's What to Expect in RAM Modules What can designers expect in DDR5 vs DDR6? Here’s what you can expect for your next memory device. Read Article

California Bets on Electric Cars and Plans to Ban Gasoline Car Sales by 2035 Governor Gavin Newsome is betting on California electric cars. Get ready for a big shift in PMIC and battery markets. Read Article

The NVIDIA-Arm Deal Will Expand Hardware for AI and Deep Learning Read more about the recent NVIDIA-ARM deal and what it means for PCB designers. Read Article

Automotive Ethernet: Present and Future Design Requirements Get ready for more cars to make greater use of automotive Ethernet. Here’s what systems designers and PCB designers can expect. Read Article

Neuromorphic Computing Chips Make Transistors Feel Obsolete Intel’s upcoming platform for neuromorphic computing, the Loihi neuromorphic processor, reflects a broader trend in the AI hardware community, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the packaging. The Loihi processor packs major changes to the underlying transistor architecture and uses a unique signaling method used for computation. Intel’s products and other chips from hardware startups are starting to resemble the functionality in the human Read Article