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Signal Integrity

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

Build Your Own Patch Antenna for Your Next PCB On the surface, devices with wireless capabilities seem like they would be pretty complicated. Once I started diving into designing wireless systems, I realized that incorporating these capabilities is only as complex as you make it. Thankfully, there are some simple solutions that you can use to add wireless communication to your next PCB. If you’re looking to add GPS, WiFi, or other communication capabilities to your next electronic device, you Read Article

Carry Propagation Delay in High Speed Data Processing I sometimes get into text message conversations with friends that go completely haywire. It’s too easy to ask five questions back and forth in a single text, and trying to respond to everything causes our message chain to go completely out of sync. It isn’t until three text messages later that I actually respond to everything my friend asked, and by then we’ve moved on to a completely new topic. Signal delay between logic circuits in a PCB or an Read Article

PCB Design Tips for SRAM Users: How to Prevent Data Loss SRAM loses its data when power is removed. One of the best inventions in editing software is the autosave feature, which prevents Murphy’s Law from striking at the worst time. Decades ago, I nearly cried when several pages of an important university assignment were literally wiped out, as the non-existence of the autosave feature was made worse by my reluctance to hit the ‘Save’ button. In electronics, you risk losing the entire data stored in a Read Article

Design Guidelines for Your Next Wireless PCB As a child, I used to watch Star Trek and always marveled at all the technology. Anything wireless on the show was particularly fascinating, especially to a 5-year old. As I aged, and as so many cool things from science fiction became reality, I realized that all these capabilities start with great PCB design. Whether you’re building a better Wifi router, GPS system, or two-way radio, you’ll need to decide which type of antenna to use and how to Read Article

How Autorouters Help Expedite Design Routing traces around on your PCB is like knitting a quilt. Not only can it take forever, but it requires very precise steps to ensure that all your stitches fit together seemlessly. If you get your stitches wrong, then everything can fall apart. Just like we have automatic threading sewing machines that increase productivity, autorouters can do the same for your PCB. But be wary: not all autorouters have the same capabilities. The best PCB Read Article

Addressing Forward and Backward Crosstalk in PCB Design If you’ve ever been at a raucous party in your college days, then you know how tough it is to talk over everyone else in the room. Signals in your electronics can propagate into neighboring traces, making it difficult for messages to reach their destinations. With faster signal speeds comes more crosstalk in your PCB. But crosstalk actually comes in two varieties. Each can have a serious effect on signal integrity at each end of a trace, but you Read Article

EMI in Your High Speed Design: Understand the Signal Rise Time Learn more about your high speed design and how to deal with switching speed, rise time, and EMI in your high speed PCB layout. Read Article

Layout Guidelines for Embedded Power Supplies I don’t get out to raucous parties as much as did in my 20’s. The thought of yelling over other people just to have a conversation is about as enticing as getting a tooth pulled. Crosstalk doesn’t just kill the mood at a party, it can ruin the functionality of electronic systems. Most PCB designers worry more about crosstalk between signals traces, but your power supply and power components can have an even greater impact. Thankfully, some simple Read Article

Differential Pair Impedance: Using a Calculator to Design Your PCB I took various computer classes in high school and always wondered why the conductors in Ethernet cables were twisted around each other. Little did I know that this was a simple design method that ensured signals reached their destination without interfering with each other. Sometimes, the best solutions to complex problems are actually the simplest. Differential pair routing is not limited to Ethernet cables; it is one of the key routing and Read Article

How to Expand Input and Output for a Microcontroller When working through practice boards and schematics very early on in my education, I remember more than once thinking about simply increasing the board size so that I could fit my components properly and make routing easier. It definitely would not have helped, and I’m glad I persevered in finding solutions through the challenges, but there are still times in my career where I’ve looked at the necessities of devices and wished I could just make Read Article

Test Out and Validate High-Speed Designs with Signal Integrity Simulation Sometimes the biggest onion can’t be peeled. It seems simple enough. You pick up an onion, a knife, and get going. It would be nice if all of life were so simple, and I suppose it is if you can just break each task into a simple series of steps. Along with intuitive tools, each step leads to the next and pretty soon you’re sending commands from your smart phone to your food processor before you get home. Signal integrity simulators feel like a Read Article

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When to Prefer a Longer Trace Over an Additional Via Whenever I go to buy a new big-ticket appliance, I always weigh my options. Sometimes I let this paralyze me, and I end up making a spending decision that I later regret. But it doesn’t have to be this way when deciding how to route signals in your next PCB. When you have many components and interconnects to place on your PCB, you need to weigh your options. Dense routing is as much an art as it is science, and having as much information as Read Article

Addressing Skew Sources in High Speed PCBs Eye diagrams in electronics were something of a mystery when I was first learning about digital electronics. How can this simple diagram tell you so much about the performance of one device? It wasn’t until I started designing my own systems until I started to realize the significance of an eye diagram. Signal synchronization in high speed digital devices relies on accurate switching measurements from digital ICs. There are a number of factors Read Article

Impedance Management through PCB Stackup Design with Reference Planes My first PCB was far from a high-speed digital device. It was just an amplifier circuit on a single layer PCB, and controlling the impedance was not even an afterthought. Once I started working on electro-optics systems that required high sampling rates, controlling impedance was always a critical design issue. Controlled impedance on a circuit board is a PCB layout issue that I didn’t feel completely comfortable in handling as a PCB designer for Read Article

Choosing Replacement Components With an Integrated Library Much as we would like, designing a new product or system is not without its hiccups. Designs, functionality, and component changes may be made at the last minute, forcing design modification or component replacement. Replacement circuit components or replacement can require thorough knowledge of your circuit boards. Repairing a circuit board is often more than finding a circuit breaking. Electrical equipment and service panel tinkering can go so Read Article

Connectors, Tooling Holes, and Fiducial Markers for Component Placement and Orientation When you’re a new systems designer, manufacturability of your designs is probably the last thing you think about. When I was younger and worked on a new electro-optics system, I was dismayed to learn that a system I designed needed a complete redesign. In its current state, the thing was unlikely to ever make it off the manufacturing line. PCBs should also be designed such that manufacturing is streamlined. Orientation, landing type, and holes Read Article