-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLevel Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Letter to the Editor: Rick Hartley Offers Addendum on App Notes
June 11, 2020 | Rick Hartley, RHartley EnterprisesEstimated reading time: 1 minute
In the June 2020 issue of Design007 Magazine, the I-Connect007 editorial team interviewed design instructors Rick Hartley and Dan Beeker regarding their belief that designers should not trust app notes until they've been proven to be accurate. After the issue was published this week, Rick emailed us with a few more points that he wished to contribute to the ongoing app note conversation.
Hi Andy,
After reading the June issue of Design007 Magazine on app notes, I realized there is one key point that I have not pushed hard enough. My real heartburn, and Lee Ritchey’s and Dan Beeker’s for that matter, is that app notes are mostly insufficient in the area of PCB design guidance—not in the area of circuit design assistance and advice.
Back in the days when PCB design was “Who cares?” app engineers were the circuit design engineer’s best friend. But in these days where PCB design really matters, they frequently fall on their face, since colleges teach nothing about PCB design for SI and EMC.
This really came home to me when I read the interview with Geof Lipman. Barry Matties stated to Geof, “We see some of the industry’s top design instructors telling their classes, ‘Don’t trust app notes. Assume they are wrong until proven right.’” Geof reacted, “They might have been being dramatic. I’m not sure.”
I can tell you with absolute clarity that neither Lee, Dan, nor I are being dramatic. The problem is that the information that Geof gleans from app notes is much different than the info PCB designers take from them. Simply put, app engineers do not understand how PCBs work. They think they do, but they do not!
There are, however, a couple of exceptions to the premise that most of the problems with app notes have to do with PCB layout. One of these is something that Dan Beeker pointed out in the interview: the fact that many app engineers seem to be in love with the idea of putting ferrites on the power pins of digital ICs. That’s one of Lee’s pet peeves also. He even discusses this in the second volume of his book Right the First Time.
Thanks for allowing me to clarify.
Rick Hartley
RHartley Enterprises
Suggested Items
Cadence, TSMC Collaborate on Wide-Ranging Innovations to Transform System and Semiconductor Design
04/25/2024 | Cadence Design SystemsCadence Design Systems, Inc. and TSMC have extended their longstanding collaboration by announcing a broad range of innovative technology advancements to accelerate design, including developments ranging from 3D-IC and advanced process nodes to design IP and photonics.
Ansys, TSMC Enable a Multiphysics Platform for Optics and Photonics, Addressing Needs of AI, HPC Silicon Systems
04/25/2024 | PRNewswireAnsys announced a collaboration with TSMC on multiphysics software for TSMC's Compact Universal Photonic Engines (COUPE). COUPE is a cutting-edge Silicon Photonics (SiPh) integration system and Co-Packaged Optics platform that mitigates coupling loss while significantly accelerating chip-to-chip and machine-to-machine communication.
Siemens’ Breakthrough Veloce CS Transforms Emulation and Prototyping with Three Novel Products
04/24/2024 | Siemens Digital Industries SoftwareSiemens Digital Industries Software launched the Veloce™ CS hardware-assisted verification and validation system. In a first for the EDA (Electronic Design Automation) industry, Veloce CS incorporates hardware emulation, enterprise prototyping and software prototyping and is built on two highly advanced integrated circuits (ICs) – Siemens’ new, purpose-built Crystal accelerator chip for emulation and the AMD Versal™ Premium VP1902 FPGA adaptive SoC (System-on-a-chip) for enterprise and software prototyping.
Listen Up! The Intricacies of PCB Drilling Detailed in New Podcast Episode
04/25/2024 | I-Connect007In episode 5 of the podcast series, On the Line With: Designing for Reality, Nolan Johnson and Matt Stevenson continue down the manufacturing process, this time focusing on the post-lamination drilling process for PCBs. Matt and Nolan delve into the intricacies of the PCB drilling process, highlighting the importance of hole quality, drill parameters, and design optimization to ensure smooth manufacturing. The conversation covers topics such as drill bit sizes, aspect ratios, vias, challenges in drilling, and ways to enhance efficiency in the drilling department.
Elevating PCB Design Engineering With IPC Programs
04/24/2024 | Cory Blaylock, IPCIn a monumental stride for the electronics manufacturing industry, IPC has successfully championed the recognition of the PCB Design Engineer as an official occupation by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). This pivotal achievement not only underscores the critical role of PCB design engineers within the technology landscape, but also marks the beginning of a transformative journey toward nurturing a robust, skilled workforce ready to propel our industry into the future.