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True MCAD-ECAD Architecture: A Common-Sense Approach

The Town Crier By: Dan Smith
Despite a lot progress, a true MCAD-ECAD collaborative integrated design process tool environment has never materialized. In the simplest Dr. Phil terminology, EDA vendors still don’t get it. The goal of the following roadmap is to create a complete bi-directional, fully integrated tool within the next five years. By 2020, a true cost-affordable MCAD-ECAD tool needs to be available to every project engineering team.

Electromagnetic Fields, Part 2: How They Impact Propagation Speed

Brooks' Bits By: Douglas Brooks, PhD.
In Part 1, Doug Brooks suggested that thinking in terms of what the electromagnetic field looks like around our traces might offer significant insight into how circuits might be performing. In this column, he makes similar observations about signal propagation speed.

Accelerating the SI Learning Curve - Bogatin's SI Academy

Bert's Practical Design Notes By: Bert Simonovich
Columnist Bert Simonovich writes, "Last year, Dr. Eric Bogatin, the 'Signal Integrity Evangelist,' announced the end of his famous signal integrity classes. At the time I remember thinking to myself, 'What's next for Eric?' If you know Eric, like I do, you realize that the end of one phase of his career usually means the start of the next one. And now we know what that is."

RF Power Capabilities of High-Frequency PCBs

Lightning Speed Laminates By: John Coonrod
I often hear this question: “How much RF power can be applied to a high-frequency PCB?” My answer sometimes surprises engineers. I tell them that they can put as much RF power into the PCB as they want, with the assumption that the PCB does not exceed its maximum operating temperature (MOT). MOT refers to the maximum temperature to which a circuit can be exposed without degradation of critical properties.

The Target Impedance Approach to PDN Design

Beyond Design By: Barry Olney
Before you worry (or not) about post-layout PDN DC drop analysis, you first need to design an effective PDN pre-layout. Smart designers prevent problems before they arise, while others waste time and resources trying to fix the mess that they inadvertently created due to their lack of due diligence. Engineers and PCB designers need to visualize and understand how and where the currents flow.

Like it or Not, You're a Role Model

Tim's Takeaways By: Tim Haag
"During the years that I built my skills as a circuit board designer, many people helped shape my character. Some were impulsively brilliant at laying out a board, while others were steady and consistent in their approach to work, dotting every 'i' and crossing every 't.' But they were all patient with me, answering my questions, showing me the ropes, and setting good examples for me to follow," says Columnist Tim Haag.

The Key to Increasing Quality - Bribe Your Employees

Bob and Me By: Dan Beaulieu and Bob Tarzwell
Back in the 1990s when Bob owned a board shop in Canada, the company was going through a bad stretch, as board shops sometimes will. Yields were way down and they were losing a lot of boards for stupid reasons, many having to do with carelessness and apathy. Bob tried yelling and screaming, but, not being a naturally gifted yeller and screamer, Bob proved ineffective at this method. So he knew he had to try something new.

The Pulse: The Rough Road to Revelation

The Pulse By: Martyn Gaudion
Several years ago, an unsuspecting French yachtsman moored his yacht to the railings of the local harbour. For a very nervous full tide cycle, he awaited to see if the cleats would pull out of the glass fiber hull. Fortunately, the glass held. A yachtsman at high tide isn’t too worried about whether the seabed is rough or smooth, but at low tide, the concern about a sandy or rocky seabed is altogether different. With PCBs, the move to low-loss laminates exposes a similar situation.

Conversations with...Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc.

From the Archives By: Various Authors
I-Connect007 editor Richard Ayes recently interviewed Rafael Nestor Mantaring, vice president for design and development at Philippines-based EMS firm Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. (IMI), who discusses the benefits and impact of printed electronics for the electronics manufacturing industry and the current challenges the technology faces.

Designers Notebook: Strategies for High-Density PCBs

Designers Notebook By: Vern Solberg
As hand-held and portable electronic products and their circuit boards continue to shrink in size, the designer is faced with solving the physical differences between traditional printed board fabrication and what’s commonly referred to as HDI processing. The primary driver for HDI is the increased complexity of the more advanced semiconductor package technology. These differences can be greater than one order of magnitude in interconnection density.

Millennials in Manufacturing: Hiring, Training and Retaining Millennials

Millennials in Manufacturing By: Davina McDonnell
Shelly Phelps is the human resource manager at Saline Lectronics, where she manages recruitment strategies, disciplinary actions, and employee relations. In this interview, she discusses the greatest challenges when dealing with millennials, and how she thinks management and training should evolve for a more effective onboarding of this new generation of manufacturing workforce.

One World, One Industry: Skilled Talent—Can We Meet Rising Demand?

One World, One Industry By: John Mitchell
In 2018, the U.S. GDP is expected to continue its rise, while unemployment rates are expected to drop further. Experts agree that the global economy is also showing signs of strengthening.

Sensible Design: My Top Coating Queries

Sensible Design By: Phil Kinner
This is my first of many columns for 2018, and I have decided to share some top trending queries that concern many different applications and areas. LEDs are always a hot topic, as are volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and harsh environment concerns.

The Shaughnessy Report: Mistakes Were Made

The Shaughnessy Report By: Andy Shaughnessy
We started planning the August issue with a survey sarcastically titled, “Whose fault is that bad board?” We asked a variety of questions regarding how the cause or causes of failure were determined, and what companies do to keep from making the same mistake again. We asked the question “If a board fails in the field, whose fault is it, typically?” Check out some of the answers.

Effects of DC Bias on Ceramic Capacitors

QuietPower By: Istvan Novak
The density of multilayer ceramic capacitors has increased tremendously over the years. While 15 years ago a state-of-the-art X5R 10V 0402 (EIA) size capacitor might have had a maximum capacitance of 0.1 uF, today the same size capacitor may be available with 10 uF capacitance. This huge increase in density unfortunately comes with a very ugly downside. Istvan Novak has more.

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