Elementary Mr. Watson: Ensuring a Smooth Handoff From PCB Design to Fabrication
The Shaughnessy Report: Breaking Down the Language Barrier
Connect the Dots: Designing for Reality—Routing, Final Fab, and QC
iCD Adds Coplanar Waveguide Planner to iCD Design Integrity Software
March 15, 2017 | Barry Olney, In-Circuit DesignEstimated reading time: 1 minute
In-Circuit Design Pty Ltd (iCD), Australia, developer of the iCD Design Integrity software, has released the new iCD CPW Planner to be incorporated as part of the 2017 release of its suite of high-speed PCB design tools.
“Coplanar waveguides (CPWs) have been used for many years in RF and microwave design as they reduce radiation loss, at extremely high frequencies, compared to traditional microstrip. And now, as edge rates continue to rise, they are coming back into vogue,” said Barry Olney, CEO of iCD. “Today’s high-speed, fast rise-time serial interfaces are prone to excess loss, in the transmission lines, which is a major cause of signal integrity issues. Minimizing this loss reduces jitter and improves the bit error rate (BER) and inter-symbol interference (ISI).”
The CPW offers several advantages over a conventional microstrip transmission line:
- Simplifies fabrication.
- Facilitates easy shunt as well as series surface mounting of active and passive devices.
- Can eliminate the need for via holes and wraparound edge plating.
- Reduces radiation loss at very high microwave frequencies.
Furthermore, the impedance is determined by the ratio of trace width to clearance, so size reduction is possible without limit, the only penalty being higher losses.
“The new iCD CPW Planner has five popular generic CPW structures that model single and dual (differential) CPWs, with and without ground reference planes, plus a dual Coplanar Strip (CPS) which has no ground reference plane or copper pours. Materials maybe inserted, from the extensive iCD Dielectric Materials Library featuring over 30,850 rigid and flexible materials up to 100GHz, to dramatically increase accuracy at extremely high microwave frequencies,” said Olney.
Click here for a quick demonstration video of the iCD Coplanar Waveguide Planner.
About In-Circuit Design Pty Ltd
In-Circuit Design Pty Ltd, based in Australia, developer of the iCD Design Integrity software incorporating the iCD Stackup, PDN and CPW Planner software, is a PCB Design Service Bureau and specialist in board level simulation. For further information or to download a free evaluation of the software, please visit www.icd.com.au.
Share on:
Suggested Items
ICT Spring Seminar: Nickel Not Welcome Here
03/12/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007After a miserable, dull, and damp English winter, a really pleasant nearly spring day with the sun shining and daffodils in bloom greeted delegates to the Institute of Circuit Technology Spring Seminar at Puckrup Hall near Tewkesbury, March 5, in Gloucestershire, UK.
Multicircuits Expands Capabilities with State-of-the-Art Automated Copper Via Fill Process
03/10/2025 | MulticircuitsMike Thiel, president of Multicircuits, a leading provider of high-reliability printed circuit boards, has announced the addition of a state-of-the-art automated copper via fill process to their advanced manufacturing capabilities. This strategic investment enhances the company’s ability to deliver cutting-edge solutions for demanding industries, including aerospace, defense, medical, and high-speed telecommunications.
EIPC 2025 Winter Conference, Day 2: A Roadmap to Material Selection
02/20/2025 | Pete Starkey, I-Connect007The EIPC 2025 Winter Conference, Feb. 4-5, in Luxembourg City, featured keynotes and two days of conference proceedings. The keynote session and first-day conference proceedings are reported separately. Here is my review of the second day’s conference proceedings. Delegates dutifully assembled bright and early, well-rested and eager to participate in the second day’s proceedings of the EIPC Winter Conference in Luxembourg.
Designers Notebook: Addressing Future Challenges for Designers
02/06/2025 | Vern Solberg -- Column: Designer's NotebookThe printed circuit board is and will probably continue to be the base platform for most electronics. With the proliferation of new generations of high I/O, fine-pitch surface mount semiconductor package variations, circuit interconnect is an insignificant factor. Circuit board designers continually face challenges such as component quantity and complexity, limited surface area, and meeting the circuit board’s cost target. The printed circuit design engineer’s prominent position demands the development of efficiently manufacturable products that perform without compromise.
DesignCon 2025, Day 2: It’s All About AI
01/30/2025 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007It’s hard to get away from the topic of artificial intelligence, but why would you? It’s everywhere and in everything, and my time attending presentations about AI at DesignCon 2025 was well worth it. The conference’s agenda featured engaging presentations and discussions focused on the technological advancements in AI, big data centers, and memory innovations, emphasizing the critical relationship between processors and circuit boards.