-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueSilicon to Systems: From Soup to Nuts
This month, we asked our expert contributors to weigh in on silicon to systems—what it means to PCB designers and design engineers, EDA companies, and the rest of the PCB supply chain... from soup to nuts.
Cost Drivers
In this month’s issue of Design007 Magazine, our expert contributors explain the impact of cost drivers on PCB designs and the need to consider a design budget. They discuss the myriad design cycle cost adders—hidden and not so hidden—and ways to add value.
Mechatronics
Our expert contributors discuss the advent of mechatronics in PCB design, the challenges and opportunities this creates for circuit board designers, and the benefits—to the employee and the company—of becoming a mechatronics engineer.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Shrinking Geometries: Back to Fundamentals to Fight EMI
February 23, 2023 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineEstimated reading time: 1 minute
![](https://iconnect007.com/application/files/2716/3129/0877/Dan-Beeker-250.jpg)
When silicon shrinks, a variety of things can happen—some positive, some negative. But for PCB designers, the fight against EMI becomes more complex as signal channels shrink and rise times increase.
Dan Beeker is technical director at NXP Semiconductors, a veteran design engineer, and an instructor who has spent years helping students and customers battle EMI through building a better understanding of electromagnetic fields and field theory. In this interview, Dan explains what happens when silicon shrinks, how feature size controls signal speed, and why this marks the perfect time to return to the fundamentals of physics and field theory.
Andy Shaughnessy: Shrinking silicon is increasingly causing EMI issues for PCB designers and EEs. What sort of problems does shrinking silicon cause?
Dan Beeker: Smaller device geometries and higher current switching capabilities have thrust us all into the world of RF, HF, UHF, and microwave energy management. Rise times on even the lowest-tech devices now exhibit gigahertz impact. These changes directly impact product functionality and reliability. When IC technology was described as a percent of shrink from integer design rules, a circuit-based approach was usually close enough. Now that IC technology is described in nanometers, that traditional approach completely falls apart. An EM field, physics-based approach is essential.
To make things worse, EMC standards have changed; we now have lower and higher frequency compliance requirements, much lower emissions levels allowed, and greater immunity required. The playing field and the equipment have completely changed. This really is a brand-new game. The challenges are not only about providing adequate power to the devices, but also managing the output signals. The smaller the transistor, the faster it turns on, and the bigger the impact it has on EMC and signal integrity.
To read this entire interview, which appeared in the February 2023 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
The New Chapter: The Impact of Parasitics on PCB Design
08/28/2024 | Hannah Grace & Paige Fiet -- Column: The New ChapterThere are many considerations when planning and designing a board layout, and factors that include signal integrity, electromagnetic interference, and power integrity must be considered. Newer board designers often forget one factor crucial to a PCB’s performance and reliability, namely board parasitics, which usually refers to an unintended electrical effect in electronic components and interconnections. This can often lead to significant changes in the physical characteristics of the layout of the PCB. Typically, in board design, parasitics look similar to the length of a trace or a wire. Each trace is slightly resistive, slightly inductive, and slightly capacitive. These are commonly known as parasitic capacitance, parasitic inductance, and parasitic resistance.
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) Confirms Successful Deployment of HawkEye 360 Microsatellite Cluster 10
08/20/2024 | BUSINESS WIRESpace Flight Laboratory (SFL) confirmed that HawkEye 360 Cluster 10 has been successfully launched and deployed in orbit. Cluster 10 brings to 30 the total number of radio frequency geolocation microsatellites developed for HawkEye 360 by SFL and is the third Cluster integrated at HawkEye 360’s Virginia facility under the SFL Flex Production Program.
Happy’s Tech Talk #31: Novel Ultra HDI Architectures
08/12/2024 | Happy Holden -- Column: Happy’s Tech TalkUltra HDI has become the focus for many fabricators, especially as the follow-on for the 40-year-old conventional HDI. But there is more to UHDI than just finer traces and spaces. Novel architectures have been developed that complement the new dense lithography. One of the major advantages of HDI, and especially ultra HDI, is the miniature features of the process. Since the microvias and lands are so small, they can be swung around at various angles between the BGA lands. The angles and distances will depend on the BGA pitch and where the microvia is placed relative to the BGA SMT land.
Real Time with… THECA 2024: State of the Art Copper Adhesion
08/09/2024 | Real Time with... THECABruce Lee, MacDermid Alpha Electronics Solutions, joined Nolan Johnson following his paper presentation on the show's mainstage. Lee provided a detailed overview of the current state of adhesion promoters and discussed the interaction between mechanical adhesion, chemical adhesion, signal integrity, and substrate impacts.
Trouble in Your Tank: Materials for PWB Fabrication—Drillability and Metallization
07/16/2024 | Michael Carano -- Column: Trouble in Your TankLaminate materials are the building blocks on which printed circuit boards are manufactured. Circuit board designers rely on the critical electrical properties of the materials to design the interconnects, and with the drive toward IoT (internet of things), autonomous driving, and virtual and augmented reality, material properties take on a very high level of importance.