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The Printed Circuit Designer's Guide to... ™
Power Integrity by Example

by: Fadi Deek, Mentor, A Siemens Business

There are many factors to consider when aiming to establish and maintain power integrity, from cavity thickness to the presence or absence of a voltage regulator.

Written by signal/power integrity specialist Fadi Deek of Mentor, A Siemens Business, this micro eBook provides a thorough investigation of power distribution network performance. Deek addresses problematic issues within electronic transmissions, and presents a variety of simulations and analyses in every chapter.

After you've read this eBook, you will better understand cause-effect relationships between varying factors and how to consider these when making design decisions.



ISBN: 978-0-9982885-7-4

Fadi Deek
In 2005, Fadi received his B.S. degree in computer and communications from the American University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Beirut, Lebanon. That same year, he joined Fidus Systems as a design engineer. He designed circuit boards at Fidus for three years. In 2010, he received his M.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He then joined Mentor, A Siemens Business, as a corporate marketing engineer. In 2013, Deek became a corporate application engineer supporting the HyperLynx tool suite. In parallel, he is also pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Colorado in Boulder under the supervision of Dr. Eric Bogatin.

Mentor, A Siemens Business, is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions providing products, consulting services, and award-winning support for the world’s most successful electronic, semiconductor, and systems companies. We enable companies to develop better electronic products faster and more cost-effectively. Our innovative products and solutions help engineers conquer design challenges in the increasingly complex worlds of board and chip design. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. Website: www.mentor.com.

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This book has been technically reviewed by the following experts:

Eric Bogatin Dean, Signal Integrity Academy

Professor Bogatin has a BS in physics from MIT and an MS and PhD in physics from the University of Arizona. He has worked in various industry roles, including senior engineering and management positions at Bell Labs, Raychem, Sun Microsystems, Ansoft, and Interconnect Devices.

Happy Holden

Consulting Technical Editor,
I-Connect007

Happy Holden is the retired director of electronics and innovations for GENTEX Corporation. Formerly, he was the chief technical officer for the world’s largest PCB fabricator—Hon Hai Precision Industries (Foxconn). Prior to Foxconn, Holden was the senior PCB technologist for Mentor Graphics and [...]

Chapter Summaries

  • Chapter 1

    Chapter 1: Bare Cavity

    Chapter 1 discusses electrical properties and electronic components related to PCBs.

  • Chapter 2

    Chapter 2: Decoupling Capacitor and VRM Effects

    Chapter 2 presents two techniques to lower the impedance of a cavity.

  • Chapter 3

    Chapter 3: Transparent Cavity

    Chapter 3 explores different placements for decoupling capacitors and the impact of different locations on spreading inductance.

  • Chapter 4

    Chapter 4: Cavity Noise and Via-to-Via Coupling

    Chapter 4 addresses how to reduce crosstalk and noise between vias in the cavity.

  • Chapter 5

    Chapter 5: Reducing Via-to-Via Coupling Using Capacitors

    Chapter 5 details ways to reduce crosstalk from all vias at once and two methods to reduce cavity impedance.

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What Our Readers Are Saying





This eBook explains a simple way to think about the impedance of the cavity and how the return current flowing through the cavity impedance generates voltage noise that is picked up by every other via passing through the cavity. As Fadi Deek explains, the way to control the via-to-via crosstalk is to control the impedance of the cavity.

Eric Bogatin
Full Review

Contact the Author

For technical support click here

Eric Bogatin

Power integrity is both an important and confusing topic in today’s designs. This is partly due to the complicated nature of the effects that occur in the PDN, and partly because there is not just one power integrity problem, but many—each with their own root cause and specific design guidelines.

 

The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to… Power Integrity by Example from Mentor, A Siemens Business, explores the specific problem of via-to-via coupling through a cavity starting from the ground floor. When a signal via passes through the power and ground planes that make up a cavity, the vias provide a clean path for the signal current, but leave the return current to find its way through the impedance of the cavity.

 

This eBook explains a simple way to think about the impedance of the cavity and how the return current flowing through the cavity impedance generates voltage noise that is picked up by every other via passing through the cavity. As Fadi Deek explains, the way to control the via-to-via crosstalk is to control the impedance of the cavity.

 

Most of the noise is generated in the peak impedances of the cavity, not just the structural resonances that cause impedance peaks. Other important factors include the interactions of decoupling capacitors, their mounting, cavity spreading inductance, and cavity capacitance that can produce even larger impedance peaks.

 

An important message from this eBook is to know your parallel resonances because that will be where most of your noise comes from. Murphy’s Law suggests that if there are any impedance peaks in your PDN, some customer’s microcodes will drive worst-case signal currents through the cavity with a data pattern right at the peak impedance frequency, possibly generating pathological noise. Use the principles laid out in this eBook to help you avoid this catastrophe in your next design.

Eric Bogatin Professor Bogatin has a BS in physics from MIT and an MS and PhD in physics from the University of Arizona. He has worked in various industry roles, including senior engineering and management positions at Bell Labs, Raychem, Sun Microsystems, Ansoft, and Interconnect Devices. Since January 2021, Bogatin has been a full-time professor at the University of Colorado–Boulder in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering. He teaches courses in circuits, systems, and signal integrity and is involved with research activities related to signal integrity, circuit design and analysis, and rapid prototyping of circuits. Bogatin is the author of 18 technical books about signal integrity and electronics and the technical editor of the Signal Integrity Journal, an industry-focused publication covering signal integrity, power integrity, and electromagnetic compliance topics. He is a Fellow with Teledyne LeCroy and conducts webinars and presentations on best measurement practices using real-time scopes, TDR, and VNA instruments. As part of his Fellow activities, he is the Dean of the Teledyne LeCroy Signal Integrity Academy.

Happy Holden Happy Holden is the retired director of electronics and innovations for GENTEX Corporation. Formerly, he was the chief technical officer for the world’s largest PCB fabricator—Hon Hai Precision Industries (Foxconn). Prior to Foxconn, Holden was the senior PCB technologist for Mentor Graphics and advanced technology manager at Nan Ya/Westwood Associates and Merix. He previously worked at Hewlett-Packard for over 28 years as director of PCB R&D and manufacturing engineering manager. He has been involved in advanced PCB technologies for over 47 years.