The following article was originally published here on the Signal Integrity Journal‘s website.
Amphenol Ardent was featuring their LinkOVER termination in Amphenol’s OverPass™ series of PCB trace bypass connectors. LinkOVER is ideal for 56G and 112G systems. Also their TR Multicoax Equal Trace which delivers superior signal integrity from multiple high speed channels in an arc footprint, making it ideal for applications where equal and short trace lengths are imperative for performance tuning. And finally, they featured their TR Auto which offers superior signal integrity in the narrow E-Band (71-86+ GHz) making it ideal to replace cumbersome waveguide connectors in automotive radar applications.
Amphenol SV Microwave was featuring their complete line of high frequency coaxial/surface mount PCB connectors that meet the industry need for high performing, highly reliable solderless connectors for precision thin substrate mounting. The standard solderless PCB compression mount connectors can create undesirable results on thin (< .010”) dielectric PCB. SV’s LiteTouch PCB connector addresses this issue by maintaining a solderless connection while keeping the board material intact. Current configurations include 2.92 mm, 2.4 mm, and SMA versions. They were also featuring their new Mini-D RF Connection System has industry leading .110” port-to-port spacing and uses removable SMPS bullets for high mating cycle applications without damaging the housing. SV’s low profile edge and surface mount PCB connector options are available with excellent RF performance through 67 GHz.
Keysight Technologies introduced the first comprehensive DDR 5.0 test solution. Keysight’s total solution approach to DDR5 testing includes a new receiver, transmitter, and protocol test solutions. The new receiver and transmitter test solution also includes high performance M8040A 64 Gbaud High-performance BERT and Infiniium UXR-Series Real-Time Oscilloscope hardware with the lowest noise and jitter floor to allow the most accurate measurement with highest margins. They also announced PathWave Memory Designer, a new double data rate (DDR) memory simulation capability that is part of PathWave Advanced Design System (ADS) 2019. The new capability makes it easy for developers to compare simulated data with actual measured results, reducing the time required to complete product development workflows. PathWave ADS Memory Designer connects simulation and test workflows, addressing common DDR memory design challenges with new workflows that automate routine tasks and harness data analytics to gain faster actionable insight into simulation data.
Mentor was presenting many technical sessions in their booth. Three that they highlighted were “Accelerating The Design cycle: Model-Free Analysis” that described a model-free analysis flow that lets designers run simulations to make design tradeoffs and assess impact on design margins even when detailed device models aren’t available. The presentation took a closer look at the types of decisions system designers make and their dependence on silicon-accurate simulation models. A second was “Ensuring DDRx Reliability: Power-Aware Simulation” that covered how interactions between a system’s Power Delivery Network (PDN) and high speed signals are unwanted, unavoidable and only serve to reduce the design’s voltage and timing margins. Power-Aware Simulation lets designers assess different mitigation strategies to determine their impact on design margins and determine the most cost-effective solution. The third was “Reducing Certification Risks: Automating Design Compliance Testing” covering how the methods used to assess compliance are complex and increase the risk that products fail certification testing, requiring modifications that increase the product’s time to market and require yet another round of certification testing. Their HyperLynx DRC assesses safety compliance using the specific measurement methods associated with different standards and design applications, identifying failure areas quickly and accurately.
Radiall’s D-Lightsys brand offers a new family of products which support very short reach Free-Space Optical communications (FSO). This solution is well suitable for board-to-board, box to box or portable equipment communication. The design is compatible with misalignment tolerances above what electrical connectors typically offer. The F-Light family of Free-Space Optical transceivers (FSO) are specially designed for board-to-board, box to box applications where large misalignment and/or vibrations are critical. F-light transmitters and receivers allow operating misalignment between two boards or boxes and are are around +/-1 mm and +/-1°. The devices feature a small footprint (8×8 mm) and are compatible with a bit rate from 100 Mbps up to 5 Gbps (a 10 Gbps version – coming soon). Devices operate in the extended [-40; +90°C] temperature range and consume less than 100 mW each.
Sierra Circuits has a free downloadable guide explains everything a PCB designer needs to know about HDI design techniques. The Free HDI Design Guide explains how to use HDI PCB design techniques to achieve board layouts for an optimum balance of cost and performance and guides the selection of materials best suited for your application The advantages of the HDI PCB manufacturing include; architectures can reduce PCB layer count and footprint, better protect signal integrity than alternative through-hole approaches, and can result in improved manufacturing yield and board reliability. The Sierra Circuits’ HDI design planning tool kit is available here.