EDN

Taking a closer look at PCB traces

A frequently asked question during Printed Circuit Board (PCB) layout review meetings is, “Are 50-ohm traces being used for the digital signals in this PCB layout?” Often the answer to this question ...
EDN

3D bus bar: An optimum solution for managing DC power rails on PCBs

Despite the widespread use of low-power ICs—or counterintuitively, because of it—DC power-rail currents on PCBs keep increasing. It’s not unusual to have a modest-size board drawing high tens of amps ...
Electronic Design

Using Copper Traces As Ballast Resistors Ensures Balance

The data sheet for the LT3080 linear voltage regulator suggests using printed-circuit-board (PCB) traces for ballast resistors. Although the LT3080’s low offset voltage suits it well for this ...
Electronic Design

Motor-Driver PCB Layout Guidelines (Part 1)

Printed-circuit-board (PCB) substrate material, like FR-4 glass epoxy, is a poor conductor of heat. Conversely, copper is an excellent conductor of heat. So, more copper area on a PCB is ideal from a ...
Semiconductor Engineering

PCB Design Rules For Wiring And Crosstalk

Today’s electronic devices market demands miniaturized printed circuit boards (PCBs) with a multitude of high-speed functions integrated on a single board. This causes the designers to have traces ...