Unfortunately, many of the most important aspects of a circuit design are often the last considered and procured, although they are just as important as every other aspect of a design. For example, no matter how good a reference book is, no matter how well-written its pages, how insightful its commentary, it is almost useless…
Board-To-Board: The Critical Connection
With all the device integration going on, and the explosion of SoCs and chipscale devices, it is important to remember there are still a lot of products with multiple boards and subsystems. Just as important as the components on the boards themselves, the quality and reliability of those critical inter-board connections are vital to a…
Why A Product Is Only As Good As Its Intersystem Connections
When it comes to designing products today, ironically, engineers have it both the best and the worst. There are new technologies, topologies, and materials simultaneously disrupting and advancing the embedded electronics landscape. These advances range from advanced wide-bandgap semiconductors, to better and denser memory, to advanced SoCs that are so functional that almost all you…
Test Points: The Unseen Design Enabler
Modern methods for creating electronics have made testing more and more difficult. Increasingly complicated systems are also becoming smaller and smaller, making even the most basic parts of designing more challenging. The biggest issue in testing is that one must always have state-of-the-art gear, as it must be better than (or at least equal to)…