Davi Correia

In the high-speed connector design arena, there are two opposing ideas. For some people, if you simply put pieces of plastic and metal together, eventually you have a signal transmission. This process is very simple. On the other end of the spectrum, there is the idea that a solid connector design requires a deep understanding of electromagnetic theory, a wisdom only sorcerers and wizards possess.

A particularly challenging configuration is the edge launch, where connectors are used on the edge of the PCB with a transition to a microstrip trace. A poorly optimized connector footprint leads to degradation of the signal integrity performance, especially at high data rates. This paper identifies the root cause of the problem by showing how the electromagnetic fields behave at the transition area. Then it presents a design methodology, using simulated and measured data, that ensures the quality of high-speed data transmission.

Nyquist frequency, first harmonic, clock frequency, fundamental frequency, and some other intimidating terms might be thrown at you by an SI engineer. Read on to get up to speed on these and other terms you need to know.

When I first started studying Maxwell’s Equations, I was always intrigued by its mathematical finesse. How could someone think of that? Today we take them for granted and we sometimes forget how amazing they are and what a genius the guy was. In my view, James Maxwell should be with, if not above, Einstein and Newton among the greatest physicists to ever live, but outside our field people seldom know who Maxwell was. 

Get a basic EM understanding of resonant behavior, a method for quickly determining resonant frequencies, and a secondary set of metrics to evaluate if a frequency is excited or not.