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10 The PCB Design Magazine • February 2016 less space, resulting in less real estate for traces. Combine this with the fact that the boards them- selves are getting smaller and you see the difficult challenge for PCB design- ers. For perspective, over the last 20 years PCB fea- ture sizes have shrunk ~3x while IC features have shrunk more than 40x. This has enabled integration of more and more functionality on silicon, which has in turn driven up on-board pin densities, created more diverse power requirements, and much faster signal speeds. So while the spotlight of the industry remains on silicon, the challenges with board design increase in lockstep. Shaughnessy: So, PCB designers have to deal with this increasing complexity, while still controlling costs and facing a shortening design cycle. How do designers do it? by Andy Shaughnessy I-ConneCT007 Mentor Graphics recently announced the winners of its PCB Technology Leadership Awards. Now in its 26 th year, this program pro- vides a great barometer for measuring the new- est trends in cutting-edge PCB designs. I caught up with Product Marketing Manager David Wiens and asked him to give us an idea of the trends he's seeing in PCB design and manufac- turing, and what the industry has in store for us in the next few years. Andy Shaughnessy: Let's start off with a look at the industry. What trends are you seeing in PCB design that you believe will continue in 2016 and beyond? David Wiens: There are several, Andy. A lot of trends are simply a continuation and expansion of what we've seen for several years. As com- ponent sizes become smaller and integration more dense, PCBs continue to pack more into Technology Outlook with Mentor Graphics feature interview David Wiens