Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1369942
10 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2021 When we started planning this month's issue, we decided to survey our readers regard- ing their most common design challenges. I assumed that, as with previous surveys, I could easily identify the most "popular" challenge and then direct our content toward that topic. I sure was wrong. We conducted the survey and, low and behold, the readers' responses were all over the map. I had to create an Excel spreadsheet (not my forte) to keep track of all the prob- lems you all run into daily. Dozens of readers reported multiple miscues, missteps, and mis- haps, including "simple" board-level issues, DFM, signal integrity, and EMI. e survey comments were particularly illu- minating: • Engineers don't understand the process required to create a layout that meets everyone's requirements • Lack of communication between designer and EMS provider • DFM combined with strict HDI designs • DDR routing techniques • How to handle different offshore vendors when they can't get the same material spec on the layer stackup • EMI and SI • Component footprint issues, DFM, DFT, DFA, and supply chain management I think the last response sums it up for most PCB designers: ey're typically dealing with more than one challenge simultaneously. And some of these issues are out of the designer's control. e most concerning aspect about these design challenges is that many of these issues have been bees in the designer's bonnet for decades. ese problems are not stopping most designs, but they're naggingly consistent over time. The Shaughnessy Report by Andy Shaughnessy, I-CONNECT007 What Are Your Top Design Challenges?