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FEBRUARY 2023 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 15 ten quite a few books on this, and Eric Bogatin has written and taught extensively about this. en there's Rick Hartley, who has also done many signal integrity classes, as well as pro- fessional development courses at IPC APEX EXPO. He's another excellent source. So those are five guys I would think of as gurus in signal integrity. I've got all their textbooks and I ref- erence them all the time myself. And of course, come take any of the IPC courses in board design as well. Johnson: Is there anything you'd like to add, Kris? Moyer: I don't want to say it's new, but it is an expanding area of concern that is only going to keep growing as the values keep shrinking. is will be more pronounced and is definitely an area that all designers and engineers need to take seriously. ey need to get a good handle on this, because the rules of thumb, the tribal knowledge from yesteryear, no longer holds sway. What was true 20 years ago is no longer true today. Shaughnessy: anks for your time, Kris. Moyer: ank you. DESIGN007 Introduction The printed circuit board industry is ever growing and changing. As a new generation of PCB design- ers spearheads innovation across a myriad of electronic device appli- cations, individuals without those specialized skills are increasingly called upon to design boards in order to accelerate product development and drive down costs. With more of us working to gain board layout experience on the job, Designing for Reality becomes a very pertinent discus- sion topic in the PCB industry. But what does that phrase even mean and why should we focus on such a topic? For those who may be new to PCB design or possess limited experi- ence, it is crucial to recognize that creating a robust and manufacturable PCB design requires paying close attention to numerous details. There are a lot of unwritten rules, best practice techniques, and design requirements that vary by manufacturer. Learning and understanding these often-subtle factors will give designers a leg up cre- ating realistic board designs and enable them to take their skills from novice up the ranks. The goal of a PCB designer is to create a design that is free from defects that can "kill" the board or make it difficult to manufac- ture. Realistic PCB designs should prioritize manufacturability and reliability of the PCB as well as meet the other design require- ments. In order to do so, one must account for the production vari- ables associated with individual manufacturing partners. Whenever I have the opportunity to talk to a PCB designer or students, I encourage them to tour a PCB manufacturing facility to get a bet- ter understanding of how the board manufac- turing process works. It is mind blowing. There are many more processes and steps required than one would imagine. Download this title today! BOOK EXCERPT The Printed Circuit Designer's Guide to... Designing for Reality