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46 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025 Feature Interview by Andy Shaughnessy I-CONNECT007 High-speed PCB design is complex enough, but RF design can be a whole new ball game. RF designers have to contend with tuning and other ideas that traditional PCB designers don't have to worry about, as well as crosstalk, parasitic capacitance, and material limitations. Most PCB design tool companies now offer RF design options, so designers no lon- ger have to use pureplay RF design tools for anything but the most cutting-edge designs. Cadence Design Systems expanded its RF EDA offerings by acquiring the RF soware company AWR a few years ago. We asked David Vye, product management director at Cadence, to share his thoughts on EDA so- ware, RF design, and what new RF designers and engineers need to understand. Andy Shaughnessy: David, what are the most common challenges facing PCB designers and EEs in the RF space today? So many electronic devices today have GPS, Blue- tooth, and Wi-Fi all together on the same PCB, and you wonder how they can all "play nice" with each other. David Vye: For some time, many of the chal- lenges that come with implementing RF tech- nology in PCB systems relate to trends that have been evolving with each new communi- cation standard. ese system requirements (think 4G, 5G, and now 6G) include greater integration of functionality, reduction in foot- print and power consumption, the move to higher frequencies and/or bandwidths, as well as the adoption of beamforming antennas to EDA Tools and RF Design Techniques