Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1534120
8 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2025 The Shaughnessy Report by Andy Shaughnessy, I-CONNECT007 Always With the Negative Waves When I started covering PCB design in the '90s, RF designers comprised a small percent- age of the design community. Other than cell- phones and handheld GPS devices, RF wasn't seen very oen outside of military, aerospace, and law enforcement applications. Now, RF is everywhere. Almost every elec- tronic device in your house and pocket—your phone, tablet, laptop, Alexa, Google Watch, and wireless speaker—contains RF technol- ogy. e entire wearable segment is built on RF technology. e RF arena has its own set of unique chal- lenges. EMI and crosstalk can have a "field" day with RF signals. Parasitic inductance and capacitance are huge challenges in the RF space, and modeling is required to mitigate unwanted resonances. Precise impedance matching is necessary to avoid signal reflec- tion; mismatches can cause signal degradation and reduce the efficiency of the end product. A variety of RF material flavors are available now, but some, such as PTFE-based laminates, are difficult to work with. Even the most minor variations in the fab process can have far-reach- ing effects on the RF signal. RF design is oen called "black magic," but designing an RF PCB isn't that much different