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82 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2026 B E YO N D D ES I G N M odern digital signals exhibit behavior more characteristic of RF waveforms than the slow logic transitions of the past. With fast rise times, a PCB is no longer a col- lection of copper traces, but a distributed electro- magnetic system. Successful design isn't about routing signals anymore; it's about engineering transmission lines, preserving uninterrupted return current paths, and controlling the resonant struc- tures that naturally form within the multilayer PCB. Rise time, not clock frequency, is the real driver of signal behavior, dictating when reflections, ringing, and RF-like effects emerge. At fast edge speeds, every trace becomes a transmission line with its own characteristic impedance and propa- gation behavior. Understanding these interactions BY BA R RY O L N E Y, I N - C I RC U I T D ES I G N PT Y LT D | AU ST R A L I A How Signals Survive the Hostile PCB Environment