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10 Fundamental Rules of High-Speed PCB Design, Pt. 1

Over the years, I have focused on high-speed design, signal and power integrity, and EMC design techniques in a plethora of published technical articles—all of which have key points to consider and present a tremendous amount of information to absorb. In my next few columns, I will elaborate on ten of the most important considerations to embrace to achieve successful high-speed PCB designs that perform reliably to expectations.

Figure 1 lists the 10 fundamental rules of high-speed PCB design that I deem the most important to follow, although they may change after months of deliberation, like what happened with the laws of thermodynamics. The first established thermodynamic principle, which eventually became the second law, was formulated by Sadi Carnot in 1824. By the late 1800s, three laws of thermodynamics were clearly defined. However, in the 1930s—long after these three laws were already widely accepted—Sir Ralph Fowler and E.A. Guggenheim felt that another law, which they saw as the foundation of earlier laws, should be incorporated. Hence, it was numbered the zeroth law. Thus, there is always room for one more at the top!

To read this entire column, which appeared in the September 2018 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.