High-Speed Circuit Board Signal Integrity (2^nd Ed.)

This thoroughly updated leading-edge circuit design resource offers the knowledge needed to quickly pinpoint transmission problems that can compromise the entire circuit design. This new edition demonstrates how to apply EM theory to solve signal integrity problems with a practical application-oriented approach. Discussing both design and debug issues at gigabit per second data rates, the book serves as a practical reference for projects involving high-speed serial signaling on printed wiring boards.

Step-by-step, this book goes from reviewing the essentials of linear circuit theory, to examining practical issues of pulse propagation along lossless and lossy transmission lines. It provides detailed guidelines for crosstalk, attenuation, power supply decoupling, and layer stackup tradeoffs (including pad/antipad tradeoffs). Other key topics include the construction of etched conductors, analysis of return paths and split planes, microstrip and stripline characteristics, and SMT capacitors. Filled with on-the-job-proven examples, this hands-on reference is the book that engineers can turn to time and again to design out and troubleshoot circuit signal loss and impedance problems.

- Introduction to Circuit Board Signal Integrity
- Circuit Board Resistance
- Capacitance and Inductance
- Transmission Lines
- Driving and Terminating Single Ended Transmission Lines
- Losses in Transmission Lines
- Understanding Trace-to-Trace Coupling and Solving Crosstalk Problems
- Introduction to Differential Transmission Lines and Differential Signaling
- Signal Return Paths and Decoupling
- Ceramic Surface Mount Capacitors
- Matrices and S-Parameters in Signal Integrity
- Layout Techniques and Avoiding High-Speed Signaling Pitfalls.

Stephen C. Thierauf is a signal integrity design engineer at Thierauf Design and Consulting. Previously he was a senior member of the technical staff at Digital Equipment Corporation and Compaq Computer Corporation, and senior consulting hardware engineer at Infiniswitch Corporation. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering Technology from Wentworth Institute of Technology.