Blog Postings

RSS

Troubleshooting ESD is all about tracing the path of ESD current. In this installment of Practical EMC, Kenneth Wyatt illustrates how this can be done using the HP 457A current tracer probe, or a medium-sized H-field probe, and tracing the path using an oscilloscope. 

Modeling and measurement of digital serial interconnects is usually done in the frequency domain. That means that the minimal and maximal frequencies (or bandwidth) should be defined even before the analysis or measurement begins. This post introduces a simple and practical way to identify the bandwidth with a numerical analysis of defects in a single bit (SBR) or single symbol response (SSR).

This fundamentals piece looks at the digital applications of a coax cable, such as in testing USB4 implementations, with a focus on one pair of coax cables to highlight measuring some of their digitally oriented parameters not always considered on an RF based datasheet. 

This application note demonstrates use of HYPERLABS’ broadband coaxial components as general-purpose analog signal processing components for the generation of novel time-domain waveforms. The HL9474 6 dB resistive power divider and HL9462 Z-matched pick-off tee are demonstrated as lossy broadband summing networks. The HL9404 broadband balun is demonstrated as a pulse inverter and 180° signal splitter. The HL5567 PAM4 encoder is used to combine two pseudorandom binary or bit sequence (PRBS) patterns into PAM4 signaling. Utilizing the basic arithmetic functions of addition, inversion and subtraction, together with a time delay, a wide variety of novel broadband waveforms are generated. 

This application note builds on prior work reported in Picosecond Pulse Labs (PSPL) Application Note AN-20a^_[1]. In the referenced note, Jim Andrews, Ph.D. used PSPL pulse generators together with PSPL passive components to produce a variety of novel waveforms. A similar set of waveforms are demonstrated at higher bandwidths in this application note utilizing HYPERLABS’ industry leading broadband passive components.  

If you’ve just started on the path of designing high-speed serial links or have designed dozens of your own, Don Telian’s Signal Integrity in Practice is the book that will accelerate your engineering judgment and possibly save you from multiple design spins. Eric Bogatin takes a closer look at what he considers a must-have book for new and experienced engineers.

The ability to perform localized radiated immunity testing is a concept rarely taught. Here Kenneth Wyatt shows he is able to solve several RF immunity issues with nothing more than a handheld personal walkie-talkie, or by producing an intense RF field using an RF generator feeding a near field probe.

Ever wonder how much energy is required to transmit data and why so much power is dissipated into heat? SIJ EAB member Yuriy Shlepnev takes a closer look.

Who doesn’t love an easy-to-use 2D field solver to calculate the single-ended or differential impedance of PCB transmission lines? Eric Bogatin takes this one from Sierra Circuits for a test drive.

The higher speed of USB4 has prompted a move to retimers and away from redrivers within USB-C systems. This article describes the method of designing retimers into USB4 systems.

In this Extreme Measurement story, the goal was to determine the dynamic current of the FPGA by measuring the AC current in an external VRM using a transformation of the PCB S-parameters and the simultaneous measurement of the AC voltages across the PDN.