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FEATURES

COVER STORY
Practical Design of Differential Vias
A scalable, topology-based equivalent circuit model can accurately match via behavior to a bandwidth well above the application bandwidth, typically above 10 GHz. A look at a very simple way of modeling a differential via and translating its geometry into an equivalent circuit model. 
by Eric Bogatin, Bert Simonovich and Yazi Cao

DfF
Are Your PCB Data Unprepared?
It is great to have a fabricator that can provide its “secret sauce” to make the design work, but be ready to get locked into that supplier, because another fabricator’s recipe will be different. As a designer, is that a risk you want to take? 
by Jeff Champa

MONEY MATTERS

• Global Sourcing
  China’s labor shortage.
  Tom Coghlan

• ROI
  Hello? Anyone there?
  Peter Bigelow

TECH TALK

• Designer's Notebook
  Modules with castellated mounting holes.
  Duane Benson

• On the Forefront
  Packaging over chips.
  E. Jan Vardaman

• Better Manufacturing
  The missing link.
  James Fuller

• Tech Tips
  Can DoD crack RoHS plating armor?
  ACI Technologies Inc.

• Technical Abstracts
  In case you missed it.

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FEATURES

Cover Story

The Year of Staying Employed

The aging (graying, some say) of the printed circuit board design field continues, or so says our annual survey of the industry. What 400 designers have to say about their chances for survival in the era of automation and outsourcing.
By Chelsey Drysdale

SEA/NPI Awards

A pictorial look at some of the 2010 winners of the CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Service Excellence Awards (SEA) for best-in-class customer service and the PCD&F/CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY New Product Introduction (NPI) Awards for the best new product during the past 12 months.

COLUMNS

FIRST PERSON  

Caveat Lector

Ride with Jeff.

Mike Buetow

Database

One designer’s winning pitch.

Pete Waddell

MONEY MATTERS

ROI

Competency confusion.

Peter Bigelow

TECH TALK

Final Finishes

No masking these changes.

Lenora Toscano

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FEATURES 

Cover Story

Frequency Loss Effect of Conductor Profile on the Insertion Loss, Phase Constant and Dispersion in Thin High Frequency Transmission Lines

Increasing conductor roughness alone increases the effective Dk in thin circuitry by up to 15%, while substantially increasing dispersion.

Allen F. Horn III, Ph.D., John W. Reynolds, Patricia A. LaFrance and James C. Rautio, Ph.D.  

RF Design

Choosing an RF Design Environment Flow

You can’t build a house without blueprints. So why do so many RF design flows try to build a board without a schematic?

by Abby Monaco  

CPCA Show Recap

Cautious Optimism in China

Exhibitors were cautious rather than shell-shocked, and even with a wobbly recovery underway, they have seen a marked increase in business.

by Matthew Holzmann  

Memory Interface Design

Memory Interface Speed Solutions

Higher performance requirements reduce timing margins on interfaces, thus imposing strict rules on board routing.

by Hal Katircioglu  

Apex Recap

New Year, New Outlook

An uptick in attendance on the floor overshadowed a lack of innovations in the booths.

By Mike Buetow and Chelsey Drysdale        

COLUMNS  

First Person  

Caveat Lector

EMS hot for LED.

Mike Buetow  

Database

Sayonara, electronics engineering?

Pete Waddell

Money Matters  

Sherman’s Market

Printed electronics: process revolution?

Randall Sherman  

ROI

Bad grades.

Peter Bigelow  

Tech Talk  

On the Forefront

Inside the iPad.

E. Jan Vardaman  

Designer’s Notebook

It’s the data, stupid!

Michael Dreyer