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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         

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FEATURES

• Process Improvement
  The DfM Continuum
  Design and manufacturing often are thought of as separate processes, with some interdependencies. But absent a feedback loop, development will be marred by unnecessary defects and re-spins.
  by John Isaac and Bruce Isbell
  

• Signal Integrity
  Open 'Eyes' in the Frequency Domain
  Although final performance is measured in the time domain, a detour may be the faster route to a signal integrity solution.
  by Dr. Eric Bogatin
  

• Materials Engineering
  Heat Transfer in LED Assembly
  LEDs may seem cool to the touch, but they all produce heat. So while they offer significant benefits over filament and fluorescent lighting, dissipating heat within an LED assembly involves the selection and use of thermally conductive and (usually) electrically insulating materials.
  by Chuck Neve
  

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Toyota's painful lesson.
  Mike Buetow

• Sherman's Market
  No more dips for chips.
  Sandra Winkler

• Database
  Back to school.
  Pete Waddell

MONEY MATTERS

• ROI
  Fixing process improvement.
  Peter Bigelow

• Focus on Business
  Improve workers' lives, improve the bottom line.
  Susan Mucha

TECH TALK

• Real World EMC
  Designing out radiated emissions.
  Dr. Eric Bogatin

• Final Finishes
  Process flow and routine analysis.
  Lenora Toscano

• Getting Lean
  Balancing tradeoffs of waste elimination.
  Ryan Wooten

• Technical Abstracts
  In case you missed it.

DEPARTMENTS

Off the Shelf

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FEATURES

• Impedance Control
  Accurate Impedance Control, Part II
  Choosing the right method for determining impedance control of multi-GHz or multi-Gb boards.
  by Istvan Nagy
  

• Signal Integrity
  Designing PCBs with High-Speed Constraints
  SI rules must take into account signal quality, timing and crosstalk.
  by Patrick Carrier
  

• Cover Story
  Could Printed Electronics Replace Traditional Electronics?
  Over the next 10 years, printed electronics will make gains in RFID, displays, packaging, ICs, and alternative energy. But a glorious future isn't set in stone.
  by Randall Sherman
  

• CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Top 50
  The Trials of 2009
  When it comes time to write the story of the EMS industry in 2009, foremost will be the effects of the recession. The subtext, however, will be the dramatic fall of Elcoteq, whose final chapter is still being written. Plus: The 50 largest EMS companies.
  by Mike Buetow
  

FIRST PERSON

• Caveat Lector
  Tin drums beat louder.
  Mike Buetow

• Database
  Scary thoughts on DfM.
  Pete Waddell

MONEY MATTERS

• Global Sourcing
  Getting vertical.
  Rex Green

• ROI
  Merger mania strikes again.
  Peter Bigelow

TECH TALK

• Designer's Notebook
  Defining PDN impedance.
  Dr. Zhen Mu

• On the Forefront
  Can Japan stay committed to R&D?
  E. Jan Vardaman

• Tech Tips
  Component reliability for RF applications.
  ACI Technologies Inc.

• Solar Technologies
  Frontside silver conductor line efficiency.
  Tom Falcon

DEPARTMENTS

Off the Shelf