SEATTLE -- The Cascade Chapter of the IPC Designers Council will holding a meeting Sept. 18. Our guest speaker for the evening will be Robert Hanson. Robert is one of the frequent presenters at PCB West and attends our Chapter meetings.

Robert will be presenting the following: "Differential Signaling - Tradeoffs for Optimization of Signal Quality and Routing." The meeting will held on September 18th from 5:45-8:45pm at Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland in Room A102. There is no charge for this event although donations are greatly appreciated.  Please come join us and expand your knowledge and design experience.

We've got dinner covered for you so all we ask is that you please sign up through our web site and come join us.

Web Site: http://cascade-ipcdc.org

Meeting Agenda

5:45p to 6:00p             Dinner served. Sponsored By Cadence

6:00p to 8:30p             Presentation

8:30p to 8:40p             Q&A/Roundtable discussion

8:40 to 8:45p               Door prize drawings

Differential Signaling

Tradeoffs for Optimization of Signal Quality and Routing

Robert Hanson, MSEE, Instructor

During this seminar, attendees will learn about the attributes of loosely/tightly coupled differential pairs; definitions and examples of differential and common mode voltage, current and differential impedance – both odd and even modes. The advantages and disadvantages of edge (side-by-side), broadside (dual), asymmetric and microstrip differentials will be discussed. Pertinent topics regarding reflections and crosstalk in differentials will be included. Metastability, clock skew, driver skew, bit pattern sensitivity, ISI, skin effect, dielectric constant, jitter, BER, and the eye diagram are part of the session. Other topics that will be discussed include matching electrical lengths, differential unbalance, controlling Zo, differential/common mode radiation, transversing connectors, and other signal quality issues and design guides.

You will learn:

·         All voltage, impedance, and current definitions for differential signaling.

·         Comparison of Edge, Broadside, Asymmetric, and Microstrip differential layouts and effectiveness in controlling crosstalk and radiated emissions.

·         How to overcome differential unbalance.

·         How to control Zo when switching from loosely coupled to tightly coupled (and vice versa) differential layouts.

·         The major drawback when using broadside differentials.

·         Why differential signaling is essential for long haul, high-speed transmission lines.