Top Most Read White Papers in 2016

1. XPEDITION FLOW - "1Seven Quick Tips for Taking Your PCB Silkscreen from Ordinary to Extraordinary"
   
   It’s hard to imagine a GPS that doesn’t list landmarks, street names, or exit numbers. Every bit of visual information we get from map symbols and text makes navigating easier and faster. The same is true for a PCB, yet too often we overlook the opportunity to provide design information on the silkscreen. This paper describes silkscreen enhancements you can make that will add value at the bare board and assembly levels and from the test bench to the installation. More >>

 

2. HYPERLYNX - "BER and COM Channel Compliance"
   
   This paper, winner of the DesignCon 2016 Best Paper Award, analyzes the computational procedure specified for Channel Operation Margin (COM) and compares it to traditional. More >>

 

3. PADS FLOW - "Eight Steps for Ensuring PCB Design Success"
   
   Printed circuit boards are the backbone of electronics products, providing the electrical system upon which the performance, life span, and reliability of the end product depend. When designed correctly, products with high-quality circuitry will have lower field failure rates and fewer field returns, resulting in lower cost and higher profit for you. This paper discusses the eight steps you can take to ensure PCB design success. More >>

 

4. HYPERLYNX - "DDR4 Board Design and Signal Integrity Verification Challenges"
   
   This paper, originally presented at DesignCon and nominated for a best paper award, includes an investigation of DDR4's Pseudo Open Drain driver and what its use means for power consumption and Vref levels for the receivers. This paper also examines a DDR4 system design example and the need for simulating with IBIS power aware models versus transistor level models for Simultaneous Switching Noise characterization. More >>

 

5. XPEDITION FLOW - "Improving Profitability With PCB Design Best Practices"
   
   This Aberdeen report leverages results of a global industry survey to offer guidance for achieving objectives by improving the PCB design process. Specifically, how Best-in-Class companies implement best practices that address system design, design data management, collaboration, virtual prototyping, and design for manufacturability. See how you match up against the competition: Aberdeen Assessment. More >>

 

6. PADS FLOW - "The Need for Speed: Strategies for Design Efficiency"
   
   Years of experience with one EDA tool obviously develops efficiency and makes you accustomed to the intricacies (good and bad) of your PCB design tool. However, with the development pace of today's technology, there comes a time when you need to consider a change to incorporate the latest methodologies. Reprinted with permission from The PCB Design Magazine, this article looks at productivity issues that impede the PCB design process. More >>

 

7. ANALOG FASTSPICE - "Ten Common Device Noise Analysis Mistakes"
   
   Device noise is critical in nanometer-scale CMOS processes, and it fundamentally limits the performance of many circuits at 45 nm and below. Given the right tools, device noise analysis (DNA) is a fairly straightforward process that should produce results that are within 1 dB to 2 dB of silicon measurements. However, there are a number of common mistakes that can lead to grossly overestimating or underestimating the device noise impact—leading to substantial over-design and under-design. There are three basic types of DNA. Transient noise analysis is a statistical time-based technique that applies to every type of circuit. Transient noise analysis is the only device noise analysis applicable to non-periodic circuits. For periodic-driven circuits, such as charge pumps and switched-capacitor filters, periodic noise analysis is generally much faster and provides better diagnostic information than transient noise analysis. Similarly, for periodicautonomous circuits, oscillator noise analysis is much faster and provides better diagnostic information (e.g., device contribution and sensitivity analysis) than transient noise analysis. Since transient noise analysis is applicable to all types of circuits, it provides a good way to cross-check results for periodic circuits and oscillators. Used correctly, all of these techniques should produce results within 1 dB to 2 dB of silicon measurements. More >>

 

8. TANNER - "Addressing the Challenges of IoT Design"
   
   TInternet of Things (IoT) designs mesh together several design domains in order to successfully develop a product. Individually, these design domains are challenging. Bringing them all together to create an IoT product can place extreme pressure on design teams. The Tanner design flow is architected to seamlessly work in any of these design domains by employing an integrated design flow for design, simulation, layout, and verification. Using a racing team tire pressure system, this paper walks you through this design flow, pointing out the unique solutions to IoT design. More >>

 

9. CAPITAL - "A Holistic Approach to Vehicle System Design"
   
   This paper describes an approach to vehicle system design that uses standardized, hierarchical functions as a single level to describe electrical, electronic, and software content. Domain-specific implementation levels are then generated in a synthesis process, and evaluated using suitable metrics. The focus is on rapid, iterative optimization and on cross-domain architecture evaluation and validation. More >>

 

10. VALOR MSS - "The Internet of Things for Electronics Manufacturing"
    
    What does the “Internet of Things” mean for electronics manufacturing? In this white paper, you will learn how your organization can overcome the bottleneck of establishing efficient machine-to-machine and machine-to-human communication. Standardized data exchange over distributed servers to many different access points is what makes the Internet effective and useful. Similarly, for the “Internet of Manufacturing” to work, each production machine and process has to be able to distribute information quickly and efficiently to provide clients with the information they may need. More>>

 

11. VALOR MSS - "OML—An Internet of Manufacturing Solution for PCB Assembly"
    
    The Open Manufacturing Language (OML) is a real-time communication standard for PCB manufacturing that defines the interconnectivity of assembly production processes and enterprise IT systems. For the first time, IT teams, solution providers, and equipment providers can easily integrate shop-floor data to create manufacturing execution solutions based on a single, normalized, vendor-neutral communication interface. OML development is based on many years of PCB assembly shop-floor communication experience, where information from production processes has been gathered in real time and applied to real-world manufacturing shop-floor solutions such as finite production planning, Lean material management, quality management, and full materials and production traceability. This paper describes the basics of OML, as well as real-world uses and values to which it can be applied. Also, check out the OML community. Join for free and download the OML standard, visit omlcommunity.org. More >>

 

 

12. TANNER - "Analog-to-Digital Conversion is Key for Deep Space Exploration with the James Webb Space Telescope"
    
    Reflect back to your last design project. Did it have leading-edge requirements that seemed impossible at the time to fulfill? Now think about a design that needs to live in the harsh environment of space. A device that has to sip power and function flawlessly for over a decade because there is no opportunity to service it if anything goes wrong. That is the set of requirements that faced Dr. Lanny Lewyn, founder of Lewyn Consulting Incorporated (LCI), when his company was selected to design a key piece of the James Webb Space Telescope: an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for an image system. This case study documents the methodology that he employed to successfully design this ADC using the Tanner design flow. More >>

 

13. ANALOG FASTSPICE - "Analog FastSPICE Platform Full-Circuit PLL Verification"
    
    Phase-locked loops (PLLs) use negative feedback to generate periodic signals for synchronization and as frequency references in IC designs. PLLs provide clocking in digital systems like CPUs, data converters (analog-to-digital converters and digital-to-analog converters), and high-speed I/Os). PLL-based frequency synthesizers are used in wireless applications such as cellular transceivers, WiFi transceivers, TV tuners, and RF receivers. More >>

 

14. MAD FLOTHERM - "10 Tips for Streamlining PCB Thermal Design… A High-Level ‘How To’ Guide"
    
    Many aspects of a PCB’s performance are determined during detailed design, e.g. making a trace a specific length for timing reasons. Timing issues are also affected by temperature differences between components. Thermal issues with the PCB design are largely ‘locked in’ during the component (i.e. chip package) selection and layout phases. After this point only remedial actions are possible if components are found to run too hot. We advocate a top-down approach starting at the system or enclosure level [Ref. 1] in order to understand the flow environment for the electronics, which is critical for air-cooled electronics. Assumptions made about the uniformity of the airflow in early design that subsequently proves unachievable can have a disastrous impact on the commercial viability of the product and meeting the market window. More >>

 

15. MAD FLOEFD - "Automotive Lighting Q&A – Everything you wanted to know"
    
    The main challenges with LED’s are to maintain a high color stability and life expectancy, alongside this it is also paramount for LED’s to have lifelong durability. To find out more read on. More >>

 

 

Quick links to the papers

XPEDITION FLOW	Seven Quick Tips for Taking Your PCB Silkscreen from Ordinary to Extraordinary
HYPERLYNX	BER and COM Channel Compliance
PADS FLOW	Eight Steps for Ensuring PCB Design Success
HYPERLYNX	DDR4 Board Design and Signal Integrity Verification Challenges
XPEDITION FLOW	Improving Profitability With PCB Design Best Practices
PADS FLOW	The Need for Speed: Strategies for Design Efficiency
ANALOG FASTSPICE	Ten Common Device Noise Analysis Mistakes
TANNER	Addressing the Challenges of IoT Design
CAPITAL	A Holistic Approach to Vehicle System Design
VALOR MSS	The Internet of Things for Electronics Manufacturing
VALOR MSS	OML—An Internet of Manufacturing Solution for PCB Assembly
TANNER	Analog-to-Digital Conversion is Key for Deep Space Exploration with the James Webb Space Telescope
ANALOG FASTSPICE	Analog FastSPICE Platform Full-Circuit PLL Verification
MAD FLOTHERM	10 Tips for Streamlining PCB Thermal Design… A High-Level ‘How To’ Guide
MAD FLOEFD	Automotive Lighting Q&A – Everything you wanted to know