What is high speed PCB design?

First, let’s clarify what high speed PCB design is. For simplicity, see the list of features below. If you can check at least one of these, you will know what we are talking about in this article.

HDMI, Ethernet, SATA, PCI Express, USB, thunderbolt and other high-speed interfaces are used for fast data transmission.

The circuit consists of several sub circuits, which are connected with each other through high speed interfaces (LVDS, DSI, CSI, SDIO, DDR3, etc.).

The signal propagation time in orbit is at least 1 / 3 of the signal rise time.

The frequency of digital signal is above 50MHz.

The size of printed circuit boards is very small, and the location of components becomes a real challenge (especially when you encounter high-speed interface layouts).

To sum up, the high speed PCB design has been applied to the equipment with high-speed interface working at high frequency. In this way, the amount of data and transmission speed mean the world.

High speed PCB design refers to any design whose signal integrity begins to be affected by the physical characteristics of the circuit board (such as layout, packaging, layer stacking, interconnection, etc.). Encounter delay, attenuation, crosstalk, reflection or emission problems, and then congratulations! You have found yourself in the field of high-speed PCB design.

The reason why high-speed design is so unique is the attention paid to these problems. You may be used to designing a simple circuit board, most of which focuses on the placement and wiring of components. However, with high-speed design, it is more important to accurately consider the location, width, distance from other signals and the type of components connected. Moreover, when you have to consider such problems, your PCB design process will reach a new height.