Tech Spotlight Summer of FPGAs:
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This poll concerns a recent Tech Spotlight called: Summer of FPGAs -- Tech Spotlight: Samtec Flyover
Technology for FPGA Applications
The rapid increase of bandwidth requirements presents seemingly insurmountable challenges for effective heat management and signal routing, due to lossy printed circuit boards (PCBs), vias, and other components. With a high-speed signal, the PCB's dielectric constant becomes an issue, and traces must be shaped and routed perfectly to avoid EMI/EMC, signal coupling, and crosstalk. Additional factors, such as impedance, attenuation, jitter, intersymbol interference, and reflections all impact signal integrity. As such, system designers use new system architectures to extend the signal reach and density. High-speed data rates are made possible by routing the signals through ultra-low-skew twinax cable assemblies or optical cable assemblies, instead of the potentially lossy traces in PCBs. Allowing data to “fly over” lossy board materials negates the need for layout complexities and limits signal degradation.
Poll Question: What kind of issues have you run into most with signal integrity in PCBs?
Top Comments
I have selected the choice labeled "other", so here is my comment: the issues that I have seen were power integrity effects on degrading the signal integrity of the FPGA high-speed data link
…I also voted "Other", because the choice "All of the above" was missing.
The good thing is, that FPGAs are so flexible that most of those issues can be dealt with internal changes.…
I'm with ciorga- inadequate power, drooping supplies and noise on the power supplies cause me the most grief.