News and New Products

Book provides practical tips on high-speed-pc-board design

By Gabe Moretti -- EDN, 12/11/2003

When developing designs, engineers often face problems they have not previously encountered. Unless you know someone who has successfully solved the problem, you must research the literature for a theoretical hint to the solution or to find a solution by trial and error. Both alternatives are time-consuming and error-prone. Now, Lee W Ritchey has written a book that addresses this issue, using his considerable experience in designing high-speed circuits. Right the First Time: A Practical Handbook on High Speed PC Board and System Design, Volume One presents practical solutions to most of the problems facing developers of high-speed pc-board products.

The author calls this book Volume One because, when he was halfway through writing it, he realized that much more remains to discuss about this topic. Yet, he did not want to either delay the publication or complicate the contents by cramming every hint, solution, and illustration into one book. The book attempts to help electrical and electronics engineers, including pc-board designers, to develop correctly functioning boards without rework. It draws on more than three decades’ worth of Ritchey’s experience in virtual prototyping of high-speed pc boards in all types of products. It discusses all of the steps in the process—from selecting tools to selecting suppliers. It also includes many figures—from schematics to oscilloscope graphs and logic-analyzer outputs—to help you visualize both the problem and the solution.

The 230-pg text also includes a glossary; an extensive bibliography; and appendixes that cover related subjects, such as the description of a plated through hole, how to select a pc-board supplier, and conversion tables. The book sells for $125, and you can order it from the author’s Speeding Edge Web site.

Speeding Edge, 1-707-568-3983, www.speedingedge.com.