Real Time With... DesignCon 2010
Video Index

Guest Editor Eric Bogatin talks with 3M's Joel Peiffer about their C-Ply High Performance Material. This embedded capacitor material consists of an epoxy/ceramic dielectric sandwiched between two layers of copper.

It bends but it does not break? Clark Webster of AllFlex and PCBDesign007 Guest Editor Kelly Dack examine some important attributes of flex circuit construction.

You might not expect to find Greg Papandrew, president of Bare Board Group, at a show like DesignCon. But Greg says this Silicon Valley show draws many of his customers, as well as potential customers.

DownStream Technologies is exhibiting at DesignCon for the first time. Founder Rick Almeida explains why, and he also offers insights into how PCB documentation is becoming a greater concern for engineering managers—especially as designers and EEs spend more time doing documentation rather than designing PCBs.

Glenn Oliver explains how a new Kapton/Teflon composite can benefit those with challenging high-speed dielectric requirements.

Hunter Technology President Joe O'Neill has spent a lot of time and money lobbying Congress on behalf of the PCB fabrication and assembly sectors. One of the fruits of this lobbying effort is the Department of Defense's new PCB Executive Agent program. Joe details why the program is important and what electronics supply chain companies stand to gain by its full funding from Congress.

A new technology has been introduced where PCBs are now being printed by roll-to-roll inkjet printing, creating flexible circuits on polyimide film. Is the age of inkjet circuitry upon us? Inkjet Flex’s Joel Yocom sits down with PCBDesign007 Guest Editor Kelly Dack to investigate the realities of inkjet PCBs.

Oak-Mitsui’s John Andresakis (VP, Strategic Technologies and 2011 chair of DesignCon’s PCB Summit) discusses the increasing interest designers are showing in PCB materials, processing, measurement of dielectric constant and how these elements affect the final design.

Designers are now using tools Polar originally created for PCB fabricators. The company has grown closer to its engineering base as it continues to develop for a changing design landscape. Performance enhancements and user productivity improvements are the focus this year.

R&D Circuits decided to exhibit at DesignCon for the first time this year after presenting a paper last year. Sales Manager Tom Bresnan discusses the reasons his company is exhibiting at an event focused on system design—and how the decision has paid off on the first day of the show.

Design engineers often struggle with PCB performance issues when designing new products. Dr. Allen Horn presented a paper that examined the effect of conductors on PCB performance. Find out what DesignCon attendees learned from his research.

Rogers introduced a new high-speed laminate material at this year’s DesignCon. Market Development Manager Sean Mirshafiei discusses the new Theta material’s attributes and applications.

PCB Summit Chairman, Sanmina's George Dudnikov, discusses the success of DesignCon's first foray into PCB technologies. The PCB Summit provided an opportunity for board designers to learn about the latest PCB technologies.

PCBDesign007 cameras capture Jure Sola's keynote.

Flexible circuitry has drawn a good deal of attention at DesignCon. Dr. Eric Bogatin interviews Tadashi Kimura of Yamaichi Electronics, and the two discuss various flexible interconnect solutions that designers might not be aware of.

Tom Hanighen is a DesignCon attendee with a story. His company, Flashline Electronics, offers full turnkey services: design, fabrication and assembly. He sits down with EMS007 Editor Steve Gold to give his perspective on what is quickly becoming a new North American EMS model: virtual EMS services.

3-D was the rage at last month's CES Show and still is in theaters showing Avatar. Agilent drew a crowd to its booth with really cool 3-D glasses and brilliant 3-D images. But what's the benefit for designers? Signal Integrity Product Manager Colin Warwick explains how his company's 3-D ADS software will give users a really clear insight into 3-D structures where 2-D planar views are currently failing.

Mike Resso, signal integrity applications scientist with Agilent Technologies, demonstrates the company's latest four-port vector network analyzer, capable of measuring test fixtures up to 50 GHz. Its TRL calibration wizard allows users to place the reference plane in the measurement anywhere in the DUT.

Apache Design Solutions provides tools for designers of boards, ICs and packages -- three divergent groups of designers. Dian Yang, senior vice president and general manager for Apache, details the challenges its users face, and how the company deals with the cultural differences between these disciplines.

Guest Editor Eric Bogatin talks with Don DeGroot about his unique testing service business focused on electrical material characterizations.

PCB designers and design engineers have been known to point the accusatory finger of blame at one another, especially during respins or after the board fails the smoke test. But Rick Hartley says neither camp is blameless, and both have much more to learn. Rick explains how the classes at DesignCon 2010 address many of these issues.

There are a myriad of ways to analyze the impedance of power and ground planes. But some methods just aren’t practical for you and your design. Bruce Archambeault, distinguished engineer with IBM, details some of the analysis methods he discussed during a special session at DesignCon.

Rather than tell engineers how to do better simulations, Intel Principal Engineer Richard Mellitz examines the conceptual mechanisms of crosstalk: what exists on the board, what exists in a product and what causes problems. Find out about the different types of crosstalk and what you can do about it

In light of Mentor's recent acquisition of Zeland, Dave Kohlmeier and Steve Kaufer discuss the future of Mentor's enhanced high-speed analysis tools.

Mentor Graphics was a finalist in the DesignVision Awards at DesignCon 2009. But this year, Mentor's HyperLynx PI power integrity tool took home the gold in the System Modeling and Simulation Tool category. Steve Kaufer, Director of Engineering for HyperLynx products, has more on Mentor's big win.

Edge connectors have traditionally been plagued by discontinuities. Molex Director of Engineering David Dunham explains how his new connector minimizes discontinuities by the way the signal is transmitted--at speeds of up to 25 gigabits per second.

Bhavesh Mistry talks about a recent National Instruments acquisition and its new Multisim II capabilities.

Designers must have a better understanding of fabrication concerns when selecting PCB materials. PCBDesign007 Guest Editor Kelly Dack asks important design questions to Prototron Engineering Liaison Mark Thompson. Dielectric constants, CTE levels, and solder mask selection are all discussed in technical detail.

Guest Editor Eric Bogatin talks with Jamal Izadian about his company's unique connection systems which provide the highest level of signal integrity over the entire spectrum, by providing the widest and cleanest eye diagram to 100’s of Gbps data rates.

Dr. Michael Steinberger talks with Kelly Dack about how SiSoft is staying ahead and contributing to the IBIS/AMI modeling standard.

Thanks to the potential for reflections, shorter serial links are not always better. SiSoft covered this issue and others in papers presented during DesignCon 2010. SiSoft VP of Software Products Todd Westerhoff sat down with Guest Editor Eric Bogatin to discuss SiSoft's presentations.

Sigrity is known for its signal integrity tools, but the company is also growing its power integrity offerings. Brad Brim, product marketing manager, and Dr. An-Yu Kuo, director of thermal and mechanical products, discuss the company's latest power integrity tools.

Sunstone product manager Nolan Johnson discusses what designers and fabricators must do to streamline communication in order to yield profitability.

Guest Editor Eric Bogatin interviews Nick Langston, Dir of Engineering at TechDream about their new product EMI Stream which focuses on EMI simulation and power integrity.

Chad Morgan, an engineer with Tyco, shows off an innovative 25 GHz high-speed connector solution.

Today’s semiconductors are tinier and more complex than ever before. Virage Logic CEO Alex Shubat, one of DesignCon’s keynote speakers, explains how the company helps engineers squeeze even more IP into semiconductors, and why he’s looking forward to 2010.

3-D was the rage at last month's CES Show and still is in theaters showing Avatar. Agilent drew a crowd to its booth with really cool 3-D glasses and brilliant 3-D images. But what's the benefit for designers? Signal Integrity Product Manager Colin Warwick explains how his company's 3-D ADS software will give users a really clear insight into 3-D structures where 2-D planar views are currently failing.

Mike Resso, signal integrity applications scientist with Agilent Technologies, demonstrates the company's latest four-port vector network analyzer, capable of measuring test fixtures up to 50 GHz. Its TRL calibration wizard allows users to place the reference plane in the measurement anywhere in the DUT.

DownStream Technologies is exhibiting at DesignCon for the first time. Founder Rick Almeida explains why, and he also offers insights into how PCB documentation is becoming a greater concern for engineering managers—especially as designers and EEs spend more time doing documentation rather than designing PCBs.

Glenn Oliver explains how a new Kapton/Teflon composite can benefit those with challenging high-speed dielectric requirements.

There are a myriad of ways to analyze the impedance of power and ground planes. But some methods just aren’t practical for you and your design. Bruce Archambeault, distinguished engineer with IBM, details some of the analysis methods he discussed during a special session at DesignCon.

A new technology has been introduced where PCBs are now being printed by roll-to-roll inkjet printing, creating flexible circuits on polyimide film. Is the age of inkjet circuitry upon us? Inkjet Flex’s Joel Yocom sits down with PCBDesign007 Guest Editor Kelly Dack to investigate the realities of inkjet PCBs.

In light of Mentor's recent acquisition of Zeland, Dave Kohlmeier and Steve Kaufer discuss the future of Mentor's enhanced high-speed analysis tools.

Mentor Graphics was a finalist in the DesignVision Awards at DesignCon 2009. But this year, Mentor's HyperLynx PI power integrity tool took home the gold in the System Modeling and Simulation Tool category. Steve Kaufer, Director of Engineering for HyperLynx products, has more on Mentor's big win.

Designers must have a better understanding of fabrication concerns when selecting PCB materials. PCBDesign007 Guest Editor Kelly Dack asks important design questions to Prototron Engineering Liaison Mark Thompson. Dielectric constants, CTE levels, and solder mask selection are all discussed in technical detail.

R&D Circuits decided to exhibit at DesignCon for the first time this year after presenting a paper last year. Sales Manager Tom Bresnan discusses the reasons his company is exhibiting at an event focused on system design—and how the decision has paid off on the first day of the show.

Rogers introduced a new high-speed laminate material at this year’s DesignCon. Market Development Manager Sean Mirshafiei discusses the new Theta material’s attributes and applications.

PCBDesign007 cameras capture Jure Sola's keynote.

Sunstone product manager Nolan Johnson discusses what designers and fabricators must do to streamline communication in order to yield profitability.