PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Since the publication of the first edition of Signal Integrity—Simplified, the principles of signal integrity haven’t changed. What has changed, though, is the prolific use of high-speed serial links and the critical role power integrity now plays in the success or failure of new product introductions.

In addition to fleshing out more details and examples in many of the chapters, especially on differential pairs and losses, two new chapters have been added to this second edition to provide a strong foundation to meet the needs of today’s engineers and designers.

This first new chapter—Chapter 12—provides a thorough introduction to the use of S-parameters in signal-integrity applications. If you deal with any high-speed serial links, you will encounter S-parameters. Because they are written in the foreign language of the frequency domain, they are intimidating to the high-speed digital designer. Chapter 12, like all the chapters in this book, provides a solid foundation in understanding this formalism and enables all engineers to harness the great power of S-parameters.

Chapter 13, the second new chapter, is on power integrity. These issues increasingly fall in the lap of the design engineer. With higher speed applications, interconnects in the power distribution path affect not just power delivery, but also signals’ return paths and passing an EMC certification test.

We start at the beginning and illustrate the role of the power distribution interconnects and how design and technology selection can make or break the performance of the power distribution network. The essential principles of plane impedance, spreading inductance, decoupling capacitors, and the loop inductance of capacitors are introduced. This valuable insight helps feed the intuition of engineers enabling them to apply the power of their creativity to synthesize new designs. Hand in hand with the creation of a design is the analysis of its performance so that cost-performance trade-offs can be explored and the PDN impedance profile can be sculpted to perfection.

If you are new to signal integrity, this second edition of Signal and Power Integrity—Simplified provides your starting place to build a strong foundation and empowers you to get your new signal integrity designs right the first time, every time.