Embedded.com Tech Focus Newsletter (1-20-14): Challenges of hardware design and debug

PCB hardware design/debug is like the swordplay in a classic swashbuckler movie where the hero fights multiple opponents. Two places to find stories about such PCB derring-do are Embedded.com and the 2014 DesignCon.

Based on his experience with board design, in this series of blogs, Dunstan Power provides some general tips on debugging and troubleshooting hardware problems

The challenges of integrating DDR4 dynamic memory into PCBs are many, but what we’ve learned about routing with DDR2/DDR3 devices can serve as springboards to DDR4-based PCBs.

Determining the exact physical location of a short circuit in a printed circuit board can be fiendishly difficult. The millivolt measurement method described here can help

The circuit designer is on the case when a client’s PCBs inexplicably can’t pass a functional test after three years of trouble-free operation

A look at some popular printed circuit board layout tools by an experienced PCB designer, who evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of some of them and provides tips on some work-arounds as well as features he thinks should be in the perfect PCB tool.

An overview/checklist of PCB design considerations, from planning to signal integrity, electromagnetic interference and ecoupling.

Kelven Li describes a parallel printed circuit board design methodology for use in many small footprint embedded and mobile systems that can ensure that the project cycle meets the original design requirements without exceeding the available resources.

A “correct-by-construction” PCB layout methodology can help designers shorten their design cycles and avoid design iterations between the design and layout stages.

A method to improve signal quality by optimizing components' interconnect paths on a printed circuit board.

This article discusses the disconnect between the digital design engineer's vision of bus structures on the PCB and the failure of tools to capture and route this vision in an efficient manner.

This series of articles discusses the basics of the PCB design flow, from basic terminology to the primary steps required to move an design through the schematic, layout, and manufacturing stages.