Whether you’re early in the design process or troubleshooting an assembly problem, Sierra Circuits understands the importance of controlled impedance for high-frequency PCBs and is here to help you out.
Sierra Circuits can:
Sierra Circuits understands the importance of controlled impedance and has developed a toolkit to help you optimize costs to preserve signal integrity.
Get precise options for cost-optimized stack-up structures! Our Stackup Designer has an integrated Impedance Calculator to get desired impedance and trace/space values on any signal layer.
Calculate your trace widths, single-ended or differential impedances – for both microstrip and stripline models – and other parameters such as the dielectric height, the dielectric constant, and the trace thickness.
Search and compare properties and specs for 60+ board materials to fit your application. Get specs for dielectric constant, dissipation factor, glass transition temperature, decomposition temperature, moisture absorption, and more.
Every day, PCB designs and components become smaller, faster – in other words, more complicated. It is now crucial to slow certain circuits down in order to allow specific functions of components to perform before others. The time of simple interconnecting traces and conductors is over.
Typically, you will need controlled impedance for PCBs used in high-speed digital applications, such as RF communication, telecommunications, computing using signal frequencies above 100 MHz, high-speed signal processing, high-quality analog video, etc.
At high-frequency signals, the signal traces on a PCB act like transmission lines, which have an impedance at each point on the signal trace trajectory. If this impedance varies from one point to the next one, there will be a signal reflection whose magnitude will depend on the difference between the two impedances. The larger the difference is, the greater the reflection will be. This reflection will travel in the opposite direction of the signal, which means that the reflected signal will superimpose on the main signal.
As a result, the original signal will be distorted: the signal intended to be sent from the transmitter side would have changed once it gets to the receiver side. The distortion may be so much that the signal may not be able to perform the desired function. Therefore, to have an undistorted signal travel, it is essential that the PCB signal traces have a uniform controlled impedance to minimize signal distortions caused by reflections. This is the first step to improve the integrity of the signals on the PCB traces.
Engineers at the world’s most innovative companies choose Sierra Circuits to wrangle the impedance issues on their prototypes, right here in the USA.
Bring your high-frequency circuits to life.
The time of simple interconnecting traces and conductors is over. With high-speed PCBs, it is crucial to slow certain circuits down to allow specific functions of components to perform before others.
Impedance control is required for high-speed PCBs used in:
Sierra Circuits engineers know the importance of controlled impedance and will help you efficiently design and manufacture your boards with industry-leading impedance tolerances.
Our 70,000 sqft state-of-the-art campus in the heart of Silicon Valley contains the most advanced equipment required for the manufacture and assembly of your PCBs. Whether you’re looking for standard quick turn PCBs or boards with the tightest tolerances, made from exotic metals, there’s a reason Sierra Circuits leads the industry in quality and performance.
Let us help you get control of your signal distortion with controlled impedance. Upload your data and receive a free consultation and review of your design today.
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