Practical Techniques for Ensuring Power Integrity in High-Speed Designs

Mike Schnecker

Business Development Manager
Rohde & Schwarz

Amit Bahl

CRO
Sierra Circuits

As signal speeds increase and power rails shrink, maintaining power integrity (PI) becomes a critical challenge in high-speed PCB design. This webinar hosted in collaboration with Rohde & Schwarz dives into both the design and measurement strategies essential for a robust power delivery network (PDN).

We’ll begin by identifying common hurdles that can disrupt PI, including simultaneous switching noise (SSN), voltage ripple, ground bounce, and EMI. From there, we’ll explore practical techniques to minimize power rail noise through careful power plane design, optimized stack-ups, and understanding return path behavior. Additional focus will be placed on managing loop inductance, via stubs, and effective decoupling capacitor placement to stabilize the PDN.

Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate how to characterize and validate your design using both frequency-domain and time-domain analysis. You’ll learn how to measure PDN impedance using vector network analyzers (VNAs), and evaluate transient response and voltage droop, and interpret impedance profiles and switching noise. The session will also cover best practices for probing and instrumentation to ensure accurate and repeatable PI measurements.

What you’ll learn:

• Hurdles that could disrupt power integrity
• Techniques for designing power planes to minimize power rail noise
• Optimizing high-speed stack-ups for power integrity
• Managing via stubs and loop inductance in PDN
• Decoupling capacitor placement strategies for PDN stability
• Measuring PDN noise with an oscilloscope
• Best practices for PDN probing
• PDN impedance and its impact on noise and stability
• Measuring PDN impedance using a VNA or oscilloscope
• Measurement examples

Meet the presenters

Mike Schnecker, Business Development Manager at Rohde & Schwarz

Mike Schnecker has a BS from Lehigh University and an MS from Georgia Tech, both in electrical engineering. His experience in the test and measurement industry includes applications, sales and product development and he has specialized in signal integrity applications using oscilloscopes and other instruments. Prior to joining Rohde & Schwarz, Mr. Schnecker held positions at LeCroy and Tektronix.

Amit Bahl, CRO at Sierra Circuits

Amit Bahl, widely recognized as the PCB Guy, currently serves as the Chief Revenue Officer at Sierra Circuits. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering from UCLA in 1997, launching his career in Silicon Valley’s tech industry. In 2009, he assumed the role of Director of Sales and Marketing at Sierra Circuits, with a dedicated focus on democratizing design for manufacturing best practices and guidelines for PCB designers and engineers.

Assuming the position of Chief Revenue Officer since 2022, Amit’s mission persists: to simplify the PCB design journey for all stakeholders. His unwavering dedication continues to drive Sierra Circuits as a trusted resource for the PCB design community.