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Steve Sandler was recently asked to measure a 25 mH inductor. Read on to find out what happened next.

In this article, John Baprawski reviews various issues when using S-parameter files to represent the channel in a SerDes system channel simulator. Stepping through several detailed examples, he demonstrates how paying close attention to the quality of the S-parameters allows you to have confidence in the derived SerDes design eye diagrams and other analysis methods. 

In this overview of the principles of high-performance PCB layout, Joe Aguilar illustrates thermal design approaches, supplies a synopsis of the power delivery network (PDN), tells strategies for routing high currents with reduced impedance, and provides important considerations for designing effective decoupling capacitance. 

Do I really need to use a power rail probe to measure ripple and noise? Power rail probes are single ended, so does that mean I can only monitor one power rail at a time? Are there other, more affordable options available? In this blog post, Steve Sandler answers to these questions and more.

In this article, Donald Telian shares an excerpt from his new book, “Signal Integrity, In Practice,” exploring how optimizing SES both fixes problems and improves system performance. He posits it’s crucial for hardware and SI engineers to understand how to optimize SES; read on to see why he attributes such importance to it. 

Fiber weave effect (FWE) skew, also known as glass weave skew (GWS), is becoming more of an issue as bit rates continue to soar upwards. Today’s 56 GB/s is state of the art in high-speed routers and 112 GB/s is just around the corner. While next-generation PCIe, used in the personal computer and server industry, is rapidly moving to 64 GT/s. 

Troubleshooting ESD is all about tracing the path of ESD current. In this installment of Practical EMC, Kenneth Wyatt illustrates how this can be done using the HP 457A current tracer probe, or a medium-sized H-field probe, and tracing the path using an oscilloscope. 

In this article, Bert Simonovich shows how using Dkeff calculated from phase or time delay measurement method will lead to inaccurate simulation results for printed circuit board (PCB) transmission lines.

A high percentage of EMI failures are related to structure resonances in a system. This hands-on article reviews work on structure resonances and their EMI impact, presents methods to identify and locate structure resonances, and suggests fixes using practical examples. 

Exceeding the speed limit is the theme of this issue of Signal Integrity Journal (SIJ), and nowhere is speed more of a design concern than for connectors. As connectors get smaller and denser while handling faster speeds, there is a significant chance that signal interference and crosstalk will increase. The following is a compilation of everyone’s thoughts on what’s new, what’s real, and what we should be worried about.