Licky's Column

How To Prevent Short Circuits To Ground In QFN Components?

by Licky Li

How To Prevent Short Circuits To Ground In QFN Components?

How To Prevent Short Circuits To Ground In QFN Components? In the PCB layout design stage, the designer should consider adding the same size expos...

PCB DFM VS PCBA DFA: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

by Licky Li

PCB DFM VS PCBA DFA: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

In most recent times, the terms DFM (Design for manufacture), DFA (Design for assembly) and, more widely, DFX (Design for Excellence) have appeared...

The electronic analog of the push-button switcher

by Licky Li

The electronic analog of the push-button switcher

The electronic analogue of the push-button switcher allows you to selectively turn on one or another load from several possible ones, while simulta...

555 triangle generator with adjustable frequency, waveshape, and amplitude

by Licky Li

555 triangle generator with adjustable frequency, waveshape, and amplitude

A design idea with a 555 analog timer that can generate an arbitrary triangle/sawtooth with its waveshape and frequency controlled by pots. If you ...

A short primer on analog current conveyor circuits

by Licky Li

A short primer on analog current conveyor circuits

Current conveyor (CC) circuits are among the most common current-mode circuits and are used as critical building blocks in a variety of complex cir...

Predicting VDS switching spike with SPICE simulation

by Licky Li

Predicting VDS switching spike with SPICE simulation

One of the primary goals for the power supply industry is to bring higher power conversion efficiency and power density to power devices in applica...

Routing RF Lines for Radio-Over-Fiber Systems

by Licky Li

Routing RF Lines for Radio-Over-Fiber Systems

Routing into these two types of systems involves routing an RF signal into two possible types of components: An SMA connector, preferrably a verti...

LVDS to LVPECL, CML, and Single-Ended Conversions

by Licky Li

LVDS to LVPECL, CML, and Single-Ended Conversions

Translating LVDS to LVPECL, CML, or Other Differential Standard The goal in any translation between differential logic families is impedance matchi...

Routing Differential Microstrip Traces with Controlled Impedance

by Licky Li

Routing Differential Microstrip Traces with Controlled Impedance

Differential Microstrip Traces Require Controlled Impedance Coming up with the correct trace widths and spacing between the pairs is important when...

Design RF PCBs With a Coplanar Waveguide Calculator

by Licky Li

Design RF PCBs With a Coplanar Waveguide Calculator

What is a Coplanar Waveguide Calculator? A coplanar waveguide is a simple routing style where a trace is routed on the surface layer and surrounded...

How to Design and Route Your RF Filter PCB Layout?

by Licky Li

How to Design and Route Your RF Filter PCB Layout?

RF PCBs and mixed-signal systems are challenging for many designers. Careful attention must be paid to the PCB stackup design, process for designin...

The Digital Engineer's Guide to RF PCB Design Guidelines: Layout and Routing

by Licky Li

The Digital Engineer's Guide to RF PCB Design Guidelines: Layout and Routing

Getting Started With RF Layout Guidelines When you’re starting an RF PCB layout, there are some considerations that are typical for any board. How ...