Proactive Electrical Root Cause Analysis is Easier Than You Think

It is a widely accepted fact that PCB design flaws (like clearance, impedance mismatch, return current path discontinuity) manifest into serious electrical issues (reflection, EMI, crosstalk, etc). Owing to the increasing complexity of designs, Engineers find it difficult to probe the root cause of potential electrical problems with traditional approaches like visual inspection, rule-of-thumb, datasheet guidelines, and simulation. With the numerous electrical rules in Altair’s PollEx DFE (Design For Electrical Validity) and DFE+ (Advanced Design for Electrical Validity), we can scan the complete design for SI, PI, EMI, and ESD issues in a few minutes. Such rule-based verification steps complement the traditional simulation techniques by increasing analysis coverage and overall design quality.