RF & Microwave PC Board Design

When designing a very high frequency analog application, in the range of hundreds of MHz to multiple GHz, the key to a fully functional circuit is very high signal integrity. The two areas of paramount importance for high signal integrity are the design of the theoretical circuit and the structure of the printed circuit board. Theoretical circuit design and selection of base materials for the PC Board have long been well understood by informed, practicing RF engineers. Printed circuit design and layout techniques and strategies to achieve the desired goals are less well understood, especially by the printed circuit design community. This class will focus on issues of layout strategy such as line types, components designed into the PCB, the power bus / decoupling, layout and routing strategy, circuit balance, PCB Stack-up and shielding. Understanding of these issues is imperative to achieve fully a functional RF Analog / Microwave circuit. Also, a brief summary of the importance of base materials will be discussed.