The design of high-speed pc boards and systems is tricky business. So tricky, in fact, that it’s taken author Lee Ritchey two whole books to convey his insights into the process. But with the publication of the second and final volume of “Right The First Time,” Ritchey has completed his mission of producing a comprehensive overview of what it takes to manage the process of understanding, designing, and producing a high-speed design that meets specs and is manufacturable.
In the first volume, Ritchey and co-author John Zasio (who produced the section on IC packages) concentrated on the fundamentals of high-speed design, introducing the reader to all of the topics involved (see ED Online 10823). The second volume takes a much more detailed look at the steps involved in designing and manufacturing a high-speed PCB that works the first time. Some material from Vol. 1 is repeated in Vol. 2 in the interest of making it stand alone.
The book's highly pragmatic approach looks at the many “rules of thumb” surrounding PCB design and examines them on their merits. Those that stand up to good engineering practices are reinforced, while those that don’t are soundly debunked.
Loaded with colorful and informative graphics, Vol. 2 of “Right The First Time” combines with its predecessor to deliver a master class in PCB design.
