Several events of note are taking place over the next month and might be worth checking out, including DesignCon in Santa Clara, MD&M and related shows in Anaheim, and a series of online presentations from Agilent Technologies.
DesignCon 2012, which I plan to attend, will convene January 30 in Santa Clara. The conference will run through February 2, while exhibits will be open January 31 and February 1. Conference tracks of interest include chip-level design for signal/power integrity; FPGA design and debug; system co-design; PCB design and characterization; high-speed timing, jitter, and noise analysis; EMC; test and measurement methodology; and RF/microwave techniques for signal integrity.
In addition, my colleague Tom Lecklider will be attending nine shows in one in Anaheim the week of February 13. The shows include Medical Design & Manufacturing West, Electronics West, West Pack, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, Automation Technology Expo West, SensorTec, PlasTec West, Aerocon, and Sustainability in Manufacturing.
And if you want to attend an event without leaving the office you can still register for complimentary online sessions presented by Agilent Technologies that will help you contend with digital signals reaching gigabit per second speeds. Presenters will explain how to apply techniques taken from communication science (like adaptive equalization) and tools taken from microwave engineering (like field solvers) to overcome three main design challenges: signal integrity, power integrity, and EMI/EMC. The session “Overcome PI Challenges on Perforated Power/Ground Planes” is scheduled for today, January 19, and “Introduction to EMI/EMC Challenges and Their Solution” is scheduled for February 16. You can also view a recorded version of “Overcome Signal Integrity Challenges in the Multigigabit/s Era,” which was presented December 15, 2011.