Latest IC Design Technical Articles

Introduction to Double Date Rate (DDR) Memory

Learn about double date rate (DDR) memory key concepts and applications surrounding this digital communication technique, where two data words are transferred during one clock cycle.

5 days ago by Robert Keim

Investigating Lossless Transmission Line Phase Constant and Infinite Bandwidth

Learn how to derive the wave equations for a lossless transmission line and look at its infinite bandwidth and phase constant.

January 27, 2023 by Dr. Steve Arar

A Primer on Digital Pulse Amplitude Modulation

An encoding technique used for digital communication, pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) converts a discrete-time signal into a variable-amplitude continuous-time signal that is suitable for high-speed wired communication systems.

January 22, 2023 by Robert Keim

From Parallel to Serial and Back Again: Understanding SerDes

Serialization/deserialization circuitry, known collectively as SerDes, provides important benefits for digital communication systems, especially when high data rates are required.

January 15, 2023 by Robert Keim

RF Design Basics—Introduction to Transmission Lines

Learn about voltage waves and how they relate to an important basic concept of radio frequency (RF) circuit design: transmission lines.

January 13, 2023 by Dr. Steve Arar

An Introduction to Current Sources

Current sources are less familiar than voltage sources like batteries and AC wall power. Current sources usually are buried, unseen, inside electronic circuitry. Learn what they are and how they are designed.

January 02, 2023 by Harry Trietley

What is Clock Skew? Understanding Clock Skew in a Clock Distribution Network

Learn about clock skew, what it is, and its impact on modern systems through understanding synchronous circuitry, clock delivery, and clock distribution networks.

October 21, 2022 by Jake Hertz

Introduction to Temperature Sensors: Thermistors, Thermocouples, RTDs, and Thermometer ICs

Learn about different temperature sensors, namely: thermistors, thermocouples, RTDs (resistive temperature detectors), analog thermometer ICs and digital thermometer ICs.

September 16, 2022 by Nick Davis

Analyzing 2nd-Order Circuits in Laplace Space Using Python

Learn about simplifying the mathematics of circuit analysis using the Laplace transform, Python, and SymPy using a series RLC circuit as an example.

August 07, 2022 by Darby Hewitt

The Basics of Electrical Engineering Standards

Get a high-level introduction to how standards play into the EE world.

June 24, 2022 by John Woodgate

An Introduction to RISC-V—Understanding RISC’s Open ISA

This article is a primer into the basics of RISC-V. The open architecture philosophy is exposed, along with a technical description of the modular ISA, and some commercial RISC-V microprocessor implementations.

June 12, 2022 by Eduardo Corpeño

PCB Layout Challenges—Improve Your Switched-mode Power Supply Designs

Switched-mode power supplies (SMPS) appear simple to route on your PCB, but are they? This article identifies two noise sources and simple fixes to improve your EMC performance.

June 02, 2022 by Adrian Gibbons

Hazards in Combinational Logic Circuits

This article covers undesired switching events, known as hazards, that can occur when developing combinational logic circuits.

December 30, 2021 by Dale Wilson

Combinational Logic Circuit Design and Simulation Using Gates

Gate-level implementation of logic functions is limited by the gate fan-in. This article examines logic factoring, grouping, and level increases to implement logic functions with limited input gates.

December 29, 2021 by Dale Wilson

Physically Unclonable Functions: Classification, Evaluation, and Tradeoffs in PUFs

In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at how PUFs are classified, the attributes that make a “good” PUF, and design tradeoffs.

July 18, 2021 by Jake Hertz

An Introduction to Physically Unclonable Functions

In this article, we’ll discuss the PUF or physically unclonable function and how it boosts hardware security in ICs.

June 14, 2021 by Jake Hertz

An Introduction to Switched-capacitor Circuits

In this series of articles, we’ll discuss one of the fundamental building blocks of analog IC design: the switched-capacitor circuit.

April 21, 2021 by Jake Hertz

Modeling Hysteresis in SPICE

Modeling hysteresis in SPICE can be difficult when you're dealing with a multivalued transfer function. In this article, we'll teach you a way to "cheat" to get around this issue.

January 22, 2021 by Kevin Aylward

How Junction-to-Ambient Thermal Resistance of an IC Package Affects Thermal Performance

Assessing the thermal performance of an IC package becomes easier if you understand this common, but often misapplied, parameter known as theta JA.

December 27, 2020 by Dr. Steve Arar

Basics of IC Design Flows

This series will give you foundational information about the concept of integrated circuit (IC) design flows across types of IC.

December 09, 2020 by Jean-Jacques DeLisle