Fast Circuit Boards

Preface

If you are reading this preface you are probably involved in designing and laying out logic circuit boards. I have a story to tell you which you will not find on the internet or in other books. What I have to say has been put to practice and it works. It is not complicated but it is different. In this book, I ask you to go back to the basics so that I can explain the future. I hope you are willing to put forth the effort to go down this path.

I would like to thank my wife Elizabeth for her encouragement and help. She never complained when I spent days on end at my computer writing and rewriting. It takes a lot of dedicated time to write a book.

I would like to thank Dan Beeker of NXP Semiconductors. He is a principal engineer in Automotive Field Engineering. I have given many seminars arranged by Dan over the years. Using the material in my seminars he has been very effective in helping designers avoid problems. His experiences are proof that the material in this book, when put to practice, really works. His success has spurred me on. Highlights of this understanding are blocked out in the text as Insights.

This book presents some ideas that I have not seen in print or heard at conferences. I know that this does not prove that these ideas are new or novel. It could mean that I have not talked to the right people. My contact with engineers tells me they mainly come out of the same molds in school. The basic math and physics that is taught revolves around differential ...