Departments Archives - In Compliance Magazine

Quarter-Wavelength Impedance Matching Networks

This article describes a loss-less impedance matching technique that does not require the use of discrete components but instead uses cables or printed circuit board (PCB) traces, i.e., distributed elements or transmission lines.

What To Do When Your Product Must Comply with Conflicting Requirements

As a compliance engineering professional, you may encounter situations when you must consider how multiple and often conflicting requirements apply to your product and how to deal with them effectively.

Most Important PCB Layer Stack-up Considerations That Achieve Optimal EMC Performance

There are many books and other reference materials available that describe proper printed circuit board (PCB) layer stack-ups to achieve EMC compliance (see References and Further Reading section located at the end of this article for a list of a few of them).... Read More...

Signal Integrity Versus EMC

This article addresses two very common questions involving two interrelated and specialized sub-fields within the realm of compliance engineering.

Use of Ferrites in PCB Reference Planes

Should the reference (i.e., ground) plane be split into two separate sections and a ferrite bead installed between them to prevent unwanted radio frequency emissions? Let’s examine why this practice is not a good idea and should be avoided at all costs.

Proper Heatsink Grounding

A common question in new product development is, “How do I properly ground the heatsink?” As a practicing compliance professional, this is an important question to have at least an idea of how to respond.

Post-layout Signal Integrity/Power Integrity Simulation Software Expectations

Discover the most important post-layout elements when selecting a SI/PI software simulation package.

Proper Oscilloscope Triggering

A common problem experienced by novice oscilloscope users is the inability to effectively capture signals we're trying to measure.

Leadership Best Practices

To learn more about leadership, the author read as many leadership books as he could for one year. He planned to learn what the latest leadership best practices were and become a more effective leader at the end of it all, or at least be set up to become a better leader as time progressed.

How to Select Absorbing Materials for Retrofitting

If you think you’re ever going to need to use flexible RF absorber sheets to help your product pass emissions, even at some later date, it might be a good idea to have already identified and obtained the material and have characterized its insertion-loss performance.