Webinar: RF Design and Validation with VNA Demonstrations

Neil Jarvis

RF and Applications Engineer
Rohde & Schwarz

Amit Bahl

CRO
Sierra Circuits

When designing an RF PCB, selecting the right materials, optimizing stack-up, and maintaining signal integrity are essential. Even a minor oversight can lead to signal reflections, crosstalk, EMI, overheating, and system failure.

This webinar will guide you through the key aspects in RF PCB design and validation.

Critical considerations for radio-frequency board designs

Choosing the right laminate is crucial for ensuring the success of your RF boards. Select materials with a low dielectric constant (D_k < 4) and a low dissipation factor (D_f < 0.005) to maintain signal quality and minimize losses. Due to their high-frequency operation, RF boards generate significant heat. For effective heat dissipation, use materials with high thermal conductivity (>0.5 W/mK).

Stack-up is another critical aspect of RF board design and validation. Place signal layers adjacent to ground planes to minimize interference. To avoid board warpage and signal loss, always have a symmetrical build-up and incorporate RF traces and components on the outer layers.

To minimize signal reflection, design a continuous ground plane without any splits. Adjust the trace width, thickness, and clearance to achieve the desired characteristic impedance. Add stitching vias around the RF section to reduce parasitic inductance. The recommended spacing between these vias is λ/20, where λ is the operating wavelength.

To protect your board from external EM radiation, incorporate Faraday cages and ground pours around RF circuits. Ensure these ground pours do not create isolated ground islands; they can act as unintended antennas.

In addition to the above aspects, power supply noise is another important factor in RF PCB designs. To filter out high-frequency noise and provide a stable voltage supply, incorporate low ESR and ESL decoupling capacitors. Place these capacitors parallel to the signal path and as close as possible to the power supply pins of ICs.

In this webinar, our design experts will demonstrate the best RF PCB design and validation techniques to build a reliable circuit board.

Webinar agenda

5 key aspects of an RF design and validation:

• RF-compatible materials

○ Factors to consider

○ Guidelines for choosing an RF laminate

• Stack-up design

○ Best practices to build reliable RF layer stack

○ Hybrid stack-ups

• Ensuring signal integrity

○ RF transmission line and via design techniques to minimize crosstalk and EMI

○ Impedance matching to reduce reflections

○ Grounding and shielding strategies to mitigate EMI

• Power supply decoupling

○ Selection and placement of decoupling capacitors

• RF thermal management

○ Best practices and tips

Each of these points will be completed by a demo from Neil Jarvis, RF expert at Rohde & Schwarz.

Date and time:

September 11th, 2024

From 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Pacific time

Location: This event will be hosted online via Zoom

Meet the speakers