PCB design
A Grounding Review Checklist for a Finished Layout
Fourteen checks you can run in your PCB editor before the files go out.
Topic
PCB design
Stackup, grounding, return paths and signal integrity.
PCB design
Connectors: What Happens When the Signal Leaves the Board
Your careful return path ends at the connector unless you continue it.
PCB design
Grounding a Mixed-Signal Board, Step by Step
One sensor, one converter, one microcontroller, and every decision justified.
PCB design
What Happens When a Signal Crosses a Plane Split
The trace crosses in a straight line. The return current does not.
PCB design
Ground Vias and Stitching Vias: Where and Why
A signal that changes layer needs its return to change layer too.
PCB design
Star Grounding: When It Helps and When It Makes Things Worse
A topology that solves a low-frequency problem, applied to a high-frequency one.
PCB design
Should Analog and Digital Grounds Be Split?
The pin is called DGND for a reason, and the reason is not the one most people assume.
PCB design
Why High-Frequency Return Current Does Not Follow the DC Path
The same copper carries two different currents by two different routes.
PCB design
Return Current: The Idea That Explains Most of Layout
Every signal you route is half a loop. The other half decides whether the board works.