MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Course details

PCB Design fundamentals

• PCB construction and layout
• CAD tool design flow
• Crosstalk
• Inductance effects
• Power and ground distribution
• Layer stacks

High speed digital design

• What is meant by ‘high speed’?
• Signal propagation in distributed lines
• PCB transmission lines and termination
• Signal integrity

Mixed-signal design

• What is meant by ‘mixed signal’?
• Crosstalk management by design partitioning
• Selection and use of data converters
• Data converter support circuits 
• Clocking and jitter requirements for data converters

Introduction to electronic product design at the system level

• Architectures, grounding in distributed systems, EMC

The unit aims to:

• Introduce students to modern PCB design, including more advanced layout practices.
• Enable students to recognise and apply appropriate techniques for the design of high speed digital circuits and systems. 
• Enable students to recognise and apply appropriate techniques for the design of mixed signal circuits and systems, including selection and use of data converters and associated components.

On successful completion of the course, a student will be able to:

ILO 1: Select and justify appropriate data converters for given requirement using common data converter parameters and specifications.

ILO 2: Explain the rationale behind key design concepts, including partitioning, use of PCB transmission-line techniques, layer stack usage, and clock generation and distribution quality.

ILO 3: Recognise common PCB features, structures, and parts, including trace types (transmission lines), layer stacks and routing techniques.

ILO 4: Design simple high speed digital and mixed signal PCBs using best practice methods, both at the conceptual level and using the CAD tools for schematic capture and PCB layout.

ILO 5: Use learning resources and methods appropriate to continuing professional development (articles from the professional press, technical textbooks, vendor training materials)

ILO 6: Describe the properties of analogue and digital signals, and both qualitatively and using calculations, how these properties can impact the design of high speed and mixed signal devices.

20 hours of lectures: Largely PowerPoint based but including the use of pre-recorded videos of practical demonstrations and live demonstrations using an industry-standard CAD tool.

2 hours of small group teaching: Students discuss design problems in preparation for related coursework assignments, supported by instructor/demonstrator questioning.

3 × 3 hour laboratory classes: Practical CAD exercises, requiring deeper engagement with concepts introduced in the lectures – coursework assignments are associated with sessions 2 and 3.

Up to 30 hours (depending on previous experience of PCB CAD tools) of directed private study: Familiarisation with the design environment and basic workflows (file creation and management, schematic and layout editing). Study of book chapters and articles from the professional press describing good practice in PCB design.

Coursework

Duration of Lab assignment 4 hours (2x5%)

Duration of Tutorial assignment 4 hours (2x5%)

The coursework forms 20% of the total unit assessment.

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Students are directed to a variety of targeted resources, including book chapters, articles from the professional press, online articles and webinars.

Relevant textbooks include:

The Circuit Designer's Companion (Butterworth Heinemann), Tim Williams

High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic (Prentice Hall Modern Semiconductor Design), Howard W. Johnson; Martin Graham

High-speed digital system design: art, science and experience. Belous A.I., Springer, 2020