| Signal integrity and controlled impedance news |
The
2012 edition of Atlas is now shipping featuring increased testing speed
for both insertion loss testing and impedance tests. Fabricators now
also have the ability to set the sample size and averaging for insertion
loss tests as specified by their customers. Read about Atlas and SET2DIL
insertion loss testing here.
Martyn
Gaudion, CEO of Polar Instruments and a PCBDesign007 columnist, tells
Pete Starkey about the latest developments in design and documentation
tools for flex-rigid stack-up. Watch the inerview
here.
24
November 2011 – The Pulse - Transmission lines - a voyage from DC.
Part 2
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". Second of a two part article exploring transmission lines from DC to multi GHz?– read it here.
23 November 2011 – 2012 releases now available
The 2012 versions of Polar software are now available on general release. New for 2012, Speedflex HDI supports crosshatch/mesh.
Polarinstruments.com now uses Google custom search for a significantly enhanced search capability on the Polar website. See for yourself: Search.
Atlas insertion loss test software v11.10 Polarcare release is now shipping - featuring linked impedance and insertion loss tests, along with many enhancements to increase usability.
Please contact your local Polar office for more information.
01
October 2011 – Major enhancement of CITS900s warranty terms
Polar is delighted to announce the following
major enhancement on CITS900s warranty:
1. 12 month warranty on new CITS900s purchases.(includes front end boards)*
2. 12 month warranty on CITS900s front end repairs.*
(* Excludes consumables / replacement of components under warranty does
not extend the warranty beyond 12 months)
Please contact your local Polar office
for more information.
29
September 2011 – Speedflex HDI wins
PCD&F documentation tool award.
SANTA CLARA, CA – PCD&F today announced Speedflex HDI winners of the fall 2011 New Product Introduction Award for PCB documentation tools.
19 September 2011 – Fall Signal Integrity US Courses
Renowned Signal Integrity Evangelist, Dr. Eric Bogatin will be offering the following Fall US Courses:
Boston, MA
Sept 28: S-Parameters for Signal Integrity
Sept 29: Differential Pair Design
San Jose, CA
Nov 8-9th: Essential Principles of SI
Nov 10th: S-Parameters for Signal Integrity
Special offer from Polar: Purchase a Si8000m or Si9000m license by December 21, 2011 and Polar Instruments, Inc. will reimburse class fees for attendance at one BeTheSignal course.
Details and fine print: Offers
10 August 2011 – The Pulse - Transmission lines - a voyage from DC.
Part 1
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". First of a two part article exploring transmission lines from DC to multi GHz?– read it here.
Speedflex HDI extends Speedstack's proven stackup design and
documentation cabability with professional documentation for both Flex-rigid
and HDI
stackups.
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007
– "The Pulse". It is interesting to stand back every now
and then and look at an engineering task from a greater distance?– read it
here.
CGen V11.04 answers customer requests for a smaller and more panel size
friendly insertion loss coupon. Here are screenshots before
and after
optimization. Please contact Polarcare
for update information.
Many Si9000e customers have requested drum and treated side copper roughness
modeling in the Si9000e. An updated release of Si9000e - 2011 V11.04 now
supports this. Please contact Polarcare
for update information.
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007
– "The Pulse". When is a 10GHz transmission line not a
10GHz transmission line?– read it here.
Polar Atlas
Si enables PCB fabricators to test PCB transmission line insertion
loss in a tightly controlled production environment. Atlas employs
mathematical processing techniques to extract frequency dependent loss
characteristics when used in conjunction with suitably designed test
coupons and Atlas precision GHz probe assemblies. Contact
Neil Chamberlain - Signal
Integrity Product Manager.
1. Horizontal Autoscale
2. Improved horizontal display control
3. Improved import from CITS800s
4. User adjustable delay before auto advance
5. New and updated user interface
Please contact Polarcare for update information
The #1
most downloaded application note on the Polar website. Revised and
updated for 2011, the Powerpoint note is here
(3Mb)
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007
– "The Pulse". A Voyage of glass reinforcement – read it
here.
2011 editions of Si8000m Si9000e Speedstack and CGen are now shipping. Existing Polarcare customers can contact Polarcare for update information. To see highlights of what's new please take a look at this Powerpoint. (3Mb)
Atlas Si is Polar's new test system designed for accurate and repeatable measurement of insertion loss in a PCB fabrication environment. Following extensive successful beta trials with a number of selected PCB fabricators. Atlas will move from beta to release version during Q1 2011. For more information on Atlas please see this page or contact Neil Chamberlain - Signal Integrity Product Manager. Atlas supports impedance, S21 and SDD21, SDD21 uses the SET2DIL method.
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". Laminates losses and line length Part 2 – read it here.
Polar's engineering team members are releasing some details on new features requested by Polarcare customers which will shortly be included in the 2011 releases of Si8000m / Si9000e and Speedstack. Here is a Powerpoint preview of 2011 features and options, and click here to see the new enhanced technical report printout in Speedstack 2011.
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". Laminates losses and line length Part 1 – read it here.
To make product selection more logical, Polar Signal integrity products will move to a more consistent naming convention over the course of 2011. For lossless lines Speedstack PCB will be joined by CGen PCB and Atlas PCB and for lossy lines Speedstack Si will be joined by CGen Si and Atlas Si. However the industry standard lossy and lossless line solvers Si9000e and Si8000m will retain their existing names.
Atlas Si is Polar's new test system designed for accurate and repeatable measurement of insertion loss in a PCB fabrication environment. Atlas is presently in beta trials with a limited number of selected PCB fabricators. Atlas beta 3 is now shipping. For advance information on Atlas please see this page and for information on joining the beta program please contact Neil Chamberlain - Signal Integrity Product Manager: neil@polarinstruments.com. Atlas supports impedance S21 and SDD21 using the SET2DIL method.
25 October 2010 – The Pulse - Signal integrity - the "S" words
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". The October edition covers signal integrity terminology – read it here.
10 October 2010 – Polar Asia Pacific open China office
Shanghai: To better serve Polar's loyal customer base in China, Polar's
long term independent partner Polar Instruments (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd
announces the opening of Polar Instruments (China) Ltd sales and service
office in central Shanghai:
Contact: Mr Terence Chew: email: terence.chew@polarinstruments.asia
08 October 2010 – Neil Chamberlain appointed Signal Integrity Product Manager
Waterlooville: Neil Chamberlain will take responsibility for bringing Polar's new and updated portfolio of signal integrity products to customers throughout the world. A vital part of the launch process for these products will be the dialogue with lead customers which will help to ensure a smooth transition from the release of the engineering version to full roll-out into the marketplace. Neil@polarinstruments.com
Read Martyn Gaudion's column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". The September edition covers the testing PCBs for differential insertion loss: – read it here.
Updated and refreshed, GRS CADView is a powerful paperless repair software and generic CAD viewer which reads and displays PCB layout data from a wide variety of popular CAD systems. A useful "virtual x-ray" facility helps you trace tracks through inner layers with ease. The 2010 edition of CADView is now shipping. For more information please contact your local Polar office.
Early adopters of Polar Atlas GHz lossy line test system who participate in the beta test program are entitled to special launch pricing of Atlas software. Atlas includes SET2DIL capability, and the early adopter promotion runs from now until April 31st 2011 more.
Updated and refreshed, GRS CADView is a powerful paperless repair software which reads and displays PCB layout data from a wide variety of popular CAD systems. A useful "virtual x-ray" facility helps you trace tracks through inner layers with ease. The 2010 edition of CADView is scheduled for a mid September release. For more information please contact your local Polar office.
Atlas is Polar's new test system designed for accurate and repeatable measurement of insertion loss in a PCB fabrication environment. Atlas is presently in beta trials with a limited number of selected PCB fabricators. Atlas beta 2 is now shipping. For advance information on Atlas please see this page and for information on joining the beta program email: set2dil@polarinstruments.com. Atlas supports impedance S21 and SDD21 using the SET2DIL method.
Read Martyn Gaudion's new column on PCB007 – "The Pulse". The August edition covers the best approach towards accurate and repeatable impedance measurement – read it here.
CGen Plus lossy line coupon generator with support for SET2DIL differential insertion loss test coupons is now released and shipping. CGen plus contains full impedance coupon capability along with support for lossy line test structures. CGen information is here and for more information on loss tests with SET2DIL please email. CGen Plus supports both GGB Picoprobes(TM) and Polar Atlas probes - for more information: set2dil@polarinstruments.com
Read Martyn's new column on PCB007 - "The Pulse" Covering a variety of controlled impedance, and lossy line articles on both test, design, interfacing between the worlds of design and fabrication. Here is a link to the first edition.
Release of CGen Plus lossy line coupon generator with support for SET2DIL differential insertion loss test coupons is slated for the August 2010. CGen plus contains full impedance coupon capability along with support for lossy line test structures. CGen information is here and for more information on loss tests with SET2DIL please email set2dil@polarinstruments.com
A direct Excel interface into the Polar Si field solver engine is now available for lossless calculations on both the Si8000m and the Si9000e. The Excel interface means you can use all your engineering "what if" thoughts to run mathematical and statistical processing on the output of the industry standard Polar field solver.
Following extensive consultation with existing and potential users of Speedstack - who express a desire to use Speedstack in a freehand mode without reference to material libraries, we are adding VMM to Speedstack. This new mode makes experimentation with stacks fast and easy, and requires no library preparation. Once the stack concept is complete, it can be either passed to the fabricator who edits in appropriate material, or for more specialized applications the designer can simply perform material allocation in house. More information soon.
Flex and flexrigid designers and fabricators have long asked for the capability to model impedance on structures with crosshatch (meshed) ground planes. XFE is a new optional feature for Si8000m and Si9000e which offers xhatch modeling capability on a wide range of popular impedance structures. Contact your local Polar office for more information: (XFE - Xhatch Flex Enhancement is also useful for high speed interposer design and fabrication) XFE information
At last
we are ready to receive beta release purchase orders for Atlas: Orders can be accepted now with a 4 week delivery lead time (After receipt of
confirmed order). The Atlas system is capable of differential insertion
loss measurements and supports the SET2DIL technique. Atlas is described on this web
page:
Please contact your local Polar
office for further information:
(In the USA Atlas sales are through Polar Beaverton OR office - Tel:
(503) 356 5270)
CGen 2010 Coupon generator, is
an enhanced impedance and lossy line coupon generator. CGen 2010
works equally well as standalone, or in conjunction with Si8000m /
Si9000e and Speedstack. CGen 2010 is available now. CGen plus will
support lossy line coupons - including SET2DIL. For more product
information.
SET2DIL is a method for the extraction of
Differential insertion loss on PCB traces, with the use of a single
ended TDR test. Polar plans to adopt SET2DIL as one of the methods for
measurement of insertion loss in our forthcoming Atlas, GHz test system.
Atlas is designed for production measurement of PCBs which require
control of insertion loss. In addition the soon to be released CGen Plus
coupon generator will include beta SET2DIL coupons for insertion loss
test (Sdd21).
Contact: set2dil@polarinstruments.com
for more information.
02 April 2010 – Increased representation in China
To better serve our growing customer base in China, Polar is delighted to announce that from the start of April 2010, in addition to sales, service
and support being available from our long standing partner, Precision International Corporation
www.picsh.com.cn , customers may also purchase, and receive support and service from Polar Instruments (Asia Pacific) Pte Ltd. Your additional contact for direct sales and support in mainland China is:
Mr Terence Chew: email: terence.chew@polarinstruments.asia
Tel: +65 6873 7470
30 March 2010 – New CGen 2010 Coupon generator - release candidate
CGen 2010 Coupon generator, is a soon to
be released impedance and lossy line coupon generator. CGen 2010
works equally well as standalone, or in conjunction with Si8000m /
Si9000e and Speedstack. Enjoy a 6 week release candidate license for
CGen 2010 by simply entering your details here.
(Fill in your details now,
as 6 week licenses are only being released until April 12th 2010).
26 March 2010 – Economics of impedance test / cost of reducing rise time
This new application note revisits the technical reasons and the economic price you may pay when selecting to use a faster risetime TDR for impedance testing.
19 March 2010 – CPCA lucky Speedstack Si and Speedstack PCB winners:
Dr. Eric Bogatin seminar attendees. (3
month license):
Mr. Jeffon Zhang - Jabil, Speedstack Si and Mr. YueHui Zhu - Tellabs,
Speedstack Si
Polar booth attendees. (3 month license):
Mr. Luke Lin - Tyco, Speedstack Si and Mr. Rock Dai - Times Computer,
Speedstack PCB
18 March 2010 – Andy Shaughnessy interviews Polar CEO Martyn Gaudion
Polar Instruments' CEO Martyn Gaudion discusses Polar's plans for 2010 and 2011 in an audio interview with PCB Design 007's Andy Shaughnessy.
16 March 2010 – Steve Gold interviews Amit Bhardwaj at CPCA Show 2010
Polar Instruments (Asia Pacific) Managing Director Amit Bhardwaj paints a picture of future opportunities in China and India in a PCB007 interview with PCB007's Steve Gold. He gives his impression of the China design market and its demands and discusses the India design market, which might have even greater potential than China.
Trade in your Si6000 or CITS25 for an attractive discount on a 2010 edition of Si8000m, Si9000e, Speedstack or Speedflex. Interested? (Offer ends March 31st)
Trade in your Si6000 or CITS25 for an attractive discount on a 2010 edition of Si8000m, Si9000e, Speedstack or Speedflex. Interested? (Offer ends March 31st)
This application note demonstrates Speedstack's versatility, using the Speedflex Navigator to document a stackup where the board includes areas that are coated with photoresist and surface traces that remain exposed.
A professional tool for creating and and documenting flex-rigid PCB layer stackups, Speedflex for Speedstack is equally powerful at documenting sequential lamination/HDI. (Powerpoint 1Mb)
Version 10.02 contains a number of bugfixes and stability enhancements reported on the initial Speedflex 10.01 release. All Polarcare users of Speedstack or Speedflex 10.01 are recommended to move up to version 10.02 as soon as possible. (polarcare@polarinstruments.com)
2010 sees innovative new features and enhancements in Polar's PCB controlled impedance, PCB stackup and PCB signal integrity product line. Details in this Powerpoint presentation.
Rick Hartley interviews Ken Taylor at DesignCon 2010, find out the latest developments at Polar in this brief video interview, along with an update on measurement and modeling of lossy transmission lines (here)
International language packs reflecting the new features and enhancements to the 2010 editions of the Si8000 and Si9000 are available for download from the Polar web site. Contact Polarcare with your Polarcare contract number for download information (polarcare@polarinstruments.com)
Customer feedback on the initial release has resulted in major improvements to the Speedstack Coupon Generator user interface. Interface changes mean coupon dimensions now change dynamically, and users can see their adjustments in real time through the use of new "scrubber" controls. Speedstack Coupon generator is also now capable of working with Speedflex.
Mostly beneath the surface changes to Speedstack, primarily to support Speedflex optional Flexrigid capability, and also some underlying changes to the file format to support a future planned stackup search facility.
Si9000e - 2010 adds the capability to import Touchstone(TM) data so that users can compare measured and modeled S-parameter data. Plus the ability to set the solver into enhanced accuracy mode which is useful where you are working with thin copper layers.
Si8000m adds improved graphing capability, plus the ability to track W1/W2 trace width when adjusting trace size. A number of underlying bugfixes are also applied to the BEM solver engine.
Flexrigid PCB stackup design and documentation is now available for Speedstack PCB and Speedstack Si. this new option extends the design and documentation capability of Speedstack for Rigidflex PCB designers and fabricators. (more)
2010 editions of Speedstack, Si8000m, Si9000e, Speedstack Coupon generator are now shipping, and available on request to customers with active Polarcare contracts .
Polar's longest serving distributor - Daniel Corvaisier of Equitest in France has decided its time to take life easy and retire after over 24 years of representing Polar in France. All the Polar team wish Daniel a long and healthy retirement. Polar Instruments Europe Ltd will provide direct factory sales service and support for our French customers.
To simplify website navigation a products page is now available containing a simple list and link to popular Polar product pages more.
This new application note explains how to use the Si9000e to select the best price / performance of PCB laminates used in ultra high speed digital applications.
2010 editions of Polar software will be tested for Windows 7 compatibility. Speedflex and Speedstack are slated for January release along with Si8000m and Si9000e, Speedstack Coupon Generator 2010 is set for release during the first half of 2010. An active Polarcare contract entitles customers to a free of charge update on release. Please contact your local Polar sales office for information on other products and Windows 7 compatibility.
Polar's longest serving distributor - Daniel Corvaisier of Equitest in France has decided its time to take life easy and retire after over 24 years of representing Polar in France. All the Polar team wish Daniel a long and healthy retirement. From January 2010 Polar Instruments Europe Ltd will provide direct factory sales service and support for our French customers.
(Advance information)
New Speedflex Flexrigid option adds rigid-flex capability to Speedstack :
Speedflex adds flexrigid stackup design and documentation capability to Speedstack PCB and Speedstack Si. Set for January 2010 release, preview versions will be on show at Productronica Munich November 10th - 13th: Polar stands A1.545 and B2.549 (more)
New application note for PCB designers:
Application note 521 is an introductory guide to PCB manufacturing tolerances for PCB designers (more)
Enhanced protection for your precision measurement system:
Polarcare Protect for CITS900s is an extended warranty package for CITS900s that offers enhanced protection during the standard warranty period and ongoing protection throughout the operational life of the CITS900s. Polarcare Protect is a cost-effective alternative to the unplanned cost of accidental damage to the TDR front-end or precision microwave relay. (more)
How to avoid 2010 price increases on some IP probes:
Jan 1st 2010 sees significant price rises on many Polar IP series probes. However the 6 highest volume selling IP probes will remain at existing prices. To help minimize the effect of this price change there is a 50% discount offer on the Speedstack Coupon generator both annual and full licenses until 31st December 2009 .
Missed the live webinar? Now listen to the full version online:
Nearly 300 people attended Dr. Eric Bogatin's live Stackup design for differential pairs webinar. Between now and November 15th 2009 you can enjoy the recording - including an interesting Q&A session in full. From Nov 15th on a subscription will be required. Simply register on the www.bethesignal.com site and once you have completed free registration - you can view the webinar from here.
Now you can assist other prospective Si8000 / Si9000 and Speedstack users by submitting a brief review of the product. Our web team are happy to receive reviews of what's good, what's not so good and where you find the product useful. Reviews will be uploaded onto the website on a monthly basis.
A number of key changes made in CITS900s version 9_03 and above are field proven to increase product reliability - in particular with regard to the occasional loss of electronic serial number. All CITS900s customers regardless of PolarCare cover should update to 9_03 or higher. This is a free of charge update and must be installed to ensure standard warranty cover.
Webinar sponsored by Polar Instruments and presented by Dr. Eric Bogatin
When? Sept 16 (Wed), 1 PM Eastern time. Register now
Which is better loosely coupled or tightly coupled differential pairs? Will the location of the top and bottom planes in a stack up really affect the differential impedance? How do I achieve a 100 Ohm differential impedance in stripline? What about 85 Ohms? Why do I care? What will affect the losses in the line? How much is too much? If you struggle with any of these questions and want to learn about how the physical design of differential pairs affects the performance of the interconnect this free webinar is for you.
Si8000m and Si9000e. Version 9_07 adds the capability to rename impedance structures with your own in house naming conventions. The renamed structures are kept in a group called MyStructures. In addition Si9000e also gains the ability to add loss budget limit lines on the appropriate graph. Click for some sample screenshots....
The Si9000e calc engine from Version 9_07 onwards now enforces causality in the interpolation of Er and Tan Delta. As a result the Si9000e s-parameter output is now causal.
Zuken and Polar are delighted to announce the ability to link DFM Center with Speedstack to assist in improved communication of PCB buildup between design and fabrication.
Q: Why
are the first and last impedance readings on the graph on slide 7 of
AP8171 different values? A: The solution
is included in a revised version of AP8171 found here:
1st Prize: 3 month Si9000e licence: Ian Kilburn - Dyconex AG
Runner up: 1 month Si9000e licence: Radu Alexiu - Conex Electronic
Runner up: 1 month Si9000e licence: Alex Novickis - Apcon, Inc.
This
Powerpoint note (AP8171)
showcases the Sensitivity Analysis feature of the Si8000m and Si9000e,
illustrating how multiple parameter variations may be charted to provide
instant detection of trends that are not easy to discover from a single
result.. (more...)
* See competition below...
ENDED 30th June 2009
We are giving away a 3 month Si9000e license
to the first person drawn at random on June 30th to correctly answer
the following question: Why are the first and last impedance readings
on the graph on slide 7 of AP8171 different values?
(Email your answer
here)
Understand finished dimensions in this new brief Powerpoint application note - of interest both to Speedstack customers and anyone wanting a better understanding of PCB finished dimensions. (more...)
ENDED 30th June 2009
20% discount offer on the next 10 Speedstack / Speedstack PCB / Speedstack Si licences. Offer expires June 30th 2009 (more...)
Speedstack 9.04 is now fully released, including new controlled impedance results tab, color coded pass/fail structure navigation and ability to switch layer types without re entering structures. The autostack engine is also enhanced. Upgrades from PolarCare email this link for new inquires.
Please note from 08 May 2009 Polar Instruments, Inc. has a new address - telephone numbers unchanged.
Fixes a problem where if the plane above the BOTTOM LAYER is assigned a NEGATIVE polarity not all the data is visible when the gerber is loaded in. Once installed the product version should be: 9.4.3400.15582. Upgrades from PolarCare
Speedstack 9.04 is days away from release, including new controlled impedance results tab, color coded pass/fail structure navigation and ability to switch layer types without re entering structures.
Polar's engineering team are pleased to announce an easy to use impedance coupon generator. For details please follow this link:
Rick and Ken discuss Si9000 and Speedstack at IPC Expo 2009.
3d
graphing in the Si8000 and Si9000e is now shipping in version number
9_04.
To see an animated preview - click the following link.
(requires Flash and takes a few moments to load)
Improved
system restore facility for CITS900s in version 9.03
contact: polarcare@polarinstruments.com
Improved TouchstoneŽ export from Si9000e 2009 edition is described in this brief new application note:
Speedstack
2009 and Ucam PCB cam software, now link to speed and simplify the stackup
design process in the front end department.
For Ucam information please visit: www.ucamco.com
PCB
fabrication considerations for lossy lines is a new introductory note
- written primarily for fabricators, it is also of interest to
designers who are new to the topic.
For customers with PolarCare support contracts - a more detailed version
of this note is available from PolarCare
"An
S-Parameter Calibration Analysis of Polar Instruments Si9000"
In the note you will discover Eric's insights on comparing measured
and modelled results using a field solver, along with a variety of comparisons
of both field solved and measured s-parameter data. All this accompanied
by Eric's renowned insights on the interrelationship between measured
and modeled results.
Free condensed version is available here (you will need to register
with bethesignal.com before downloading) it is under the Si Insights
Jan 2009 heading:
Full version by subscription from www.bethesignal.com
or free for PolarCare customers.
Calc
engine low frequency support
S parameter - vary source and termination impedance
S parameter - enhanced graphing
Mixed mode s parameters
Via stub check
This application note outlines new features in Speedstack 2009
This application note explains how designers, PCB procurement specialists, PCB field application engineers and front end teams can benefit from clear communication of stackup.
This application note explains how to minimise the effect of vias - especially unconnected via stubs through the new Via stub check in the Si9000e.
1 Mania UCAM .Job Import
2 Printing - Impedance table columns now customisable
3 Symmetrical Delete
4 Symmetrical Add Drill
5 Symmetrical Move Material
6 Convert 2 Foils to a Core on import
7 Printing - New data column 'Processed Thickness'
8 Printing - 'Trace 1 In Layer' renamed to 'Impedance Signal Layer'
9 Printing - Thickness data can now toggle between Actual and Target
10 Printing - New-look Laser drills
Application note introducing forward and reverse crosstalk
Application note explaining the advantages of Si8000m multiple dielectric boundary element field solver over the Green's function / method of moments Si6000. Plus an explanation of the enhanced coating modeling on theSi8000m
Application note and updated Si9000e version 9.01 now supports modeling of high frequency losses owing to copper roughness.
Application note explaining how the stack "remake" capability of Speedstack simplifies the task of material allocation in PCB layer stackups.