Board Characterization Testing Process

Written by David Meaney, Vice President of Global Technical Sales and Marketing at ECS Inc. International

Lead times can vary depending on backlog and complexity, but are typically 6-8 weeks. Many things need to be considered when designing and laying out the circuitry for a printed circuit board. If a few good engineering rules are followed, one can achieve high signal quality and performance while limiting electromagnetic interference and other proximity problems.

ECS Inc. offers a board characterization service that gives design engineers peace of mind that the timing for their circuit is optimized for the best performance. This is done by actively measuring the oscillator loop dynamics to determine circuit performance.

Understanding the reactive impedance of the oscillator loop capacitors, in combination with current limiting resistors, will determine the drive level and frequency accuracy of the oscillator loop design. Being able to characterize the oscillation loop enables one to understand the circuit performance and offers potential changes that will improve loop performance. ECS Inc. board characterization provides the data that is needed to have a robust oscillator feedback loop.

For more information on good engineering practices for printed circuit board layouts, follow this link.

Follow the links below to view test equipment used during testing:

For more technical resources, please reference our library of technical guides, educational video library on frequency control and product information, our reference design library or our current product catalog.

Please contact us if you need additional information or have a specific requirement in your application.

ECS Inc. International
15351 West 109th Street
Lenexa, KS 66219
Tel: 913-782-7787
Toll Free: 1-800-237-1041
Fax: 913-782-6991