That's the way we have done this work for quite a while- let the fab shop design the final stackup. Unfortunately, there is far more to designing a stackup than just impedance, such as glass style, copper finish, etc. Most of these, if not all are out of the scope of a fab shop's skill set. For this reason, most of use have no choice but to take charge of the impedance calculation as opposed to putting the burden on the fab shop. It was always our job anyway! We just got away with forcing the fab shop to do it. For these reasons, it is necessary to get impedance right before sending the stackup off to a fab shop. That is why I argue for field solver based calculators and good laminate data. -----Original Message----- From: Havermann, Gert Sent: Friday, January 04, 2013 8:57 AM To: Lee ; SI-List Subject: [SI-LIST] AW: AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance Lee, I use it to find a starting point for 3D simulations. It can't be accurate as one can not calculate with different prepreg styles or other real world problems. But besides that its not a bad tool. I think the biggest error in the end is the implementation of the design, and there even 3D simulation doesn't help you if you don't know how PCBs are made and which are the Materials used (not only electrical models, but also processing related like flow behavior during pressing, copper fill of the layer...). You know what I'm talking about. If I have all the knowledge, then I take those parameters into my calculation and do a 3D simulation of the right offset and the correct GND-GND distance and correct material and surface roughness... And then I know that the impedance will be at least close to where I wanted it to be. For others without this detail of knowledge of PCB Fab and Materials, This tool is a good starting point for their design. Then you hand this design to a pcb vendor with knowledge in Impedance manufacturing and let him do the fine tuning of the trace based on his experience to meet +/-10% impedance match. If The vendor fails, he looses money, and you loose time, but with the right partner it works great even at higher speeds. The Processing has so much influence, that I usually just push my PCB maker as far as I can to a point where he simply can't mess up my design, and then I give him the freedom to implement his processing tolerances. And quite frankly, if someone here asks for a tool that can do "offset stripline", then I don't expect this person to know all the PCB processing details yet, as I haven't seen any absolute symmetrical diff-trace in my life. In reality they are all offset (sometimes a bit, sometimes a bit more). You are absolutely right, that no one should ever trust a free tool up to a point where mistakes can cost money. But free tools can be supportive. BR Gert PS: will you have a DC Booth again this year? If so, I'll stop by for a talk. ---------------------------------------- Absender ist HARTING Electronics GmbH, Marienwerderstraße 3, D-32339 Espelkamp; Registergericht: Amtsgericht Bad Oeynhausen; Register-Nr.: HRB 8808; Vertretungsberechtige Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Kfm. Edgar-Peter Düning, Dipl.-Ing. Torsten Ratzmann, Dr.-Ing. Alexander Rost -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Lee [mailto:leeritchey@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. Januar 2013 18:38 An: Havermann, Gert; SI-List Betreff: Re: [SI-LIST] AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance Polar's CITS25 is an equation based tool that is accurate only part of the time. It does not use a field solver. I don't trust its results. As with most free tools, they are often worth the price! -----Original Message----- From: Havermann, Gert Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2013 11:54 PM To: SI-List Subject: [SI-LIST] AW: Asymmetric differential stripline impedance Polar's CITS25 software is quite accurate and easy to use. It comes with several different impedance cells. Even though Polar is no longer supporting this tool, you will still be able to find the free evaluation version somewhere in the web. The only evaluation restriction is the total number of calculations, and it can be reset with uninstalling and re-installing. BR Gert ---------------------------------------- Absender ist HARTING Electronics GmbH, Marienwerderstraße 3, D-32339 Espelkamp; Registergericht: Amtsgericht Bad Oeynhausen; Register-Nr.: HRB 8808; Vertretungsberechtige Geschäftsführer: Dipl.-Kfm. Edgar-Peter Düning, Dipl.-Ing. Torsten Ratzmann, Dr.-Ing. Alexander Rost -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:si-list-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] Im Auftrag von Hithesh Gesendet: Donnerstag, 3. Januar 2013 06:04 An: SI-List Betreff: [SI-LIST] Asymmetric differential stripline impedance Hi foks, Is there any online tool to calculate the impedance of assymetric differential stripline? I searched, nothing available for asymmetric differential. It's either asymmetric stripline or symmetric differential. How to calculate differential impedance from single ended impedance? This is with reference to USB signals. Thanks -Hithesh ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List forum is accessible at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu ------------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from si-list: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field or to administer your membership from a web page, go to: //www.freelists.org/webpage/si-list For help: si-list-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'help' in the Subject field List forum is accessible at: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/si-list List archives are viewable at: //www.freelists.org/archives/si-list Old (prior to June 6, 2001) list archives are viewable at: http://www.qsl.net/wb6tpu ----- No virus found in this message. 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