Unisys Corporation

Michael John Bradley

Daniel A Jochym

Edward T Cavanagh

William E Oldham

Jason Shoemaker

James C Witte

James P Balcerek

Variable compensation for part to part skew of components in a substrate-mounted circuit is described. The variability may be provided through a computer software program acting on a programmable delay buffer such that compensation for a skewed signal may be continuously checked against a reference signal or through other methods. The skewed signal may be delayed until the signal matches, within a predetermined margin of error, the reference.

Systems and methods for overcoming part to part skew in a substrate-mounted circuit

A computer-aided design (CAD) tool is used to create a preliminary design of a mulit-layered printed circuit board, comprising a layout of electrical components on a main region of a printed circuit board and a routing of signal traces among the lectical components within the main region. An extended region is then added to the design on the CAD tool that comprises a layout of selected debug connectors on the extended region and at least one additional signal layer. Traces connecting the debug connectors to selected vias of the main region of the printed circuit board are then routed on the added signal layer only. A prototype board is then created and tested. Once testing is complete, the extended region and the at least one additional layer are removed from the design in the CAD tool without disturbing the layout of components and routing of signal traces on the main region of the printed circuit board.

Printed circuit board debug technique

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Phoenixville, PA, United States of America

Michael John Bradley