Reto B. Keller studied electrical engineering at Fachhochschule OST in Rapperswil SG, Switzerland. He is a Principal Electronics Development Engineer at Roche Diagnostics International Ltd., Rotkreuz, Switzerland. He is a member of IEC TC65 and is actively involved in developing EMC standards. As president of the Academy of EMC and author of the open-access book Design for Electromagnetic Compatibility – In a Nutshell, he makes important knowledge about EMC freely available to professional engineers.
A mixed-signal design consists of analog and digital circuits on a single printed circuit board (PCB).
Every electronics design engineer is familiar with this question: Should we split the ground of our mixed-signal PCB into analog and digital ground? And if so, how should we connect them? A good grounding strategy for a mixed-signal PCB design is essential to minimizing noise and interference, improving power integrity and signal integrity, and eliminating electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) issues. This article explains grounding for mixed-signal PCB designs and discusses some pitfalls.