Guard traces for sensitive signals in PCB Design - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Guard traces for sensitive signals

Goal

Understand how guard traces reduce noise in sensitive PCB signal lines by comparing signal integrity metrics with and without guard traces.

Sample Data

Test ID	Signal Type	Guard Trace Used	Noise Level (mV)	Signal Integrity (%)
1	Analog	Yes	5	98
2	Analog	No	20	85
3	Digital	Yes	3	99
4	Digital	No	15	90
5	RF	Yes	4	97
6	RF	No	18	88

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Average Noise Level with Guard Trace
  Formula: AVERAGE(Noise Level) WHERE Guard Trace Used = 'Yes'
  Result: (5 + 3 + 4) / 3 = 4 mV
• KPI Card: Average Noise Level without Guard Trace
  Formula: AVERAGE(Noise Level) WHERE Guard Trace Used = 'No'
  Result: (20 + 15 + 18) / 3 = 17.67 mV
• KPI Card: Average Signal Integrity with Guard Trace
  Formula: AVERAGE(Signal Integrity) WHERE Guard Trace Used = 'Yes'
  Result: (98 + 99 + 97) / 3 = 98 %
• KPI Card: Average Signal Integrity without Guard Trace
  Formula: AVERAGE(Signal Integrity) WHERE Guard Trace Used = 'No'
  Result: (85 + 90 + 88) / 3 = 87.67 %
• Bar Chart: Noise Level by Signal Type and Guard Trace
  Shows noise levels for Analog, Digital, and RF signals with and without guard traces.
• Bar Chart: Signal Integrity by Signal Type and Guard Trace
  Shows signal integrity percentages for each signal type comparing guard trace usage.

Dashboard Layout

+--------------------------------------------------+
|  KPI: Avg Noise Level (Guard Trace)   |  KPI: Avg Noise Level (No Guard)  |
|               4 mV                   |           17.67 mV                 |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|  KPI: Avg Signal Integrity (Guard)  |  KPI: Avg Signal Integrity (No)   |
|               98 %                   |           87.67 %                  |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|               Bar Chart: Noise Level by Signal Type and Guard Trace           |
+--------------------------------------------------+
|           Bar Chart: Signal Integrity by Signal Type and Guard Trace          |
+--------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

A filter allows selecting the Signal Type (Analog, Digital, RF). When a signal type is selected, all KPI cards and bar charts update to show data only for that signal type. This helps focus on how guard traces affect noise and integrity for each signal category.

Self Check

If you add a filter to show only Digital signals, which components update?

• All KPI cards recalculate averages for Digital signals only.
• Both bar charts update to display data for Digital signals with and without guard traces.

Key Result

Dashboard compares noise levels and signal integrity for sensitive signals with and without guard traces across signal types.