Design Considerations – Advanced Circuits | PCB Manufacturing & PCB Assembly https://www.4pcb.com/blog Printed Circuit Boards and PCB Assembly Manufacturer Blog Wed, 17 Nov 2021 21:57:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 PCB Design and Layout Tips: What You Should Know /blog/pcb-design-and-layout-tips-what-you-should-know/ Fri, 19 Mar 2021 18:59:31 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2387 Continue reading ]]> At the heart of every electronic device is a PCB, or printed circuit board. That’s true whether we’re talking about your tablet computer or a life-saving pacemaker. From fitness trackers to computer motherboards, calculators to smartphones, circuit boards are everywhere today. And the explosion of electronic devices and the new ways we’re using them means one thing: PCB design is more important than ever. In this post, we’ll explore some of the most critical PCB design and layout tips you should know.

Node Location Is Critical

Perhaps the most important tip on our list is this – make important nodes as accessible as possible. This is particularly relevant to troubleshooting why your design is not working. If your important nodes aren’t accessible, your testing is going to hit a wall. Whether you’re going with loop-style nodes or something else, make sure they’re easy to access.

Component Spacing Matters a Lot

Today’s circuit boards support far more components than ever before. That’s great from an end-user standpoint. The more components on a board, the more functionality it supports, and the more users can do with the device. However, what is an advantage for end users can be a challenge for designers.

Simply put, the more components you add to a board, the more cramped they become within the design. And, make no mistake, component spacing matters a lot. Why is that? You’ll find several reasons. One of those is that without the appropriate amount of spacing, you lack room for wire routing. Another challenge is that those components create heat, and the closer they’re packed, the more heat builds up in the board. In some cases, that might be enough to compromise the board material itself, particularly if you’re using something like FR-4 rather than a material designed to handle high levels of heat.

Speaking of Heat…

Heat will always be a problem, but it is not insurmountable. One quick tip to help you get around high-heat-related issues is to add extra copper around surface mount components. This creates additional surface area and helps dissipate more heat, faster, effectively turning a portion of the PCB design into a heatsink.

Shrink Your Components

Struggling with an unrouteable board? Use smaller components. By going with a smaller footprint, you leave more room for copper traces to pass each component. Proper spacing is easier to maintain with smaller components, too, helping you avoid overcrowding the board and the other problems that go hand in hand with stacking components too close to one another.

What should you do? While quad flat package components might be your first option, you might want to consider going with ball grid array components, instead. Of course, there is a trade-off here – smaller components make repair work more challenging.

Play Tetris

Does the following situation sound familiar? You’re staring at your PCB design, struggling to fit each component in and route traces between them. No matter where you put them, you’re left with problems, particularly if the board is smaller.

The answer? Play a game of Tetris with your components. Rotate them and find the best arrangement that allows you to route traces directly between them while maximizing the use of space across the entire board. This can take some time and effort, but it’s well worth the minimal investment you’ll make.

Pay Attention to Arrangement

Sometimes, rotating your components is simply not enough. When that happens, it’s important to come at the situation with a bit of strategy in terms of component arrangement. How, though?

  • Cascaded Components: Cascaded components play a vital role in many PCB design options. However, they can be challenging to arrange correctly. Keep them near one another, and make sure that they are in sequence on the board. That will immediately remove the challenge of trying to route traces all across the board to connect cascaded components located in different areas.
  • Consolidate: Why use multiple smaller resistors when a single higher resistance one will work better? Consolidating your design ensures that there’s more room for components and traces, as resistors will take up less of your available space.
  • Cascade from the Edge: When laying out your PCB design, identify any component that must be attached via an edge connector. Locate those components as close to the connector as you can. The rest of the chain should cascade away from that point, grouped into functional blocks near one another and in sequence.

Go Denserdesign software

If you are struggling with PCB design, chances are good that the space required for traces, vias, and clearance is a problem. You can get around that by going denser. With HDI, you can create very dense boards with very dense traces, clearances, and vias that still deliver performance. However, you do need to consider controlled impedance routing, differential pairs, and check creepage, clearance, and width when it comes to high-current and high-voltage design.

Watch the Noise

Signal noise can be problematic when it comes to some traces. However, placing high-frequency signal carrying traces too close together can couple those signals, ratcheting up the noise and possibly creating problems with traces where no noise is desired. Make sure that you keep noisy traces away from analog traces to avoid this problem.

A Helping Hand

As you can see, there are many considerations to make when it comes to PCB design. If you’re struggling to get it right, we can help. At Advanced Circuits, we have decades of experience working with clients ranging from individuals to Fortune 500 companies and helping them bring their PCB designs to life. From our groundbreaking design software to our production capabilities, we have a solution no matter what your needs might be. Contact us today to schedule your consultation or to learn more about our capabilities and services.

 

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Best Practices for Creating Perfectly Designed Printed Circuit Boards /blog/best-practices-for-creating-perfectly-designed-printed-circuit-boards/ Tue, 02 Feb 2021 16:00:32 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2366 Continue reading ]]> When you look at nearly any electronic device, a printed circuit board (PCB) is the building block that allows it to operate. PCBs vary from simple layered boards that might be found in a garage door opener to boards with dozens of high-speed and high-density layers used in servers and supercomputers. Those two boards and the hundreds that fall in between are integral to create electronic components.

When working with circuit design and creating printed circuit boards, many best practices can prevent having to continually alter and change the boards. Some of them are common knowledge while others might teach you something new that you can incorporate into your next PCBs. We want to focus on tips that will make a huge difference in your creation process and let you speed up your work.

Consider Orientation, Space, and Accessibility

One of the best tips we can offer you with circuit design is that all the components that you add to a board should be given a bit of space between each other. It might seem satisfying to place every part right next to another, but you also need room for wires to spread out. Keep in mind that components with fewer pins will need less space. Having extra space can also help with auto-routing since soldering will be simpler.

You also need to think about the orientation of parts when you place them. In general, the best tip here is that components should have the same orientation as each other. There’s a good reason for this practice. In most cases, the parts have a standard pin number system where pin one is found in the left upper corner. When orientation is the same between parts, it will prevent later mistakes in soldering and inspections.

Accessibility is also crucial, especially for nodes that are the most important in your build. Even when you have a great design and have gone through prototyping with products from a company like Advanced Circuits, you might do testing and see something isn’t working the way it should be. You’ll want to measure the signal in the PCB during the circuit design process. Be aware when designing the PCB about what points will be most important to troubleshoot and make them accessible. If this isn’t possible, make sure a test point is connected to them.

Check Component Sizes, Exchange Wiring Directions, and Select Line Widths

When you have an idea of how you want to lay out your components during circuit design, one option is to print out the layout. You can then take the parts and place them on top of the page to make sure they match. In some cases, this can save a ton of time since datasheets aren’t always 100% accurate. Another option is to use the free circuit board design software by Advanced Circuits to ensure your build is exactly the way it should be.

Assuming you are making a circuit with several layers, it’s best to swap the wiring directions as you go between the layers. For instance, one side of the layer might have horizontal traces while the other side uses vertical traces. This is an important tip since it helps facilitate the wiring or lines that need to pass over others. Alternate direction when using several layers for the best results.

PCB width will vary based on your project. A larger width is going to reduce the level of resistance, which means that it will also create less heat. It’s important to choose the width of lines you are sizing based on how much current is expected to flow through them. Several online calculators can help with this process. As you might guess, power lines should have more width than other lines since they will carry a larger amount of current.

Special Considerations for Power Circuits

When creating a power circuit, the number one tip is to ensure your power and control grounds remain separate. Large current spikes and high voltage can create interference in the control circuits, which aren’t designed to handle as much current and voltage. This is the main reason that the control ground and the power ground should be kept apart in any power supply stage. If they need to be tied together, it should be toward the end of the supply path.

For those who need circuits with several layers, it’s best to place the control ground somewhere in the middle layer during circuit design. The power traces can be placed on the top layers, while the bottom layer can handle the control traces. There’s a genuine reason to lay out your circuit in this manner. The middle layer will have a large ground path that helps prevent interference from the power circuits for better protection.

While this applies to any type of PCB, it is most important when designing and creating a power circuit. You want to ensure the width of the wire for the power supply is sized based on how much current will go through it. The reason this is essential is that a wire that is too small can generate additional heat and damage or destroy the wires.

Let Professionals Handle the Hard Work

Whether you are creating a prototype or the final PCB for a circuit design on a product you want to offer, there are many things that can go wrong. That’s precisely why working with professionals can be a great idea. Companies like Advanced Circuits have decades of experience and understand the ins and outs of PCBs. The company can manufacture PCBs of all sizes and levels of complexity to make your life a little easier.

As we mentioned earlier, Advanced Circuits provides software to design PCBs. They also have a FreeDFM file check, PCB Artist software, and more. The company has been leading the PCB industry for more than 25 years and has high-quality standards using the most innovative technology. Whether you need a small number of PCBs or tons of them for a major project, we can offer you a solution that meets your needs.

 

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Improve Your Circuit Design /blog/improve-your-circuit-design/ Fri, 06 Nov 2020 20:09:09 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2281 Continue reading ]]> Take a moment to consider the sheer number of printed circuit boards (PCBs) that you encounter in a given day. There are circuits boards on your phone, your computer, tablet, vehicle, television, and countless other pieces of equipment. If you are involved in making electronics, then you know just how important quality circuit design is. Naturally, you want to find methods to improve your designs. Some of the best tips to keep in mind are noted below.

Always Test Your Circuit Design

One of the problems that cause delays and added costs to many companies is not ensuring that their boards are the best they can be before they go into the manufacturing phase. Even the most talented people can make small mistakes on their circuit design, which can cause a host of problems.

Rather than ordering a large number of these PCBs, it makes far more sense to take a step back and ensure that the design is correct first. Prototype the board and get a sample of the board to test out. This will let you know not only whether it works, but whether there might be some small design changes and tweaks that you could make to improve it further.

Do you have enough space between the components? Are you getting too much delay? Does the board become too hot? Look for the various ways that you can make some changes and improvements to your design, and then create another prototype, or at least have it checked by a third-party engineer, such as one of the specialists at Advanced Circuits. Doing this ensures that you have the best possible design. Only then should you move ahead with production.

Use Software to Make Circuit Design Easier

The world has changed, and technology has improved in many ways thanks to PCBs. With these changes, it means that the boards and circuit design is becoming more complex. The simple breadboards that were used for prototypes in the past may not be able to handle what you need in terms of your prototype circuit design. Instead, you will want to make sure that you are using software that will help to make the process of designing faster, easier, and more accurate.

If you are worried about the cost of this type of software, it’s understandable. Some of the software options that people use cost thousands of dollars. However, that’s not the case with our software, PCB Artist. We don’t charge anything to use the software, and it will work on computers that have a Pentium processor faster than 1.8 GHz and that have 512MB of RAM. The installation will take up 1.26GB on the hard drive, but most computers will have plenty of space to spare.

Just because our software is free doesn’t mean that it is lacking in power and features. We have a fully-featured program that has elements that you won’t even find with the expensive software options. Why do we offer the software for free? It’s simple. We want you to create high-quality boards that are ready to go. We want to make the process as simple as possible for you because it also helps us.

The software features hundreds of thousands of parts in the library. It’s easy and intuitive to use, and it can help to reduce the amount of time that it takes to go from an idea to a completed prototype and then to the manufacturing phase. Check out the software to see how much easier it will be to improve your circuit design.

Double-Check the Board

You believe that you have created the perfect board. Using software and prototyping as we suggested, that might be the case. However, you still don’t want to rush to the manufacturing process quite yet. Take some time to test the board in a real-world setting to see how it performs. You might find that you need to make just a few more small changes to improve the quality and efficiency of the board. While the board might work “just fine”, you should strive to ensure it is the best possible quality. This means double-checking the board to see if there may be ways to improve its speed or heat dissipation, for example.

If there are some changes you can make, apply them to your design, and get another prototype. Test it out until you are satisfied that it is exactly what your electronics will need. After all, you do not want a workable circuit design. You want an extraordinary design. Your customers, whether they are retail consumers or the military, will be glad that you did.

The Right Manufacturer Makes a Difference

Once you are certain that the board is in perfect shape, you can move ahead with manufacturing. However, you can’t simply choose just any manufacturer for the job. You need to be sure you are working with the team that can provide the best assembly and the best materials for your boards. Always take the time to investigate the history of the company and its size. You want a company that can provide you with what you need.

Advanced Circuits provides state of the art facilities and only uses high-quality materials for the creation of the boards. You have the option of ordering as many or as few boards as you need, and we can always provide a fast turnaround time. Often, you can get boards in a matter of days, which can help to speed up your manufacturing process. We have the best PCB shipping record in the field.

We are a top-rated PCB manufacturing company that is financially stable. You won’t have to worry about Advanced Circuits cutting corners or going out of business. We strive to be as efficient as possible in all of our departments. We even have 24-hour tech support, so you can always get in touch with a specialist regarding your project. Visit our website today to receive an instant quote online. We make things as easy as possible for you, so you can be sure you have the best circuit design.

 

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Better Printed Circuit Board Designs and Manufacturing /blog/better-printed-circuit-board-designs-and-manufacturing/ Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:36:39 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2242 Continue reading ]]> Printed circuit boards are a major part of everyday life. Even though people might not see the bare circuit boards on a regular basis, PCBs are responsible for a substantial amount of what people see, do, and enjoy. There are circuit boards in phones, tablets, computers, televisions, vehicles, and most other electronics. The boards might be simple, or they might be highly complex, but they are pervasive.

Those who work in the field know this and they are well aware of how important circuit boards are, and they are always looking for ways that they can improve on their own designs. Below, you will find some tips that can help with printed circuit board design.

Use PCB Design Software

In the past, designing printed circuit boards was more time-consuming and difficult than it is today. Now, it is possible to find and use design software created for printed circuit board design. The software allows designers to construct the software in a virtual space. They can add and remove components as needed and then test them in the digital space to see whether they would work properly in the real world.

This gives designers the freedom they need to create new and interesting designs while allowing for testing to weed out the errors and problems from the board. The software can be a huge time saver and money saver for companies, and for individuals who might be making their own boards as an amateur or hobbyist.

Best of all in this day and age, you can find great software and you won’t have to spend a dime on it. PCB Artist from Advanced Circuits is fully-featured software that will make it easy for you to create the boards you need and to test them. Once you have created the boards and have the files you need, you can send them out to be manufactured.

Proper Spacing on the Board

Many times, new designers will try to pack as many components onto a PCB as possible. They may think that it will provide them with the best use of space, but that is rarely the case. Often, it simply means there will be more problems down the line when the board is tested. When components are too plentiful or too tightly spaced, it can cause issues with heat and with the wiring and soldering processes. Instead, it makes sense to have a printed circuit board design that is as clean as possible. By orienting similar components in the same direction, it can help with proper routing, for example.

Working with software, as mentioned above, is a good way to let you “see” the design first. You can also make sure it will work with your current spacing before committing to the design.

Consider the Trace Angles

The angle of the traces will be important, too. Many people create 90-degree traces, but this is not an ideal option. In fact, this could cause problems. Many boards designed by professionals will instead have 45-degree traces. This is something that you should strive for with your printed circuit board designs. The 45-degree traces help to relieve overcrowding as discussed above, and it can also help to improve the transfer speeds.

Be Aware of Heating Issues

Heat is often a problem for printed circuit boards. Designs need to account for proper heat dissipation, which can vary depending on the device type. You will want to examine any components that might be considered problematic from a heat perspective. You might also want to add thermal reliefs to the design as a means to help keep it somewhat cooler. Other elements in the device can help to keep the board cool, such as fans. However, you should do what you can on the board to reduce heat issues in the first place.

Choose a Quality Manufacturer Offering Great Materials

You should consider not just the initial printed circuit board design, but also what happens once you have a design that is complete. You need to have a reputable manufacturer create the boards for you. Regardless of whether you are only printing a few of the boards or you need thousands, make sure you choose a manufacturer that can deliver.

You should look for a company that uses high-quality materials and that has been in the field for years. Learn about the company’s reputation, the certifications it has, assembly services, and the overall capabilities.

Having a great design is essential, but if you do not also have a great manufacturer that can deliver on your design, it will not matter. Do not neglect the importance of a great manufacturing company for your printed circuit boards.

Once you believe you have found a good manufacturer, it is a good idea to order a prototype or a small batch. This ensures you are not spending a large amount of money on your first order, and allows you to test out the boards to ensure they are of sufficient quality. You do not want to make the mistake of ordering 10,000 PCBs from a company that you have never worked with or tested before. You need to know what you are getting before you commit.

Get in Touch with Advanced Circuits

Above are just some of the things that you will want to keep in mind when you are creating printed circuit board designs. When you work with Advanced Circuits, you will find that we can make many parts of the process much easier for you. We offer free high-quality PCB software to help with your designs and testing. We run engineering tests on the designs before manufacturing and will make you aware of any issues that might be present. Advanced Circuits offers excellent customer service and ensures that you are getting what you need, when you need it. Our quick turnaround time means you will get your boards quickly. Over the decades we have been in this field, we have strived to provide the best service possible for all of our customers, large and small.

 

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Custom PCB Design is Both Possible and Affordable…with the Right Resources! /blog/custom-pcb-design-is-both-possible-and-affordablewith-the-right-resources/ Tue, 18 Aug 2020 20:39:25 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2229 Continue reading ]]> Those who want to have custom PCBs (printed circuit boards) may approach the process well aware of the challenges and costs ahead. Very few modern consumers know of the complexity of designing and creating these essential components found within most contemporary electronics. Manufacturers and designers, however, recognize the need to keep things simple and rarely add a lot of customization or innovation to their PCB design.

When they do custom PCB design work, they know that there are risks involved. The designs themselves might have tiny flaws that result in a batch of unworkable boards. There could be production delays and more. This is why so many look for the very best custom PCB design software and resources.

It Starts with PCB Design Software

PCB design software is an essential part of the custom PCB creation process. It often generates what are known as Gerber or IX274X files (they are one and the same). The very first phase in the production or manufacturing process, they are digital blueprints (though they can also be printed) for the board. Early in the industry’s history, the plans were printed on layers of transparent film that were color-coded to identify the different areas of the board and help to emphasize potential design flaws instantly.

This, clearly, was not an optimal approach because of the time and materials involved.

Modern computers and more advanced custom PCB design software have empowered designers to easily see the layers, make changes, and adjust the design. These designs are still similar in nature to plans used by architects and engineers. They look only at design and assembly processes, but they are unable to highlight errors or issues automatically.

Getting to the Heart of the Problem

What does this mean to the company in need of those custom PCBs? It means that even if using the very best custom PCB design software, there may be flaws in file types (including Gerber files) that result in unusable boards or lengthy and costly delays.

And this is particularly true in our modern age of outsourcing and production-only services.

As an example, a subcontracted manufacturer may handle the custom PCB Gerber files without recognizing a design glitch. Because they are a no-touch producer that just takes files and makes boards, it can often mean that the entire batch of custom PCBs is created, and only upon arrival will problems be recognized. Clearly, this will always create a financial, production, or scheduling dilemma.

This puts a lot of responsibility on firms using custom-printed circuit boards. It means they should find the optimal custom PCB design software and any resources available for avoiding major issues. It could be said that it also makes the company’s design team responsible for knowing where any flaws in their Gerber or other files might appear and how to best avoid such issues.

Does that sound like companies using PCBs have to find solutions even if they don’t yet know the problems? Yes, and it is vital to find manufacturers who support custom PCB design with risk-reduction solutions like evaluative tools and design resources.

Complimentary Custom PCB Design Software and Analytics

Advanced Circuits is among the most trusted and popular domestic producers of custom PCBs and prototypes. They provide full design-to-shipping services, as well as assembly.

More importantly, they are a company committed to ensuring their clients avoid expensive mistakes like those described earlier. They do this through an array of approaches, including an astonishing collection of free design tools and resources.

FreeDFM

Whether it is Gerber files or another design program, Advanced Circuits enables customers to export design files into the site’s free custom PCB file check software – FreeDFM. This runs a comprehensive analysis of the designs uploaded to the program. It sends the results to the specified contact person, including glitches fixed and issues left unaddressed but which warrant a red flag.

The program rapidly evaluates and repairs issues in the custom-printed circuit board design files, and tags “potential showstoppers,” or issues left uncorrected. This promises a waste-free process that eliminates delays or useless production runs. Running Gerber files before submission also provides a discount on a project.

PCB Artist

On top of evaluating plans, industry-best design software is also made available entirely free of charge. The custom PCB layout software, known as PCB Artist, is offered in its unrestricted format. It can be quickly and easily used to design custom PCBs with up to 28 layers, and each can feature elements from a library of more than 500,000 common parts and components. It is empowered with auto-routing design tools, digital schematics, and much more. This nearly eliminates any risks of a flawed design. These custom designs can also be sent through the file check to ensure error-free results and get a discount for the work.

Cut Down on Common Custom PCB Problems

Just what sort of issues will such tools identify and/or erase from Gerber files? The most common include:

  • Conflicting layers – Gerber files feature design specifications at every layer. The designer has to ensure that the specs function synchronously or there will be errors at every subsequent layer.
  • Missing data –Incomplete data is as damaging as missing data. Using the free custom PCB design software and checking services will indicate when details don’t line up with specifications or when there is mismatched information. Eliminating such errors will save a lot of time, money, and headaches.
  • Flawed file names – It is not at all unusual for Gerber files to use a flawed naming protocol. This causes confusion within the process and can only be detected by file checking or troubleshooting ahead of the game.
  • Empty files – Designers frequently move, erase, or negate data, and this inserts empty files into the process, increasing the risk of problems with the fabrication process.

Custom PCB design should be as error-free as standard design. There are reasons that such issues can occur, but with the free resources that Advanced Circuits makes available, such risks, delays, and problems are avoidable.

 

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Optimize Your PCB Layout /blog/optimize-your-pcb-layout/ Fri, 31 Jul 2020 19:35:42 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2220 Continue reading ]]> PCBs are the foundation of electrical devices all around us – from children’s toys to kitchen appliances to the smartphone you’re probably using to read this article. To function, these items all rely on a functioning PCB or printed circuit board.

Whether you’re an expert engineer or an at-home inventor, you’ve likely designed PCBs that fail due to a short circuit or burnt-out component. PCB designs are incredibly intricate, and you’re not alone in your trial and error. Circumvent some of these hard lessons by checking out these tips to optimize your PCB layout for a better performing PCB.

Research                                                                                                                   

Before you begin drawing up the plans for your next PCB, pause for a moment to consider why. Is your goal to improve an existing circuit board? Are you dreaming of an entirely innovative concept? Whichever your reason, make sure you know your end goal and research whether there are existing circuit board templates that you can use. This pre-work will save you a ton of time and keep you from reinventing the wheel if a solution already exists. You’ll also avoid repeating the mishaps of others when designing your PCB layout.

Create a Blueprint

Once you’re set on the outcome you’re hoping to achieve, it’s time to put your ideas into something tangible. Start with a hand-drawn sketch to map out your circuit board. This will allow you to see the flow and catch any errors before adding in the complication of technology. You can also have colleagues or other PCB hobbyists review your circuit board layout ideas for input before creating your virtual design.

Use a (Free) PCB Software

With your blueprint in hand, you’re ready to start designing the layout of your PCB. The best way to create a PCB layout is by using free PCB design software, like Advanced Circuit’s PCB Artist. PCB design software, like PCB Artist, will give you access to a components library with over 500,000 parts. It’s incredibly easy to search for a previously used component, add it, and rearrange as needed for your PCB layout. Never pay money to use PCB design software, as there are so many excellent free choices on the market.

This digital blueprint that you create using a PCB software is called a schematic. In your schematic, you’ll place your components, connectors, connections, and power sources. Eventually, this will become your PCB design that a manufacturer will use to create your PCB.

Most free PCB design software also comes with a design rule check so you can be confident that your PCB layout works and can be produced by the manufacturer of your choice.

Placement

The placement of your components during the schematics stage is incredibly critical to the viability of your PCB. Typically, you want to start by placing your most essential elements first, and then go from there with any flairs or add-ons. Keep in mind that you don’t want to overcrowd your PCB. Placing components and active elements too close together can result in high temperatures. Overheating your PCB can cause components to burn and, ultimately, lead to your PCB failing.

You’ll also want to check with the manufacturer, and during the design, rule check to see if there are placement restrictions. In general, you want to leave at least 100 mils of space between any component and the edge of your PCB. You also want to evenly space out your components and organize so that like-components are oriented the same direction, as possible.

Routing

As you plan and design your PCB’s layout, you’ll want to consider the different routing options and specifications. On a finished PCB, the routing is the copper traces that run along the green board and indicate the flow of electricity between the components. The general rule of thumb is to make the route distance between elements as short and direct as possible. You also want to make sure that you make your traces wide enough to handle the high temperatures in an electrical circuit. When in doubt about your PCB overheating, you can always add in via, or holes, to channel electricity to the other side of the PCB.

Layers

Thanks to advances in our scientific understanding of electricity and circuits, we can now easily manufacture PCBs with multiple layers. The more layers you have on a PCB layout, the more complex your circuit will be. Extra layers allow you to add in more components and tends to have higher connectivity.

Multilayer PCBs appear in more sophisticated electrical devices, but if you find your PCB layout is becoming overcrowded, this could be an excellent way to problem-solve. Multilayer PCB designs do come with higher costs, but Advanced Circuits offers excellent deals on two and four-layer PCB fabrication.

PCB Manufacturer

You’ve put in the hard work and effort to design your PCB, so make sure you select a manufacturer that can bring your plan to life. Different PCB manufacturers use different fabrication processes and use varying qualities of components. It would be a shame to have an incredible PCB layout, only to receive a low-quality product with a lousy soldering job or faulty components. Choosing a manufacturer that uses surface mounting technology is your best bet for a PCB that precisely represents your PCB layout. This fabrication method is mostly automated and reduces the risk of human error when creating your physical PCB.

Create a Prototype

Even if you’re 100% confident in your PCB, it’s always a good idea to order a prototype. Even experts know that you’ll likely want to make tweaks to your PCB design once you see how your prototype performs in its given application. After testing out your prototype, you can go back to the drawing board and update your PCB layout for optimal output.

Advanced Circuits Can Help

Advanced Circuits is the third largest PCB manufacturer in the U.S. Their company has you covered from beginning to end in your PCB layout process. You can utilize their free PCB design software and file check to ensure your layout is bug-free and ready to go. Advanced Circuits has an incredibly accurate fabrication process that will ensure your PCB is delivered precisely as you designed it.

 

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What You Need to Know Before Choosing a PCB Manufacturer /blog/what-you-need-to-know-before-choosing-a-pcb-manufacturer/ Mon, 20 Jul 2020 21:47:05 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2212 Continue reading ]]> You’ve put in the time to research, plan, and design your new electrical gizmo or product. Now, you’re ready to put it into action with a printed circuit board (PCB). But what exactly is the best way to get your hands on your physical PCB design?

While there are DIY PCB tinkerers and blogs about how to create your PCB, this process is messy, costly, and potentially hazardous. It’s much more reliable and simpler to go the professional route and to collaborate with a PCB manufacturer that can bring your design to life. With so many PCB manufacturers on the market, it can be challenging to pick the one best for your needs. Some PCB manufacturers work well for individual inventors and small businesses, while others are better suited for electrical engineers at large firms.

Whatever your reason for creating a PCB, these are the considerations you should keep in mind before selecting a PCB manufacturer. Making the best choice can save you time, money, and make sure that you don’t end up with a faulty product.

Scale Matters

The first question you’ll want to think through is the quantity of PCBs you anticipate ordering. If you’re a PCB hobbyist that enjoys building novelty electronics, you’ll want to look for PCB manufacturers that match you. Your best bet will be a PCB manufacturer with simple solutions, easy-to-use PCB design software, and tutorial videos. These tools will keep you from becoming overwhelmed and will help you build your knowledge base on PCB design. You’ll also want to see if the PCB manufacturer has minimum order policies. As an at-home PCB designer, you’ll probably only order one or two PCBs at a time, so you don’t want to use a company that will require a minimum purchase order.

On the other hand, if you run a business that needs to fulfill large orders with a PCB design, you’ll want to work with a company that can turn out big orders – and fast. Check with the company to see what their bulk pricing is like and ensure that they’re able to keep up with your demand.

Spend Wisely

As you design your PCB, it’s essential to keep in mind your budget. More extensive operations will want to have a Bill of Materials that outlines how many and what type of components are necessary for a project. This will give both you and the manufacturer an idea of the financial resources needed for completion.

You will also rack up a higher cost if you need a multilayer PCB. Sometimes, multilayer PCBs are necessary or advantageous for your purpose. For instance, a multilayer PCB will provide more surface area, which means you can add more components. More complex circuit boards will need multiple layers to accommodate additional components as you don’t want to overcrowd the PCB. Overcrowding can lead to overheating and potentially cause a short circuit.

Knowing the materials required and how many layers you’ll need for your PCB design will help you to run price comparisons between PCB manufacturers. Some PCB manufacturers, like Advanced Circuits, offer exclusive deals on their two- and four-layer PCBs, making high-powered technology possible at a cost-effective price.

Time Is Of the Essence

If you’re on a tight timeline for a project or just antsy to get your hands on a design, you’ll want to know how quickly a PCB manufacturer can deliver the goods. In general, more complex PCB designs will take longer to manufacture and deliver than stripped-down prototypes. Wait times can vary from company to company, with most landing around 3 to 14 days. Advanced Circuits, the 3rd largest PCB manufacturer in the U.S., provides a same-day turnaround option for certain orders so that you receive your PCB the next day.

Skip the Middleman

As you look around for PCB manufacturers, take note of whether they’re actually producers or, instead, brokers. Since the market is so vast, many PCB brokers have cropped up to help facilitate relationships between large firms and manufacturers. PCB brokers have a place in the world and are the most helpful for large companies that constantly need to revisit their vendors for competitive bids. It can also be useful if your company doesn’t know much about the PCB industry as they can help guide you through the process and track progress.

However, for individuals or labs that know their way around PCBs, it’s most cost-effective to work directly with a manufacturer. Working with a PCB manufacturer is the best way to have an open line of communication and establish a relationship. Rather than playing a game of telephone, you’ll be able to call up the PCB manufacturer’s tech support or check your PCB’s production timeline.

Reputation Is Everything

When you’ve spent so much time and effort on a PCB design, the last thing you want is shoddy production. There’s nothing worse than finally getting your PCB only to realize the holes weren’t drilled properly, or your PCB has the wrong dimensions. This is why you want to confirm how reputable a PCB manufacturer is before sending off your pet project. A good indicator of quality is if the manufacturer works with other large companies and organizations. For instance, Advanced Circuits is approved to manufacture Department of Defense contracts for the U.S. government. This demonstrates the level of quality and service that you can expect when trusting your PCB design with Advanced Circuits.

Don’t Settle For Less

While budget and time constraints are real, you don’t want to skimp out by not choosing a high-quality PCB manufacturer. Determine your purpose and keep in mind these considerations so that you can select the absolute best PCB manufacturer given your resources and needs. Splurging a bit more on manufacturing or taking the time to do research will save you the headache of a faulty PCB that will send you right back to the drawing board. Advanced Circuits is one of the premier, American-based PCB manufacturers that is ready to help you bring your design to life today.

 

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After Design: What to Know about Working with Your PCB Manufacturer /blog/after-design-what-to-know-about-working-with-your-pcb-manufacturer/ Thu, 16 Apr 2020 18:35:03 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2137 Continue reading ]]> Once you have designed your printed circuit board, it’s time to send off the schematics to a fabricator, also called a PCB manufacturer. This is the point at which the project leaves your hands – there are no further chances to make changes or to catch errors. You cannot build in any additional functionality, troubleshoot your design work, or anything else. As you might imagine, this is a critical time in the creation of your board, so it pays to know a few things about working with a PCB manufacturer.

Before Sending

Before you send your design to the PCB manufacturer, there are a few things that you should do. Remember – this is your final chance to make sure that your board design lives up to your expectations. To that end, make sure that you:

  • Print Out the Layout: Physically print the board design on paper and make sure that everything fits. If there is even a small amount out of tolerance, it’s time to address that.
  • Check for Functionality: Make sure that your components are all in place, that your traces are properly sized, that you have no 90-degree angles (to avoid partial etching and the resulting shorts), and more. As much as you can, check functionality and placement one last time before sending the design out.
  • Double Check Tolerances: Verify with your PCB manufacturer what their tolerances are and then ensure that your design meets those requirements. In most cases, you can simply build those tolerances into your design with your PCB software, such as our free PCB Artist software. Just run a quick manufacturability check based on those tolerances and you should be alerted to any issues, which can then be rectified.
  • Double Check the Space Requirements: When adding components to your PCB, make sure that you leave enough space between them. You need to account for traces, but also to help alleviate heat buildup, to reduce resistance, and more. Don’t forget that you will also need to leave room for things like buttons and other components that are not part of the PCB layout, too. Accurate size estimation from the beginning stages is essential to success.

Know the PCB Manufacturing Process

It is important to understand the process followed by the PCB manufacturer once you send your design to them. After design, which is the part you handle, the next step is printing. The PCB manufacturer will check your design to ensure that it meets design tolerances. Note that this check does not necessarily mean that your board works to your expectations – most DFM checks are strictly to ensure that the board fulfills the tolerances necessary for manufacturing. (When you work with Advanced Circuits you can take advantage of our FreeDFM tool, to ensure your design is free of manufacturability issues.)

A plotter printer will then be used to print the PCB. This type of printer uses a transparent film to create a negative image of the board. Black and clear ink are used to represent traces and circuits, as well as non-conductive areas of the board (clear ink). With outer board layers, the colors are reversed, with black indicating non-conductive parts and clear ink used for components. A soldering mask is added, and then a registration hole is punched through the film to help align each one into the appropriate layer.

Next up, the manufacturer prints the copper layer for the board’s interior layers, then unnecessary copper is removed. Finally, the entire thing is sandwiched together into a single board and inspected, the layers are laminated, drilling takes place, and plating occurs. A final etching then occurs, followed by the application of the solder mask, silk-screening, and a final reliability test.

Of course, it helps if you have chosen the right PCB manufacturer in the first place. What should you consider when choosing one?

Choosing a PCB Manufacturer

You’ll find many important considerations when choosing a PCB manufacturer. There are numerous fabricators available, but they are by no means created equal. Some are budget-oriented options, while others are geared for working with major tech companies. Here are a few of the more critical considerations to make before choosing a partner:

  • Lead Time: Some PCB manufacturers have very long lead times. Make sure you know the lead time requirements of any you are considering working with, as this will have a huge impact on your overall project.
  • File Type: Make sure that the PCB manufacturer that you choose accepts the file type(s) that you want to send. Some of the more common types used today include KiCad, Gerber, and EAGLE.
  • Minimum Time to Shipment: In addition to lead time, you’ll need to think about the company’s minimum time to shipment. Basically, this is a specified period that occurs before your order can be shipped. Some companies have very low requirements, but others have lengthy periods that may be a week or more.
  • Order Quantity: How many boards do you need to print? Are you interested in one or two prototypes for testing? Do you need a full production run? Make sure that the PCB manufacturer you choose is able to meet your quantity requirements. Some companies will only print larger quantities, while others are more flexible.
  • Software Availability: Ideally, you’ll work with a PCB manufacturer that makes design software available to you. At Advanced Circuits, we offer one of the most robust design tools in the industry – PCB Artist – free of charge. It can handle all of your design needs and seamlessly export the design when you’re ready to print.

Our Position as an Industry Leader

Ultimately, the right PCB manufacturer will help you bring your designs to life. Make sure that you check their reputation, the quality of their manufacturing process, their lead time and minimum time to shipment, minimum order quantity, and whether they offer access to free design software or not. At Advanced Circuits, we’re proud of our position as an industry leader, as well as our ability to offer our customers the flexibility they need. Whether you’re printing off a handful of prototypes, or you’re ready to go to market with a full production run, we can help.

 

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Tips to Simplify & Streamline the Circuit Board Design Process /blog/tips-to-simplify-streamline-the-circuit-board-design-process/ Fri, 10 Apr 2020 20:17:55 +0000 https://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=2135 Continue reading ]]> Designing circuit boards requires an understanding of more than just circuit functionality. It also requires that you understand how the board will fit within the application, what the item will ultimately do, how heat will be dispersed within the board and throughout the environment, and a great deal more. Whether you are designing your very first PCB or you’ve been at it for some time, the tips below will help improve your circuit board design.

Make Troubleshooting Easy

There will come a time when you need to troubleshoot functionality within your board. Make sure that important nodes are accessible. This will require that you plan ahead – which points will be important to your troubleshooting? How accessible are they? Is there a test point connected to those parts? Looped test points are often the simplest to use, too, and can easily accommodate a test probe with a hook. However, there are numerous other types of test points that may be used depending on the probe type you want to use.

Loop Size

Speaking of loops, it’s important that you don’t go overboard when it comes to their size. Keeping them small helps ensure that you avoid some specific issues. The smaller the loop, the lower the resistance and inductance. You should also consider placing your loops over a ground plane to reduce inductance even more. Smaller loops will reduce high-frequency voltage spikes and the number of signals in the node.

Space

It’s tempting to cram as many components on the board as possible. However, one of the most important rules of circuit board design is this: leave ample space between components. There are several problems inherent with putting your components too close together. One of those is that you may inadvertently leave too little room for wiring. Each pin must be connected, so the more pins a component has, the more wiring it will need and the more space around it to accommodate those wires. You will also find that when you leave enough space between components, it’s simpler to solder in place, and auto-routing is also easier.

Orientation Matters

Soldering mistakes can quickly turn a simple project into a massive headache. One way to help eliminate those mistakes is to place your components with the same orientation. In most cases, pin 1 is located in the upper left corner. Keep this orientation throughout the entire circuit board and you’ll find that you experience fewer errors during the soldering process, and that it also makes inspecting your completed circuit board simpler, too.

Size Traces Appropriately

Copper is going to play a significant role in your circuit board design. However, what your software doesn’t really show you is the amount of resistance within those copper wires. Make sure that you size your traces appropriately to account for things like voltage drop, temperature increase, and power dissipation. To do that, you will need to factor in length, width, and thickness to control resistance. Because you cannot control the actual physical properties of the metal, you must size the metal (trace) to help combat resistance, heat buildup, and other challenges that might make your circuit board perform poorly. A PCB trace width calculator can help ensure that you’re creating traces that are wide and thick enough for the job.

Print It to Test It

Before doing anything else, complete your design and layout process and then print the board’s layout on paper. Then, use that paper to make sure that everything really does fit. The printout should fit within the housing of the item you’re creating, but you should also make sure that each of the components fits on the board within the design that you’ve created. This single step can save you an immense amount of stress down the road if the space for one component in the layout is just a little bit off.

Place Decouple Capacitors Correctly

Decoupling capacitors play a vital role in your circuit board design, but they need to be placed appropriately. Place them as close as you can to the power and ground pins of your integrated circuits. This will help to improve their efficiency and reduce inductance. Another tip that can reduce inductance is to use multiple vias from the capacitor pin to the ground plane.

Don’t Rely on Your Auto-Router

Your Auto-Router is a handy tool, and it can be a valuable asset that offers a lot of benefits. However, don’t rely on it too much. We offer one of the most robust Auto-Routers in PCB Artist, our free circuit board design software, but it is not a replacement for routing yourself. Only use your Auto-Router in some specific situations, including when you need ultra-precise placement, when you discover bottlenecks that need to be worked around, and when you cannot see where you need to route traces.

Avoid 90-Degree Trace Angles

It might seem like creating 90-degree trace angles is unavoidable. The truth is, you can do better. A 90-degree trace angle can actually be problematic for a number of reasons. One of those is that the outside corner is often going to be narrower than your standard trace width. There is also the possibility of having multiple angles that are only partially traced, leading to shorting and other problems. Instead of 90-degree angles, shoot for 45-degree angles. This ensures that you’re easily able to etch fully and avoid shorting.

PCB Artist Provides the Design Capabilities You Need

Ultimately, circuit board design requires time, patience, and a firm understanding of basic design principles. Our free circuit board design software, PCB Artist, helps ensure that you have the capabilities you need. At Advanced Circuits, we also offer full manufacturing capabilities to bring your boards to life. No matter what the purpose of your boards, we help ensure that you’re able to reach your goals. Contact us today to learn more, or download PCB Artist free of charge.

 

 

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High Speed PCB Design Considerations /blog/high-speed-pcb-design-considerations/ Tue, 16 Aug 2016 09:23:25 +0000 http://dev.4pcb.com/blog/?p=1159 Continue reading ]]> PCB Layout is Crucial

Efficient fabrication of printed circuit boards (PCBs) utilized in high speed circuitry is critical to the end result. Yet often the PCB layout design is not a proactive thought in the process. Advanced planning and adherence to important factors will go a long way toward providing designs that result in the desired functionality and successful fabrication of PCBs. These practices of designing for manufacturing (DFM) and taking extra consideration for high speed circuit demands need to be addressed in the early stages of board layout design rather than being an afterthought.

Poor layouts can result in performance issues when fabricated PCBs are put into testing or production use. At that point redesign or rework become exponentially more costly and time-consuming, as circuit failures or performance issues are evaluated and layouts of prototypes are reconfigured.

Considerations for PCB Design

There are many factors that contribute to successful PCB design in high speed circuitry:

Schematic documentation – detailed schematics form the basis for good layout design. Questions often arise at the fabrication point related to physical layout of the board. A clear schematic can save time in resolving questions by providing the intended flow of the circuit. Include as much information as possible on the design schematic including any specifics available such as trace lengths, required component placements, board housing information, etc.

Extra set of eyes – often the circuit designer and engineer doing the layout will not be the same individual. In such cases it will add value for the PCB layout technician to consult with the initial designer to ensure the layout meets the specific criteria of the design. Collaboration at this stage of the design can save time and money in producing PCBs that function as designed and meet the intended results and performance levels.

Component location – there are some major components that must be well-defined for board functionality, such as critical power locations and input/output points. Other component placement can also have an adverse effect on the overall performance of the PCB, including placement of individual circuits such that their physical proximity does not impact the functionality of another.

Power supply – power supply bypassing to minimize “noise” is especially important for high speed circuitry. Incorporating common methods such as rails-to-ground or rail-to-rail can provide effective results.

Parasitics – high-speed circuits can often be negatively impacted by unintended stray capacitance referred to as parasitics. Understanding the potential source of such inductance and avoiding this potential instability or resulting oscillations in the circuit is an important consideration for high-speed PCB design.

Additional considerations regarding parasitics come into the equation on PCB design including the configuration for ground plane utilization and packaging.

Routing/shielding – signals on boards can interfere with one another, and with high speed circuitry the negative effects become even more crucial. It is imperative that PCB designers plan accordingly for how the board will avoid such conflicts between signal paths through several techniques:

    • Keep long parallel runs to a minimum on the same board
    • Reduce the occurrence of long traces on adjacent board layers
    • Maintain as much distance between signal traces as possible
    • If individual signal traces do require higher levels of isolation, route them on separate layers when possible

Materials – fabrication materials utilized in board construction play an important role in reduction of noise and cross-talk of signals. Different materials have varying dielectric constants, and a lower constant results in signals that propagate at higher speeds.

Trace construction – use of microstrip or stripline trace layouts can also impact signal performance. Values that come into play include the trace width, thickness, and the dielectric constant of materials in use. Each of these values impacts the resulting resistance, inductance, and capacitance of the trace, impacting the associated signal path’s performance as well as potential noise separation attributes.

Successful Design of High Speed PCBs

Adhering to best practices and guidelines for high speed PCB design will minimize trouble-shooting and rework. Document design constraints for reuse by all PCB design engineers, and update them regularly. Develop a design consideration hierarchy that clearly illustrates to designers the most critical considerations so that they are second nature early in the development process.

The primary goal is to produce working boards that function reliably and as designed, at the lowest practical cost.

 

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