Technology

16 Tips on Designing A More Efficient PCB

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A lot of engineers often pay too much attention to circuits&comma; electronic components&comma; and code&period; They consider these as vital parts of an electronic project but often overlook the more critical part which is the PCB layout&period; Poor PCB layout can lead to function problems&comma; and this is something we don’t want to happen&period; Not now nor in the future&period; Printed circuit boards are essential in every electronic device&comma; hence it is important to plan strategically and properly when designing one&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">To avoid problems with your PCB layout&comma; below are some practical tips on how to design a more effective and reliable PCB&period; If you’re ready&comma; then let’s start&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Nodes Must be Accessible<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Determine which points will be vital to troubleshoot your circuit&comma; prior to designing your PCB&period; If you don’t&comma; measuring a signal from your PCB will be troublesome and will take you time to figure out why something is not working&period; Also&comma; in case the circuits are not easily accessible&comma; you can add a test point that connects to them&period; Several test points are available for you to use&comma; however the ones that form a loop are ideal&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Components Must Have Enough Space<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">While it is tempting to place components close to each other&comma; there is a huge possibility that there will be no space for transmitting of wires&period; It is advisable to give space between components for wires to spread evenly&period; If your component contains <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;scondar&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">surface mount pin header<&sol;a>&comma; you will need more space&period; Having enough space for all wires will make soldering hassle-free and will assist auto-routing&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Components Must be Under the Same Orientation<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">You will not commit any mistakes when soldering if components are uniformly oriented&period; This is also important since they often have a standard pin numbering&period; Pin &num;1 is often located in the upper-left corner of a component&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Swap Wiring Directions<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Creating traces in a vertical form on one side and horizontal on the other aids wiring of lines&period; You may exchange between directions when there are multiple lines that cross over layers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Initiate Printing of Layout<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Once you are done with the components&comma; start with the layout printing&period; Components must be placed on top of the layout to determine if both match together&period; Errors are sometimes uncontrollable on datasheets&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Knowledge About Manufacturer Specifications<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It is important to know a manufacturer’s specifications&comma; such as spacing&comma; trace width&comma; number of layers&comma; diodes&comma; etc&period; because every manufacturer has its own&period; Consider the things you need before designing your PCB layout&period; Look for a manufacturer that fits your needs and standards&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">One of the things you need to consider is the grade material of the PCB&period; Grade material ranges from FR-1 to FR-5&period; Most manufacturers use FR-4&comma; but FR-2 is commonly used for consumer applications&period; FR stands for Flame Resistance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Choose Line Width Based on Current<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Lines with larger width often reduce resistance&period; This decreases the heat caused by diffusion&period; The basis for line width is from the estimated current that flows through it&period; Hence&comma; power lines should be wider since all currents are supplied by these wires&period; You may use online calculators to calculate the width&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Make Use of Silk Layer<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In professional PCB manufacturers&comma; using of silk layer is the standard protocol&period; It is also useful for labeling circuit boards&period; You can label your components and add details about the board’s meaning&comma; purpose&comma; revision number&comma; and owner&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Using 90º Angles with Traces is Highly Discouraged<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It is hard to keep the trace width when angles have a sharp right turn&period; Especially&comma; when traces are too narrow&period; You can combat this by making two 45º bends&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Make a Ground Plane<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It is highly important that ground planes have the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;10bestranked&period;com&sol;tone-and-probe-tracing-kits&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">same level of voltage<&sol;a> all throughout the PCB&period; There will be voltage drops if you use traces to transmit ground signals&period; To ward this off&comma; create a ground plane where components can directly transmit signals to the ground&period; Ground planes can be suffused with copper&period; However&comma; the only downside of creating a ground plane is the difficulty in soldering&period; The heat gets used up quickly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Don’t Forget the Bypass Capacitors<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">These filter the AC components from a continuous power supply&period; Bypass capacitors decrease waves&comma; loud noises&comma; and other unwanted AC signals&period; This is done by bypassing AC fluctuations to the ground&period; An ideal place for you to look for bypass capacitors is at the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;ray-ming-pcb-special&sol;">PCB<&sol;a> power inlet&period; The wires that connect the power supply to your PCB are often long and serve as antennas&period; These wires collect tons of RF signals&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Schematic Pattern Should Match Your Layout Comparison<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Most PCB layout software comprises of a comparison tool&period; This tool compares the schematic and layout pattern to ensure that these two matches accordingly&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Know the Areas of Heat<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Heat can alter the circuits’ performance and reliability&period; Not to mention&comma; it creates impacting damage if not properly dissipated&period; Determine which components take up more power and how heat is diverted by the package&period; Thermal Resistance knows how much temperature increases per Watt of power&period; Remember&comma; you need to keep crucial parts of the PCB away from sources of heat&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Create Parallel Footprints<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Creating parallel footprints is essential for hard to find electrical components&period; There are times you can’t help but opt for the cheapest components if the ones you use are unavailable&period; This is one of the instances where you choose to change components based on external factors &lpar;unavailability of preferred components&rpar;&comma; regardless if they have the same footprint or not&comma; however&comma; the PCB layout must remain unchanged&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Differential Signal Traces in Parallel Style<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">These are the type of signal traces that are mostly used to enhance noise and amplify different dynamic ranges&period; However&comma; it will only be feasible if traces follow the same paths&period; With this&comma; the noise will be distributed equally&period; Differential signal traces must be parallel to each other and are close together&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Make Enough Space<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">It is completely important to have enough space between copper traces and fills&period; This is to avoid possible shock hazards&period; When these two have a decent amount of space&comma; there will be a proper distribution of electric current&period; Solder isn’t the best choice since it’s not a reliable conductor&comma; thus creating space really helps&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Conclusion<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">For a feasible and efficient PCB layout&comma; follow these simple steps&period; It can be really challenging at first&comma; but as you go along and walk your way to familiarize every step&comma; you will surely get the gist of it&period; These helpful tips will give you the support you need&period; Follow these simple tricks and make your PCB designing more effective and reliable&period; These are valuable information that adds up to your PCB knowledge&period; Have fun designing&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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