-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueShowing Some Constraint
A strong design constraint strategy carefully balances a wide range of electrical and manufacturing trade-offs. This month, we explore the key requirements, common challenges, and best practices behind building an effective constraint strategy.
All About That Route
Most designers favor manual routing, but today's interactive autorouters may be changing designers' minds by allowing users more direct control. In this issue, our expert contributors discuss a variety of manual and autorouting strategies.
Creating the Ideal Data Package
Why is it so difficult to create the ideal data package? Many of these simple errors can be alleviated by paying attention to detail—and knowing what issues to look out for. So, this month, our experts weigh in on the best practices for creating the ideal design data package for your design.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Broadcom PCB Design: Miniaturization on the Cutting Edge
June 15, 2015 | Andy Shaughnessy, PCBDesign007Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

I recently attended the Orange County Designer's Council “Lunch and Learn” meeting, held at the Broadcom offices on the campus of the University of California, Irvine. Afterward, I sat down with Scott Davis, CID, the senior manager of PC board design at Broadcom, to discuss the company’s savvy PCB design department and their approach to PCB design.
Andy Shaughnessy: Scott, tell us a little about yourself and the design team you manage.
Scott Davis: I've been in the industry since 1996 when I actually joined a historic company, Praegitzer Industries. It was part of the Praegitzer design group that started the numerous acquisitions and transfers throughout the history of Tyco, the e2E Corporation, and the acquisition of Plexus Corporation. I moved with them from Oregon to Colorado, and then in 2007 I was informed about the position here at Broadcom. I have been here almost eight years. I'm managing a team of about 40. These people are designers, along with a CAD library team and our two resources that run Valor full time. This is a global team. We have 11 people in Singapore, one person in Canada, one person in India, and the rest of the remaining folks here in America, mainly in California.
Shaughnessy: Is that 40 PCB designers?
Davis: It's managers, designers, librarians, and Valor operators, a combination of all of the above.
Shaughnessy: So, you all rely on Valor?
Davis: We love Valor and the fabricators love the Broadcom packages for fabrication because they don't spend any time in engineering. They go right to the floor for production and we run every single design through Valor. The reason for that is we have two CAD tools. We're using the Mentor Graphics tools and we're using the Cadence tools, but we want our output packages to be consistent, including PDFs, Gerbers, .tgz files, pick-and-place files, etc. We find that Valor provides that third-party platform in order for us to quickly and automatically create those deliverables which we then load into our ERP systems for release to the suppliers.
Shaughnessy: What kind of design challenges are your teams facing?
Davis: Certainly the challenge we have as a world leader in semiconductors is the breadth of technology that we see. We see everything from two layer boards to 24-layer boards. We have a group here doing ATE boards. We're doing simple Bluetooth boards, WiFi boards, high-speed networking boards. So I think that the challenge we have is that, in a large design group, it's good for the designers to get that variety, and that keeps their skill sets really sharp on a variety of technologies. We're not doing power supply after power supply after power supply. You may work on a WiFi board one week and you may work on a cable set-top box or a cable modem the next week. That's one of the dynamic aspects of my group: the variety of technology that Broadcom brings to the table. It’s unique to the industry.
Shaughnessy: We surveyed our readers last month, and some of the designers said that it's getting to be less fun because there's so little real estate and they're just running out of space on the board. Is that a real problem for you too?
Davis: Yes, it's a real problem with the miniaturization of the WiFi circuits and the RF circuits. Certainly cellular telephones and any kind of 4G LTE and the new technologies that are coming up are just getting smaller and smaller. We are seeing 0.35 mm packages, 0.2 mm packages, so you're forced into these HDI, almost completely three-dimensional models that become very difficult to even realize or get a picture of when you first load your schematics and associate it to your board layout. It's very challenging.
Shaughnessy: How small of a via can you design?
Davis: Of course we can design almost anything. The fabricators are typically limiting us in some cases to 4 mil mechanicals, certainly 6 mil is a real break point. But 8 mil mechanicals are not a problem. You can go pretty thick on that. Microvias, we're trying to push down to 4 mils with 8 mil pads. That's pretty tight, but we stay pretty much industry standard as far as Class 2 for our designs. High reliability for most consumer electronics is not that large of an issue. You're certainly not Class 3. Most of our material is still 370HR, except for our high-speed stuff. We are doing some exotic materials and pushing the envelope in the SerDes serial stream gigabits per second.
Shaughnessy: It sounds like you have a really fun job.
Davis: It's a great job. I love being a part of industry opportunities. I want to thank you and appreciate the time to talk to me today.
Shaughnessy: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.
Testimonial
"The I-Connect007 team is outstanding—kind, responsive, and a true marketing partner. Their design team created fresh, eye-catching ads, and their editorial support polished our content to let our brand shine. Thank you all! "
Sweeney Ng - CEE PCBSuggested Items
Ansys 2025 R2 Enables Next-Level Productivity by Leveraging AI, Smart Automation, and Broader On-Demand Capabilities
07/30/2025 | PRNewswireAnsys, now part of Synopsys, announced 2025 R2, featuring new AI-powered capabilities across the portfolio that accelerate simulation and expand accessibility.
Target Condition: The 5 Ws of PCB Design Constraints
07/29/2025 | Kelly Dack -- Column: Target ConditionHave you ever sat down to define PCB design constraints and found yourself staring at a settings window with more checkboxes than a tax form? You’re not alone. For many designers—especially those newer to the layout world—the task of setting up design constraints can feel like trying to write a novel in a language you just started learning.
Zuken to Showcase Defence & Security-Focused Electronic Systems Design Solutions at DSEI 2025
07/24/2025 | ZukenZuken, a global leader in electronic and electrical design automation, will showcase its latest innovations for defence and security systems at DSEI 2025, taking place at ExCeL London from 9–12 September 2025.
Creating a Design Constraint Strategy
07/24/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamMost designers learn how to set their design constraints through trial and error. EDA vendors’ guidelines explain how to use their particular tools’ constraints, and IPC standards offer a roadmap, but PCB designers usually develop their own unique styles for setting constraints. Is there a set of best practices for setting constraints? That’s what I asked Global Electronics Association design instructor Kris Moyer, who covers design constraints in his classes.
Elementary Mr. Watson: Closing the Gap Between Design and Manufacturing
07/23/2025 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonModern PCB designers are not merely engineers or technicians. I believe that PCB design, at its core, is an art form, and modern PCB designers should be considered artists. Beyond the technical calculations and engineering rules lies a creative process that involves vision, balance, and a passion for what we do. Like any artist who works with brush and canvas or chisel and stone, a PCB designer shapes invisible pathways that bring ideas to life. Each trace, layer, and component placement reflects thoughtful decisions that blend form, fit, and function.