Managing Design Standards

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

IPC provides a wide range of standards that cover PCB design, fabrication, assembly, materials, components, land patterns, and much more. Design standards fall under the purview of Patrick Crawford, so I asked him to share some background on the processes for developing and updating standards. Patrick explained which design, fabrication, and assembly standards PCB designers should be familiar with, and how standards can help designers avoid making costly mistakes.

Andy Shaughnessy: Patrick, as the manager of design standards for IPC, what standards do you think every new PCB designer needs to understand?

Patrick Crawford: I would consider the IPC-222x series of documents—IPC-2221, Generic Standard on Printed Board Design, and its sectional design standards—to be essential reading, although which sectional standard you invest in will depend on exactly what you’re working on. For example, if you’re working on a rigid-flex board, then a copy of IPC-2223 is probably required, and so on. I would also highly recommend a copy of IPC-7352, Generic Guidelines for Land Pattern Design, and IPC-2231 DFX Guidelines. The land pattern document will be invaluable as you begin to design lands for SMT and through-hole components, especially when designing in compact form—factors with electrical and mechanical clearances to consider. The DFX guidelines document is a higher-level design guide, in that it provides an overview of the entire design process and what to consider when designing or manufacturing, testing, end-of-life, etc. It’s written to be understood by designers of any level of experience, which is good for folks who are new to the industry.

I believe that even if you never pick up a soldering iron in your life—which you should, by the way—it is important to understand how components are joined to boards, how those joints are assessed for acceptance, and so on. Having a copy of IPC-J-STD-001, IPC-A-600, IPC-A-610, and the like is a good idea to have around the office.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the October 2023 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.