Fresh PCB Concepts: PCB Design Essentials for Electric Vehicle Charging
Elementary, Mr. Watson: Rules of Thumb—Guidelines vs. Principles for PCB Design
Beyond Design: High-speed Rules of Thumb
Design for Profitability: Avoiding Fabrication Issues and Minimizing Costly Revisions
July 31, 2013 | Mark Thompson, CID, Prototron CircuitsEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Note that I use the term “design for profitability,” or DFP, as opposed to any of the other acronyms such as DFM (design for manufacturability), DFT (design for test), or DFA (design for assembly). I’m taking this approach because it really all comes down to profit, doesn’t it?
Designers have the power to design profit into the board, or, conversely, inadvertently increase costs and remove profit from the PCB. In this article I am going to go over just a few of the challenges that fabricators routinely face and some typical solutions, especially solutions that can affect your bottom line.
I will start with DFM. Generally, this is the first stage for prototyping and DFM depends greatly on the capabilities of your chosen fab shop. Some designs are finished with autorouters after the critical traces have been hand-placed. It is at this point that unintended issues can arise between design and fab.
An example of this is same net-spacing violations where a track may “double back” near a surface mounted component, creating same-net spacing violations (Figure 1). Whereas the software does not see these as legit violations because they are same net, a fabricator knows that any features creating spaces below 0.003” can easily flake off at the image stage and create havoc elsewhere in the form of shorts. Edit time must be taken at the fab stage when these same-net spacing violations occur and the slivers eliminated. Some CAM software packages have a sliver fill option, but again this requires additional edit time at CAM.
Read the full article here.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of The PCB Design Magazine.
Share on:
Suggested Items
Fresh PCB Concepts: PCB Design Essentials for Electric Vehicle Charging
11/27/2024 | Team NCAB -- Column: Fresh PCB ConceptsElectric vehicles (EVs), powered by electricity rather than fossil fuels, are transforming transportation and reducing environmental impacts. But what good is an EV if it can't be easily charged? In this month's column, Ramon Roche dives into the role of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in electric vehicle charging (EVC)—and the design considerations.
From Construction Work to PCB Design in Under a Year
11/27/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineAt the Anaheim Electronics & Manufacturing Show in October, I had the opportunity to talk with some new PCB designers, including Jon Smith of Frontgrade Aethercomm. During the Anaheim show, John Watson, a PCB design instructor at Palomar College, led a panel of his past and present students, including Jon, who shared his story of switching from a construction career to PCB design in a matter of months, courtesy of Watson’s Palomar College design curriculum.
PCB Layout Rules of Thumb for Consideration
11/25/2024 | Patrick Davis, Cadence Design SystemsJust because a “rule of thumb” is usually based on experience instead of precise facts doesn’t negate its value. For instance, when I told my kids that a good rule of thumb was not to back-talk to their mother, they discovered very quickly how accurate my advice was once they crossed that line. There are a lot of rules of thumb that we rely on daily, including those that apply to PCB design.
HPC Customer Engages Sondrel for High End Chip Design
11/25/2024 | SondrelSondrel, a leading provider of ultra-complex custom chips, has announced that it has started front end, RTL design and verification work on a high-performance computing (HPC) chip project for a major new customer.
Rules of Thumb for PCB Layout
11/21/2024 | Andy Shaughnessy, I-Connect007The dictionary defines a “rule of thumb” as “a broadly accurate guide or principle, based on experience or practice rather than theory.” Rules of thumb are often the foundation of a PCB designer’s thought process when tackling a layout. Ultimately, a product spec or design guideline will provide the detailed design guidance, but rules of thumb can help to provide the general guidance that will help to streamline the layout process and avoid design or manufacturing issues.