-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueSignal Integrity
If you don’t have signal integrity problems now, you will eventually. This month, our expert contributors share a variety of SI techniques that can help designers avoid ground bounce, crosstalk, parasitic issues, and much more.
Proper Floor Planning
Floor planning decisions can make or break performance, manufacturability, and timelines. This month’s contributors weigh in with their best practices for proper floor planning and specific strategies to get it right.
Showing 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.
- Articles
- Columns
- Links
- Media kit
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
How to Streamline PCB Thermal Design
April 1, 2015 | John Parry, Mentor Graphics CorporationEstimated reading time: 2 minutes

Thermal issues with a PCB design are mostly determined during the component selection and layout phases. After this point, only remedial actions are possible if components are found to run too hot. Addressing thermal issues early in PCB design, starting at the system or enclosure level to understand the flow environment critical for air-cooled electronics, can streamline the process. Assumptions about the airflow uniformity in early design that subsequently prove unachievable can have a disastrous effect on the commercial viability of the product and meeting the market window.
Begin Before Placement and Layout
Substantial work can be done well before layout is completed within the electrical design flow. A simple representation of the enclosure can provide information about the air flow profile over the board. Start by smearing the total board power over the total board surface, which will provide a temperature map that will show any hot regions that are caused by a badly distributed air flow. Treat the board as a block with an isotropic conductivity of between 5 W/mK and 10 W/mK to optimize enclosure-level air flow ahead of the PCB design.
Components inject heat locally into the board so the heat flux density into the board below a component will be higher than the average for the board. As a result, the local board temperature will be higher than that predicted in the simulation. Refine the model before using the board temperature to estimate component temperatures. If the board temperature at any point is close to the maximum component case temperature, this limit will be exceeded once the component heat sources are represented discretely.
Guesstimate Component Power
At this stage, make a best-guess estimate of the individual power budgets for the main heat dissipating components that will be used in the design and the approximate size of those packages. This will enable describing them as footprint heat sources in the simulation, smearing the remainder of heat uniformly over the board surface.
Before Selecting the Package, Use 3D Component Models
Include some form of 3D component model in the simulation before the component selection is finalized. By feeding the thermal results back before this milestone is reached, the thermal performance will more likely be considered in the package selection criteria. Some ICs are available in more than one package style, and not all package styles perform equally well from a thermal point of view. The need for a heatsink later may be eliminated by appropriate package selection.
Component temperature, either in the form of a case temperature or junction temperature depending on how the manufacturer has specified the component, is the key measure used to indicate whether the design is thermally acceptable.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared in the March issue of SMT Magazine.
Testimonial
"Our marketing partnership with I-Connect007 is already delivering. Just a day after our press release went live, we received a direct inquiry about our updated products!"
Rachael Temple - AlltematedSuggested Items
Accelerating Embedded Innovation: Orthogone Becomes Texas Instruments Design Partner
09/17/2025 | PRNewswireOrthogone Technologies Inc., a leader in advanced embedded systems and FPGA development, is proud to announce its official designation as a Texas Instruments (TI) Design Services Partner.
BLT Joins Microchip Partner Program as Design Partner
09/17/2025 | BUSINESS WIREBLT, a U.S.-owned and operated engineering design services firm announced it has joined the Microchip Design Partner Program.
Staying on Top of Signal Integrity Challenges
09/16/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy, Design007 MagazineOver the years, Kris Moyer has taught a variety of advanced PCB design classes, both online IPC courses and in-person classes at California State University-Sacramento, where he earned his degrees in electrical engineering. Much of his advanced curriculum focuses on signal integrity, so we asked Kris to discuss the trends he’s seeing in signal integrity today, the SI challenges facing PCB designers, and his go-to techniques for controlling or completely eliminating SI problems.
American Standard Circuits to Exhibit and Host Lunch & Learn at PCB West 2025
09/17/2025 | American Standard CircuitsAnaya Vardya, President, and CEO of American Standard Circuits/ASC Sunstone Circuits has announced that his company will once again be exhibiting at PCB West 2025 to be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center on Wednesday, October 1, 2025.
ASM Technologies Limited signs MoU with the Guidance, Government of Tamilnadu to Expand Design-Led Manufacturing capabilities for ESDM
09/15/2025 | ASM TechnologiesASM Technologies Limited, a pioneer in Design- Led Manufacturing in the semiconductor and automotive industries, announced signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Guidance, Government of Tamilnadu whereby it will invest Rs. 250 crores in the state to expand its ESDM related Design-Led Manufacturing and precision engineering capacity. ASM Technologies will acquire 5 acres of land from the Government of Tamilnadu to set up a state-of-the-art design facility in Tamil Nadu's growing technology manufacturing ecosystem, providing a strong strategic advantage and long-term benefits for ASM.