Design for Manufacturing (DFM)

High Density Interconnect Boards and How They Can Benefit Your Design

High Density Interconnect Boards and How They Can Benefit Your Design In the world of PCB design, high-density interconnect boards are among the fastest growing designs that are surfacing. Offering lighter weight, faster transmission times, more real estate to place components, and a reduction in signal loss there are few downsides to implementing these designs into your device. In any industry, the push for better, faster, stronger is usually a consumer-driven force. It is no different here. The push for devices Read Article

Circular Product Design and PCBs for a Healthier World

Circular Product Design and PCBs for a Healthier World The world of PCB design is a fast-moving and highly profitable sector. But with the rate of increase we are clearly seeing in the industry, it is apparent that if we are not careful, we may head into some stiff environmental issues that are too deep to repair. Thankfully the push we are seeing from environmental groups is equally correlated to the growth of the industry. The concept of a ‘circular economy’ is at the forefront of these qualms Read Article

Planting Seeds in a Row SMT Component Placement Tolerance for your PCB

Planting Seeds in a Row SMT Component Placement Tolerance for your PCB I had my 5-year-old nephew helping me spread flower seed this Spring. He got a kick out of throwing the seed out into the flower beds, but he didn’t pay attention to where he was throwing it. Most landed on the sidewalk. Before letting him continue, I decided to put some landscaping tape around the each bed’s perimeter. This helped the little guy get most of the seed into the right areas. With the flowers in order, we made sure to get a nice Read Article

High Currents and High Temperature: PCB Design Tips for Heat Management

High Currents and High Temperature: PCB Design Tips for Heat Management I remember the first (and hopefully the only) time one of my circuits caught on fire. It started with the resistors and quickly spread to a nearby decoupling capacitor. Thankfully, the destruction was minor and most of the components were salvageable. Why did this happen you ask? No, this was not due to a short circuit. Very simply, I did not take into account the high current PCB layout. As electronics continue to be miniaturized, the thermal Read Article

Be the Expert When it Comes to Designing Your Power Distribution PCB

Be the Expert When it Comes to Designing Your Power Distribution PCB Editorial credit: Paolo Bona / Shutterstock.com Around my house, we seem to undergo a transformation to obscure-sport experts every four years, and coincidentally it occurs at the same time that the Winter Olympics is taking place. Yes, I’m talking about the sport of curling. We have all become subject matter experts in the “button,” the “hammer,” the “house,” “sweeping,” and of course the “curl.” Rest assured, by next month we will have Read Article

Increase Component Density in Multilayer PCB Design with Blind Vias

Increase Component Density in Multilayer PCB Design with Blind Vias When I was still a novice circuit designer, my boards would be crammed with components. I later learned how to place components on both sides of the circuit board, freeing up some desperately needed real estate. If only there was a way to free up space by hiding traces below the surface of the circuit board... Newer devices are taking on smaller form factors, and the increasing demands for more capabilities will require that more components be Read Article

PCB Floorplanning: The First Step to PCB Design Integrity

PCB Floorplanning: The First Step to PCB Design Integrity You’ve just received your first protoboards, and you are excited to put them into the product and fire them up. You love your design and you are ready to rock. The product goes into the EMI chamber, and it fails emissions. The product is noisy. You dive in with the test engineer to investigate. As you slowly unplug cables to isolate the noise, you find out your PCB is the cause. You think, no problem, I put filters on the board. You start Read Article

Optimizing PCB Panelization Can Reduce Costs and Increase Yield

Optimizing PCB Panelization Can Reduce Costs and Increase Yield Once you have finished designing your board, you are probably ready to move on to the manufacturing stage. Back in my research days as a grad student, our group always looked at ways to get the most out of our fabrication processes. But how do you maximize your device yield while still working within tooling and client constraints? The most efficient way to do this is to optimize your board arrangement during panelization. An analogue of Read Article

PCB Fabrication and Assembly Processes and Where Wave Soldering Fits In

PCB Fabrication and Assembly Processes and Where Wave Soldering Fits In Growing up, I sometimes felt like an Army brat. My dad was in the Air Force, not the Army and we only moved a couple of times. Nevertheless, every time we relocated to a new city I had the same issues to struggle with. Basically, trying to fit into a new environment with new people. From a PCB designer’s perspective, trying to learn about the PCB fabrication and assembly and what role certain processes play can be similar. It is advantageous to Read Article

Aspect Ratios and Their Importance to Multi-Layered PCBs

PCB Design: What are Aspect Ratios and Why Are They Important? The aspect ratio of a via in a PCB is an important parameter that determines its reliability, and in some cases, its electrical performance. Read Article

wave soldering

To Wave or Not To Wave: Wave Soldering Advantages and Disadvantages When can your design be created to use wave soldering? Learn more about the DFM choices that could force you into wave soldering. Read Article

Remote BOM Access Makes Work as Easy as Hitting a Button

Remote BOM Access Makes Work as Easy as Hitting a Button It seems like you can’t purchase any electronic device anymore without it coming with a remote control. TVs, radios, and computers all have them, and you can even find them on fireplaces and air conditioners. This is not a complaint, I love having the ability to control things remotely. I have enough years behind me that I remember having to get up and walk over to the TV to change the channel. In my opinion the more remote control the better off Read Article

How Blind, Buried and Through-Hole Vias Can Impact Your PCB Design

How Blind, Buried and Through-Hole Vias Can Impact Your PCB Design Growing up, I was obsessed with all things Super Mario, but honestly, who wasn’t. Specifically, I was a sucker for the Super Nintendo, old school version. Bounding from platform to platform, tossing pixelated turtle shells, saving princesses… what a life. One of the best, albeit strangest, of the game, no doubt, was jetting in and out of those little green tubes that were seemingly all over the place. Who made them? Why were they even there Read Article

Annular Rings and Multilayer PCB Design: Stay Within Your Tolerances

Annular Rings and Multilayer PCB Design: Stay Within Your Tolerances One of my high school teachers had a pretty successful business for when he wasn’t teaching: he harvested maple syrup. I learned that a bit more goes into the process than simply taking the maple syrup from the tree after tapping a hole into it. You’ve got to let it rest and let some of it evaporate so you can distill the maple syrup into the tasty, flavorful product that will then go onto all of your pancakes. While there’s a whole process Read Article

Optimize PCB Designs Before Product Development With Clear Client Requirements

Optimize PCB Designs Before Product Development With Clear Client Requirements I swear I clearly heard my son asking for a McFish in his Happy Meal. But when he insisted that he asked for nuggets, I had no choice but to buy another set, although I strongly suspected he was just after the toys. This may not exactly be what you’d call “good parenting” but it is a great example of how misunderstandings can occur when you don’t get requirements jotted down on paper. While the cost of not paying attention to my son simply cost Read Article

PCB Design Limitations Beyond Borders: Extending Past Edge Clearance

PCB Design Limitations Beyond Borders: Extending Past Edge Clearance Have you ever stood, two feet planted, on the edge of a cliff? No, not a very steep slope that would slightly injure you if you fell, I’m talking about the 90-degree style, 2,000 feet straight down cliffs you see pictures of in National Geographic. Certainly a terrifying experience, no matter how seasoned you are at cliff standing. The thoughts that race through your mind are non-stop and extremely primal. Will my feet slip if I get too close Read Article

Single-Sided Versus Double-Sided PCB Costs Are Necessary Comparisons

Difference Between Single-Sided and Double-Sided PCBs: Necessary Costs Comparisons Duck hunters cherish their favorite call. With hundreds of available calls at our fingertips, choosing the right call can challenge anyone. Single and double reed duck calls perform differently and vary in cost. Conventional wisdom might conclude that “double” translates into “more value.” Yet, professional and experienced duck callers prefer single reed calls. Since many beginners don’t have time to practice, many choose a double reed duck call Read Article