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PCB Design BOM Planning: A Balancing Act PCB Design BOM Planning: A Balancing Act The balancing act of knowing how much or little info is needed when designing your BOM is often convoluted and muddied. If done incorrectly, you could be stuck in a communication loop with a confused manufacturer, frustrated engineer, or a designer. This will inevitably cost you money, time and effort that otherwise would have been avoided. In order to assist us, today we’ll assume that you’ve begun to wrap up the final stages of your design, and 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
Universal Language: PCB Design to Minimize EMI in Communications Systems Universal Language: PCB Design to Minimize EMI in Communications Systems Can you imagine what a world without lines would be like? At first, it seems wonderful to not have to wait around anymore, trusting that people will figure their business out. Disneyland, happiest place on Earth, receives about 44,000 people per day. Imagine a thousand people all rushing to get on the next available log flume. No longer just a tower of terror, but a whole theme park. When designing PCBs, your traces are the lines and each has a 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
Design Medical Devices for Internet of Things and Your Hardware Capabilities Design Medical Devices for Internet of Things and Your Hardware Capabilities It seems like everyone I know has a smartwatch or fitness tracker. I gave mine to my mother when I felt like it was making me act weird (I sometimes put my laundry away one item at a time instead of using a laundry basket to get those extra step counts). There are days when I still covet graphs informing me of my status sleeping, walking, and eating. Fitness trackers barely scratch the surface of capabilities for medical IoT, though. Medical IoT Read Article
Finding Circuit Design Software Online: Search Parameters and Powerful Tools How To Find Circuit Design Software Online: Search Parameters and Powerful Tools Often, designers and companies will choose a certain PCB design tool based on factors other than what the tool is capable of doing for them. The chosen software may have a very low price tag associated with it, but does it do everything that you need it to do? This question goes much deeper as well. Not only does this software do what you want it to—but does it really excel? You may invest in an application that satisfies your needs today--but 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
Circuit of Life: The IoT in Medicine and Healthcare Circuit of Life: The IoT in Medicine and Healthcare I once took a friend from work to the hospital when she was having sudden chest pains. We got moved through several sections of the emergency room where tests were done multiple times, and other areas where I wasn’t sure why we were there at all. It turns out her husband had also been searching for us for nearly an hour and didn’t find us until she was being discharged home for bed rest. Working the ER must be an incredibly challenging job but as Read Article
Nothing Less Than Gold When Working With Software for PCB Design Nothing Less Than Gold When Working With Software for PCB Design Ester Ledecka’s gold in women’s Alpine skiing Super-G during the Winter Olympics this year was a surprise to all, even Ledecka herself whose speciality is snowboarding, not skiing. She was the 26th skier down the mountain, and wasn’t expected to place anywhere close to the top. Ledecka went on to win gold in the parallel giant slalom for snowboarding making her the first woman to win gold medals in two different sports at the same Winter Olympics Read Article
Build Your RF Circuit Design Away From a Catastrophic Crescendo Build Your RF Circuit Design Away From a Catastrophic Crescendo The art of music composition combines different elements such ranging from chord progression to the melody. A composer usually creates from experience, may learn from other musicians and builds from an understanding of music theory. Successful music composition relies on tried and true methods, formulas, schemes, and models. Music composition also depends on the respect for fundamentals like reading, writing, and thinking music notation while Read Article
Get the Help you Need Selecting PCB Components with Bill of Materials Software Get the Help you Need Selecting PCB Components with Bill of Materials Software I’m in the middle of replacing the electric motor in my bathroom fan, but, unfortunately, I have no idea what to purchase. A 30-year-old ventilation fan part replacement is proving to be a real chore. I am amazed at how many different types of motor and fan combinations there are to choose from. One has the hardware bolts on the correct side, but the fan turns the wrong direction. The next turns correctly with the wrong shaft length. You may have 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
Rigid Flex PCBs and Your Future: Smart, Effective Designing Rigid Flex PCBs and Your Future: Smart, Effective Designing Oftentimes, in terms of PCB design, we are tasked with fitting a square peg into a round hole. Fitting thousands of various components onto a board no larger than a dollar bill, and maybe even a quarter, we always seem to be limited to the 2D plane of predetermined space within our equipment or device. We’ve all been there: after putting the finishing touches on a PCB design, you take a look at the space requirements of the device only to find Read Article
Save Your Lunch Break: Proper PCB Design Software Reduces Development Time Save Your Lunch Break: Proper PCB Design Software Reduces Development Time I’m normally a well-mannered guy, but when someone messes up my schedule, those manners fly right out of the window. Last week, when my 15-minute lunch break was ruined because of a missed order, I was complaining to my managers and struggling to keep my rage under control. When it comes to managing my time, I have high standards. Choosing the right PCB design software to optimize development time is no exception. At the peak of my freelance Read Article
The Game Stays the Same: Helping PCB Designers with Their Career Growth The Game Stays the Same: Helping PCB Designers with Their Career Growth Walking around the grade school near my house today, I noticed a father practicing baseball with his young son. Now around here, it’s still rainy and freezing cold, so they were bundled up and wisely under the covered portion of the playground. I didn’t know whether to applaud their dedication, or classify them as a couple of nuts. I decided to go with the dedication angle, and admittedly, it was great to see the dad’s excitement when his boy Read Article