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Designing PCBs for IoT: How to Plan for FCC Certification

Designing PCBs for IoT: How to Plan for FCC Certification and Testing

The FCC standards for electronics is certainly something serious that needs to be considered. FCC Certification is a critical part of bringing IoT products to market. To pass successfully, you need to plan for the testing before you even begin to design your PCB. Read on to learn about the key considerations for your design. When I worked on my first internet of things (IoT) product, I was at a startup that was just past the two guys in the

Electric Vehicles: PCB Designers Mitigate Heat Using Glass-Reinforced PTFE

Electric Vehicles: PCB Designers Mitigate Heat Using Glass-Reinforced PTFE In the demanding world of electric vehicles, PCB’s must provide power conditioning, voltage conversion, and battery management in addition to their usual roles in the automotive context. Unfortunately, these same PCB’s must cope with stringent thermal requirements without heat sinks or fans. PCB designers, however, have found a lasting solution. Board substrate materials with high thermal performance allow PCB’s to avoid or minimize their use of Read Article

How 3D Printed Prototypes are Changing the Landscape of PCB Design

How 3D Printed Prototypes are Changing the Landscape of PCB Design PCB Printers - 3d Printers for PCBs are now a reality and not just for PCB prototypes It’s no surprise that you hate waiting for PCB prototypes. In the time it takes for the test board to arrive you could probably invent a new method for fabricating prototypes. Lucky for you, someone already came up with a new method. New 3D printers use nanoparticle technology to suspend metals in ink (I don’t know how this works, so don’t ask) in order to print Read Article

Drawing Creation with Draftsman

Drawing Creation with Draftsman Technical drawings for a printed circuit board include a graphical representation of the product design along with information relevant to fabrication and assembly. PCB documentation and fabrication drawings are created in a variety of formats, including Gerber files, ODB ++, IPC 2581, and file formats from other CAD vendors. Any of these documents need to correspond to data directly from your PCB layout. In addition to these fabrication drawings Read Article

Protect Your PCBs and Electronic Components from Counterfeit

Protect Your PCB Design: How to Avoid Counterfeit Electronic Components Just like Gucci or Coach handbags, counterfeiting electronic parts is big business overseas and it causes major problems in the printed circuit board component supply chain. Counterfeit electronic components that are sold as genuine can affect everything from your new electronic alarm clock to mission-critical military systems, such as thermal weapons sights, missile guidance systems, and aircraft. Whenever electronic parts are relabeled or Read Article

Managing PCB Design Data: Reducing Risk by Breaking Down Silos

Managing PCB Design Data: Reducing Risk by Breaking Down Silos Thorough PCB design data management is essential to minimizing the amount of risk associated with introducing a new product into the market and ensuring that this process is successful. Based on the experiences of over 175 executives responsible for PCB design, Best-in-Class practices provide insight on how other companies may incorporate these systems into their own processes as well. Key findings include: There are many consequences that result Read Article

PCB Data Management: How Industry Leaders are Managing their Data

PCB Data Management: How Industry Leaders are Managing their Data The PCB data management practices of top performing companies can provide valuable insights on how other companies may develop successful management systems of their own. These Best-in-Class performers demonstrate how adopting such a PCB data management system can result in a more successful product release process on a variety of metrics. Key findings include: There is increasing pressure on companies to improve their PCB production timelines by Read Article

PCB Design: Improving Profitability with PCB Design Best Practices

PCB Design: Improving Profitability with PCB Design Best Practices Having an optimized PCB design process allows companies to stay competitive in an already challenging, demanding, and fast-paced electronics market. Based on the data gathered from over 175 respondents as well as observations of Best-in-Class practices, there are five main areas of PCB design which can be optimized for overall improved performance. Key findings include: The electronics industry is rich with competition. Product differentiation Read Article

Streamline Product Development in Process Manufacturing

Streamline Product Development in Process Manufacturing Implementing an integrated product lifecycle management (PLM) solution allows process manufacturers to stay competitive in the ever-growing global market. By outlining the manner in which Best-in-Class companies do this, it is shown how others can adopt these practices to better meet their production budget, quality, and time to market targets. Key findings include: 50% of process manufacturers cited market demand for higher quality and higher Read Article

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Data Management: Maximizing Development Productivity

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Data Management: Maximizing Development Productivity Implementing an integrated computer-aided design (CAD) data management system allows companies to most effectively enjoy the benefits of their CAD solutions. Best-in-Class practices illustrate how adopting set CAD data management processes can lead to a more successful product release across several key metrics, including cost, quality, and time to market. Key findings include: 40% of all respondents said their top CAD action was to train users Read Article

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