How to Design Your PCB board Efficiently

In the particular gigantic field of electronics, designing Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) has assumed an ever-increasing importance. The actual invention of the PCB dates back to February 1943 -PCBs have been around for a very long time and yet most of us still find designing them to be a difficult task. This article intends primarily to give a guide to young and experienced designers who are eager to acquaint themselves with efficient design principles of PCBs.

5 Tips to do a PCB Design Efficiently

1. Creating and Understanding the Circuit Diagram

Always begin your PCB with a schematic. The schematic acts as a blueprint of what you are trying to create. It graphically represents the PCB’s components and the connections between them in a logical manner.

The road to a good schematic design entails:

• The schematic should be clean and legible.
• The designer should be able to easily recognise the components and circuit symbols used.

Another important point to make is that, a circuit diagram is only a schematic drawing. What does this mean? It means that the circuit diagram should not be taken too literally. It only tells us where to make connections between components, but the order /positioning of the components is up to designer. Remember, the circuit diagram is not to be taken too literally.

2. Board Design Layout

The immediate step after studying and understanding the circuit diagram is to transfer it in to a drawing of your Printed Circuit Board (PCB). The layout of your circuit on the PCB will have a significant impact on its performance. Poor PCB layout can lead to functional and reliability issues.

Here are a few ideas that will help you create good designs.

• Begin with a good PCB design software package.
• Don’t make the design too complex.
• Take into account the fabrication and avoid concentrating parts too closely together.
• Check that your components will fit on your board.
• Switching regulator layout should be optimised.

3. Choosing the PCB Material

A large number of different materials are available throughout the world, suitable for every application. Agree? The material selected to make up your PCB must:

• Be strong to withstand mechanical shock
• Possess heat resistance in order to go through a variety of manufacturing processes.
• Have adequate electrical properties for an electrical circuit (s)
• Should be able to resistant environmental hazards.
• Should have flame-resistant properties.
• Be reasonably priced.

Types of PCB Material Used at NextPCB

source: NextPCB

• Fr-4: FR-4, which stands for "fire retardant," is a material grade made of woven fibreglass cloth and an epoxy resin binder. High dielectric strength, lightweight, high mechanical strength, and moisture resistance are some of the reasons for its popularity. High-frequency designs make extensive use of FR4 printed circuit boards.
• Rogers: The Rogers PCB is a form of PCB that is made with low-loss dielectric, high-frequency material. The PCB has a comparable thermal expansion coefficient to copper foil, which is used to improve the PTFE substrate. It is characterised by a consistent temperature and a high-quality dielectric constant. Rogers PCB is suitable for high-speed and high-frequency circuits, as well as RF and microwave products.
• Aluminium: Aluminium PCBs are commonly referred to as metal-core PCBs. They are well-known for their light-weight, ability to dissipate heat, and durability. This type of PCB consists of a base layer made up of an aluminium alloy substrate and its circuit layer is made up of copper to deliver high performance and excellent thermal conductivity.
• Copper:  PCBs with 3oz or more of finished copper on the inner and/or outer layers are known as heavy copper PCBs. For large current traces, they have stronger current carrying capacities and electrical insulation. Heavy copper can be used for a range of applications, including heat dissipation in high-power distribution systems, planar transformers, and power converters.

4. Protection against ESD (Electrostatic Discharge)

ESD protection must be included in a good PCB design. This measure is taken to avoid component/device failure caused by externally induced high-voltage level impulses, which can impact system operations. ESD effects range from noise and disturbance of measurement equipment to a complete component damage.

Below is a list of efficient design techniques for ESD protection

• Keep trace lengths as short as possible
• Minimize PCB loops
• Route power and ground traces adjacent to each other to minimize distance spacing between the two.
• Route parallel signal traces together to minimize RF current loop area.
• Provide low-impedance path for discharge to travel
• Make proper use of decoupling and bypass capacitor.

5. Error-free PCB Documentation

Because PCB documentation saves so many hours of design time, designers must be aware of documenting the correct information in the correct format in order to successfully manufacture their final product.

The numerous PCB documents a designer must have include a Bill of Material (BOM), PCB overlay Gerber File and many others. These documents must complete. The Gerber file should have defined apertures to avoid error and PCB production delay.

The above five tips serve as a guide to a PCB designer during the design process. After the PCB has been successfully designed, one can contact NextPCB PCB Prototype Assembly and Manufacturing for high quality PCB production.

Who is NextPCB?

NextPCB is one of the most experienced PCB manufacturers in the world, with over 15 years of experience in the PCB and assembly industries. NextPCB can meet your requirements for PCB prototyping, small PCB production, and mass PCB production. It offers the most innovative printed circuit boards and assembly technologies in the highest quality standards, as well as the quickest delivery turnaround of up to 24 hours.

This company operates three factories specialising in PCB Prototype, PCB Mass Production, and PCB Assembly, all of which are equipped with AOI, X-Ray Testing, and Multiple Functional Testing.

It follows the customer-first principle. It assembles a professional team of salespeople, marketing specialists, and engineers, each of whom has more than five years of experience in the PCB industry.

Any questions don't hesitate to contact nextpcb .