ProtoNews (EN)

5 things to know about PCB footprints

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 15:09:52 GMT

The PCB footprint defines the physical interface between each electronic component and the printed circuit board, providing essential information for the assembly and maintenance phases of the PCB, such as the shape and symbol of the component, number and position of the pads, reference pins, polarization, and more still.

Each component placed on the sides of a printed circuit board must therefore have its own footprint, which includes the copper area on the PCB to which the component will be soldered. For example, a 16-pin SSOP footprint will include two rows of eight rectangular pads. PCB footprints include information such as copper and solder mask layout, silkscreen, mounting holes (where applicable) and reference pin.

Best Rules for PCB Components Placement

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 07:49:20 GMT

Over the years, the layout of printed circuit boards has become more and more complex, with an increasing density of components. This complexity is due on the one hand by the market demand for increasingly rich and advanced features, on the other by the need to create ultra-small PCBs as required by the latest generation devices. The increase in the operating frequencies of the signals requires high precision in the layout in order to avoid power and signal integrity issues, minimizing the chance of generating electromagnetic interference and improving heat dissipation.

The correct positioning of the components on the PCB is essential, as it avoids the arising of problems that could compromise the manufacturability, functionality, duration and maintenance of the printed circuit board. For example, placing analog and digital components without adequate separation leads to almost certain corruption of some signal. It should therefore come as no surprise that the component positioning phase generally requires more effort than routing.

The Top 5 Rules for Digital PCB Design

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Thu, 23 Jun 2022 07:07:23 GMT

Digital PCB technology has come a long way in the field of Electronics, as innovations and developments fulfil the demands for faster, smaller and cheaper electronics devices and gadgets. Digital PCBs consist of several microprocessors and other electronic circuitry which have the capability to manage thousands of operations each second. When compared to analog circuit boards, digital PCBs come with a number of improvements, the major ones being better impedance matching and improved insertion loss control of transmission lines.

Techniques and Rules for the Production of PCBs for Very High Frequency

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Tue, 31 May 2022 12:42:37 GMT

Apart from the electronics industry, various sectors employ technologies where the use of high-frequency components and PCBs are flourishing. PCBs station the circuit and provide a wide range of applications, thus contributing to end-to-end products in various industries.

The reason high-frequency PCBs are used widely in the world of science, and Electronics in general, is owing to the tons of advantages we see in them. Some of them include

Moderately low in cost; therefore, can be mass-produced
Reusable; hence can be utilized multiple times
Highly durable and thus giving a great shelf life of the circuit.
Compact size decreases the wastage of wire.

The above well-grounded factors are the reason that brings certainty in the execution of the electronic/electric circuit.

How to Design PCB Antennas

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Tue, 24 May 2022 13:48:50 GMT

Compact low power devices have always been preferred, especially in automotive and smart wearables due to the consumer demand for high-tech functionalities in one package. Alongside, network compatibility of PCB antennas with their high strength makes them robustly connective and durable, thus embedded in the majority of consumer electronic devices.

PCB antennas operating at high frequency enable devices to communicate over long distances by transducing the electric signals into electromagnetic waves. The main advantage of PCB antennas is that they reduce the physical footprint and the maintenance cost of the device. The size of an antenna should be compact and small in size and in order to increase the efficiency, several microstrip patches are attached together in order to acquire the desired gain from the small size. The size of the patches depends directly on the wavelength of the operating frequency.

How to Find Defects on a PCB?

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:17:06 GMT

As PCBs are the backbone of electronic circuitry, it is very important to make sure that they are mechanically operational at all times. PCBs also ensure proper connections between components and different parts of the circuit which is essential in various functions like sending and receiving data, computation of electrical parameters, amplification of electronic signals, etc.

PCB manufacturers ensure the best quality during the mass production of the boards. However, there are times when PCBs can be faulty or defective due to a number of reasons. These defects lead to various problems and complications when it comes to the functioning of the electronic circuit as they compromise the performance of several components present in the circuit.

Techniques for PCB Design Under Space Constraints

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 09:00:00 GMT

With betterment in the chip technology, PCB designs have gone through significant changes in terms of size and shape. These changes have led to exponential demand for optimum performance in a compact form factor, thus challenging the conventional methodologies of the PCB design techniques.

During the circuit design phase, finding the best way to use the allotted space for layout requires crucial decisions in many aspects. These decisions will have a large effect on the quality of the product throughout its lifetime. Hence, PCB routing constraints are one of the foremost factors in PCB technology which add a lot of value to the design.

Characteristics, details and types of PCB substrates

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 12:46:28 GMT

Regardless of its type (rigid, flexible, or rigid-flex), each printed circuit requires a physical support, also known as a substrate, on which to place the components and make the necessary connections between them. The type and technical characteristics of the substrates used for PCB fabrication represent one of the first challenges that the designer must face, it is the first step towards the construction of a high quality PCB.

The type and characteristics of the substrate directly affect the performance of the PCB. For example, a rigid substrate increases both the strength and durability of the PCB, while a flexible substrate gives the engineers more design options.

When and how multi-layer PCBs shall be used

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 09:53:10 GMT

The demand for multilayer printed circuit boards is growing. Small and fast device electronics have made multilayer PCB very popular. These types of printed circuit boards allow for unprecedented miniaturization, with a very high component density rate. Multilayer PCBs are printed circuits made up of more than two layers. They must therefore have at least three layers of conductive material within the insulating material. On the other hand, double-sided PCBs only have two layers of conductive material, the top and the bottom. Today, extremely complex devices such as mobile phones, smart TVs, computers and others could not exist without the support of excellent multilayer PCBs. In this article, we examine the areas of their uses and the occasions in which they must be adopted.

How to Overcome HDI PCB Design Issues

contact@proto-electronics.com (Proto-Electronics) — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 07:20:34 GMT

Printed circuit boards with high density of connections, also known by the term HDI (High Density Interconnect), represent one of the most advanced technologies in this sector, able to meet the growing demand for ever more compact and performing PCBs. Compared to standard PCBs, HDI PCBs offer a greater number of electrical connections per unit area, obtained by meeting the following requirements:

width and distance between traces less than 100µm
via size less than 150µm
capture pads with size less than 400µm
density of the capture pads greater than 20 pads/cm²