Circuit Board Design Considerations For Successful Electronic Product Design

In electronics, designing a circuit board is a challenging job for the success of any electronic product design.

19:57 07 August 2020

The circuit board must accomplish the specifications provided by the customers. In the product designing process, designers face many hurdles when they are dealing with the interconnected electronic connection among multiple boards. To overcome these issues, it is important to go with certain tips and considerations, which can help in making this process smoother and less exhausting. Following are a few considerations recommended by TronicsZone to keep in mind to make your electronic product successful in the market:

 

1. Properly managing the placement of the components:

 

The science and art of the layout designing process of a circuit board is the stage of component placement. This stage requires inspection of all the components placed on the board are as per the strategic design or not. The path through which the components are placed on the circuit board radically affects the performance of the board. The component placement process is very challenging, how you place the electronic components is going to determine how simple it would be to manufacture the board and at what extent the circuit board meets the requirement of the real circuit design.

 

In the course of component placement, one has to follow certain circuit board design layout guidelines. There are several layout rules of the general board are placing components in correct order such as first placing connectors, then power circuits, after that precision circuit, then critical circuits, and so on. Similarly, there are layout guidelines given to follow for specific circuit boards. The layout guidelines are as follows:

 

• Arrangement:

 

Make sure to keep in mind that similar components should be placed in the same directions. This orientation would be helpful in circuit design in creating effective routing. This also helps in ensuring the system as well as the error-free process of soldering during assembly of the components.

 

• Placement of components:

 

The rule for placement states that you must avoid the placement of components on the side where the soldering process is done on the circuit board. This would help rest behind the plated through-hole technology components.

 

• Organization of components:

 

The guideline regarding the organization of the components states that the SMD (surface mount devices) components should be placed on the similar side of the circuit board, this is highly recommended as it follows the SMD PCB design rules. The other thing that should be followed is to place all the through-hole (TH) parts situated on the upper section of the circuit board design and this is done so that the assembly steps count can be minimized.

 

The last guideline for circuit board design is to be followed when one is using the mixed-technology devices i.e., using both the surface mount devices (SMD) and through-hole (TH). In this, the overall costs in manufacturing circuit board will increase to assemble the circuit board manufacturer might need to add some extra process.

 

2. Making the signals traces for ground and power planes

 

After completing the components placement process, then the next step is to route the ground, power and signal traces for creating a clear and interference-free path for travel. Here are some few considerations to follow when laying out this stage :

 

• Arranging Ground and Power Planes:
  
  

In the electronic circuit designing process, make sure to always keep the ground and power planes internal to the circuit board symmetrically. This process prevents the bending of the board to ensure that the components are positioned properly without getting affected. It is also recommended to utilize rails which are common for every supply line, which provides you with wide and solid traces.

 

• Guidelines for routing circuit design board:

 

Now, match the signal traces with your schematic circuit design. In the circuit designing process, it is always considered to place direct and short signal traces between the components. If the component placement of your design follows routing in horizontal traces on one side, then ensure to route the opposite side traces in the vertical direction. It is one of the best rules in designing the electronic circuit board.

 

• Define net widths:

 

The electronic circuit board design would require a different net width for a series of current digital and analog signals. It is mostly recommended to deliver net width of 0.010” for these signals.

 

3. Division of things is important:

 

To reduce the interference problem that occurs when the heavy potential difference in an electric circuit, as well as the current spikes, interferes with the low potential difference and voltage-controlled current source circuits, some PCB design rules are recommended for power electronics:

 

• Division:

 

This guideline states that we must make sure to separate the electric ground as well the control ground for every stage of the power supply. However, in the situation of tying these two grounds together in your PCB design, you need to make sure that these are placed towards the finish point in the supply path.

 

• Placement of ground planes:

 

If the placement of the ground plane is done in the middle of the circuit board, you need to make sure to assign a small path for electrical resistance to minimize the possibility of occurrence of any electrical circuit interference issue and this will also aid in protecting the control signals on your board. This similar norm applies to the separate placement of digital ground as well as the analog ground.

 

• Coupling:

 

The placement of the massive ground plane as well as the lines that are routed over and under the circuit board design causes capacitive coupling, so to reduce it, we make sure that only the analog lines are used to cross the analog ground.

 

4. Overcoming heating problems:

 

First and foremost, start looking for the components which will dissipate a very large amount of heat on the circuit board design. It can be done by finding the ratings of thermal resistance in the worksheet of your component, followed by diverting the production of heat in the board. If there are multiple heat-generating components, then distribute the amount of heat generated by these components on the board by spreading the placement of the components. It helps to prevent the formation of hot forms in the circuit. You can also add some thermal reliefs, cooling fans and heat sinks to lower down the temperature of the components, thus preventing other components from the damage.

 

5. Detailed BOMs to save time and money:

 

Some particular manufacturer those who are crucial to the design should be specified with their manufacturers. There might be a possibility that your manufacturer offers you the lowest cost substitutes with shorter plans or arrangements. It is mandatory to clearly define and mention the components that are restricted to be fitted to the circuit board design. The alternative options present on the design should be mentioned. These should be defined with a distinct part number as well as issue control.