MODULE– II LAYOUT PLANNING AND DESIGN USING

SIMULATION SOFTWARE
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TOPICS
• General PCB Design considerations for analog and digital circuits
• PCB design rules
• Fabrication and Assembly Considerations,
• Layout Design,
• what is Artwork?
• Basic Approach to Manual Artwork, Automated Artwork Generation
• Computer- Aided Design (CAD)
• Basic CAD Operation
• Manual Versus Automation in PCB Design
GENERAL PCB DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
• The technical requirements that are likely to affect the design
of an electrical equipment are mechanical, electrical,
functional and environmental.
• Mechanical design requirements include size, shape and
weight; location of components and their mounting,
dimensional tolerances, shielding and equipment marking.
• Electrical design requirements have such parameters as circuit
function and wiring distribution, component selection with
respect to electrical ratings, size and tolerance, internal and
external interconnections.
• Functional design parameters include reliability,
maintainability, accessibility, and human engineering
• Environmental design takes into account factors such as
mechanical shock and vibration, temperature extremes, salt
spray and fungus proofing and operations in space or
underwater.
DESIGN RULES FOR ANALOG CIRCUITS

• The three important considerations which form the basis for

design rules for analog circuit PCBs are:
• Component placement;
• Signal conductors; and
• Supply and ground line conductors.
COMPONENT PLACEMENT

Component placement plays a crucial role, especially in analog circuits PCB design.
The important guidelines to be followed in this regard are:
• Components which need to be accessed from the front panel must be placed
exactly according to the requirements of the equipment designer.
• Components for internal adjustments such as potentiometers, trimmers,
switches, etc. should be arranged near the board edge and placed in the proper
direction for easy operation.
• Components with metal cases should not be placed very near to
potentiometers, trimmers and switches etc. otherwise while adjusting, the
screwdriver may cause a short-circuit between the component and the
equipment chassis.
• The placing of heat-producing and heat-sensitive components must be carefully
planned. Heat producing components should be placed away from the heat-
sensitive components.
• Heat-producing components should be uniformly distributed over the entire
board area as far as possible. This will avoid local over-heating of the board.
• Components likely to get heated must be separated from the board surface by
suitable spacers. Provision for space for these spacers should be made on the
board.
• Where mounting screws need to be provided, the requisite space for nut and
washer must be planned for, and no conductive track should be run underneath.
SIGNAL CONDUCTORS

• Signal conductors in analog circuit PCBs have to perform

a variety of different tasks including input, reference
level, feedback, output, etc.
• Therefore, a signal line for one application has to be
optimized in a different manner than for another
application.
• But a common consideration in all analog circuit PCB
designs is to keep the signal conductor as short as
possible.
• This is because the magnitude of the undesirable
inductive and capacitive coupling effects increases almost
proportionally to the length of the signal conductor.
• It may not always be possible to keep all signal
conductors as short as possible.
SUPPLY AND GROUND CONDUCTORS

• Power supply lines should be of sufficient width to

keep the resistance and inductance to a low value.
• However, the capacitive coupling to ground
increases with more width.
• Analog and digital circuits on the same PCB should
strictly have independent ground network
conductors.
• Similarly, reference voltage circuits, which are
normally sensitive to ground potential fluctuations,
should tap the supply lines directly at the input to
the PCB and its ground line should be connected
separately to the stable ground reference point of
the equipment
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GENERAL RULES FOR DESIGN OF ANALOG PCBS

• Keep the signal path as short as possible. This will

help to minimize both voltage drops through the
conductors as well as electromagnetic interference
by controlling loop areas.
• Provide separate analog and digital grounds
• Provide one connection from the system ground to
the actual earth ground.
• Connect capacitive shields once to provide a return
path to the noise source.
• Magnetic shields must be made out of a highly
permeable material to be effective.
• Metal should not be left electrically floating.
• Keep loop areas small and always think as to where
the currents will flow.
DESIGN RULES FOR DIGITAL CIRCUITS

• The widespread use of digital integrated circuits has now resulted

in devices with extremely fast switching speeds and rise times.
• Electromagnetic wave propagation characteristics have become
important and need to be considered carefully.
• Under these circumstances, the printed circuit boards may act as
transmission lines if the rise or fall time of the driving device is less
than twice the propagation delay.
• It is essential to understand that it is the rise/fall time that is
critical and not the operating frequency.
• However, the frequency is dependent on rise/fall times, since the
lower the value of the rise/fall time, the faster the operating
frequency of the device.
• Under these situations, the transmission line effects become
applicable and knowledge of the electrical characteristics
associated with the conductors acting as transmission lines is
essential.
• Then, the characteristic impedance must be matched to that of the
receiving device to prevent reflection.
CONDUCTOR PATTERNS

• The three basic rules for layout design are:

• No interference between the components
• Conductors not to cross each other; and
• Sufficient spacing between any two close conductors

In each hole, only one lead will be present and each lead has to
pass through a hole. It cannot be soldered to another lead
COMPONENT PLACEMENT RULES

• In a highly sensitive circuit, the critical components are placed

first and in such a manner as to require minimum length for the
critical conductors.
• In a less critical circuit, the components are arranged exactly in
the order of signal flow. This will result in a minimum overall
conductor length.
• In a circuit where a few components have considerably more
connecting points than the others, these key components have
to be placed first and the remaining ones are grouped around
them.
• The general rule is to place first components, whose position is
fixed for the final fitting and interconnections, e.g. connectors,
heat sinks, etc. Then place the components which are
connected to these fixed components.
• Larger components are placed first and the space in between is
filled with smaller ones.
• Components should be placed in a row or a column, so that it
gives a good overview.
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• Conductor Spacing : an average 2 mm is generally taken where

voltages are in excess of 30 volts or where a short will cause
failure
• Conductor Shapes: sharp covers and acute angle bends in
conductors should be avoided
CONDUCTOR ROUTING AND LOCATIONS

• Conductor length should be the shortest possible.

• Conductors forming sharp angles should be avoided as this
creates problems in etching
• Where one or several conductors have to pass between pads or
other conductive areas, the spacing has to be equally
distributed.
• Minimum spacing is applied only where it cannot be avoided,
otherwise higher spacing should be given.
FABRICATION AND ASSEMBLY CONSIDERATIONS

• Conductor spacing less than 0.1mm will not work with the
etching process, because the etchant fluid does not circulate
efficiently in narrower spaces resulting in incomplete metal
removal.
• Features with a conductor width smaller than 0.1 mm will lead
to breakage and damage during etching.
LAYOUT DESIGN
• A well-drawn schematic with minimum number of cross-overs
and loops;
• Areas of circuit incompatibility, i.e. those where isolation of one
circuit from another is required;
• The number and position of the external connections to be used
with the interconnection system, as this plays an important role
in determining the position of input, output, and ground
terminations;
• The board contacts should be designated
numerically/alphabetically on the schematic for easy and error-
free recognition;
• Shields and grounds to be clearly indicated, particularly if they
are used for reducing interference or noise from couplings
The general considerations for a good layout design are:

• Type of product (required quality, reliability and safety considerations,

applicable standards, approvals required etc.);
• Expected production volume;
• Assembly facilities and techniques along with desirable degree of
automation;
• Maintenance set-up (factory premises, disbursed maintenance facilities
and at customer’s place);
• Working environment (storage, shock and vibration);
• Transportation arrangement;
• Electrical considerations/constraints such as electromagnetic shield,
cross-talk between conductors;
• Components/connected modules requiring easy access;
• Heat removal considerations;
• Requirement of insulation between the PCB or its mounted components
and any other metallic part on the assembly.
WHAT IS ARTWORK?
• Artwork is basically a manufacturing tool used in fabricating
printed wiring because it uniquely defines the pattern to be
placed on the board.
• Artwork displays only those items that have to be generated as
copper patterns in the manufacture of the PCB.
• Therefore, the artwork will necessarily include solder pads and
conductors true to scale in respect of their dimensions, but
shown at the scaled level.
• In addition, the artwork will also show lines that represent the
boundary of the board.
• Since the artwork is the first step of the PCB manufacturing
process, it has a great influence on the final product.
• Developing a clean and exact artwork necessitates skills and
patience on the part of the personnel entrusted with the task.
BASIC APPROACH TO MANUAL ARTWORK
• Ink Drawing on White Card Board Sheets
• Black Taping on Transparent Base Foil
GENERAL DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR ARTWORK PREPARATION
• Conductor Orientation
 CONDUCTOR ROUTING

• Conductor Routing
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AUTOMATED ARTWORK GENERATION

• Computer-based PCB design systems facilitate the generation of

the required artwork and documentation for the PCB
manufacturer
• The computer-based design process is both faster and more
accurate than the manual process.
COMPUTER- AIDED DESIGN (CAD)

• Computer-aided design provides an interface between the PCB

designer and the computer
• A CAD system with various possibilities offers tremendous
advantages over manual methods of designing.
• With the assistance of CAD, higher package densities can be
achieved and complex circuitry with a larger number of ICs per
board are realized, which can hardly be arranged by a manual
design.
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HARDWARE
SOFTWARE
• PCB design needs, and factors such as user interface, learning
time, help provisions, speed of use, etc., should be taken into
account.
• Since making a schematic is the first step in designing a PCB, it
is necessary to analyse the attributes of the schematic editor,
which may include schematic capture programme, libraries
supplied with the software, scaling of symbols, netlist
generation, online packaging, automatic bus connection, etc.
• Since a good placement forms the backbone of a well-designed
PCB, it is important that the placement tools offered by the
software should facilitate placement of the components in the
most optimal manner and in the shortest possible time.
• optimization form the guidelines for evaluation of an auto-
routing tool.
BASIC CAD OPERATION
SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM:

• This provides the functional flow and graphical representation of

an electronic circuit and consists of electrical connections (nets)
and junctions.
• The schematic diagram consists of:
• Symbols representing discrete components like resistors,
capacitors, transistors and integrated
• circuits; symbols to follow international standards;
• Input /output connectors;
• Buses;
• Power and ground symbols;
• Component reference names; and
• Text supporting the diagram.
LAYOUT:
• This involves decision-making pertaining to:
• Surface mounts or mixed technology;
• Single, double or multi-layer boards;
• PTH or non-PTH;
• Placement of components, vias, lands, test pads and device
footprints; and
• Generation of interconnection tracks, etc.
DESIGN:

Design considerations should be decided in parallel with the layout.

The following factors must be taken care of:
• Track widths to ensure that the current densities are not
excessive;
• Adequate track separation so that there is no electrical
breakdown;
• Proper thermal design to avoid any hot spots on the board;
and
• Effect of stray parasites, particularly stray capacitances in
case of high frequency circuits, etc.
NETLIST:
• Generation of software list to show all interconnection paths;
and
• Comparison with the netlist generated by the schematic
diagram to check the accuracy of interconnection lines.
CARD ARTWORK:
• Test plot of the final card layout;
• Manual inspection of components and visual inspection of the
card; and
• Generation of bare board testing information from via
information and the netlist.
PHOTO-TOOLING:

• Generation of photo negative or positive.

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DRILL DATA:

• Specifying drill sizes;

• Ensuring that the drills are in the correct position; and
• Software to drive numerically controlled (NC) drilling machine.
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ASSEMBLY DRAWING:

• Provide mechanical design information, specifically card

material, thickness, overall dimension and shape;
• Check the datum position; and
• Fix the component sizes and their positions.
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AUTOMATIC CARD ASSEMBLY

• This is needed to:

• Drive radial, axial and integrated circuit insertion machines;
and
• Pick and place machines.
IN CIRCUIT/FUNCTION TESTING:

• Test vector generation; and

• Final testing and verification.
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