Designing Printed Circuit Boards: Some General Tips

Engineers recommend the use of printed circuit board (PCB) shielding material to protect modern electronic devices from unwanted interference. You can use PCBs for assembling modern-day electronic circuits comprising insulating layers and copper conductor patterns. These patterns can bring in different kinds of flaws into the circuit, especially if the circuit is functioning at a high speed. You must not only know how to design a PCB, but also choose first-rate board level shielding material to reduce and eliminate electromagnetic interference (EMI) affecting device performance. In this article, we are going to walk you through some of the general tips on designing PCBs.

Allow for Room between Components

Avoid placing the components too close to each other as that will leave no space for routing wires. Make sure that there is a little room between components so that you can spread the wires with ease and convenience. The more number of pins in a component, the more space it will require for proper assembling. Proper spacing will help in auto-routing and simplified soldering.

Make Nodes Easily Accessible

If you find that something inside the PCB is not working, and want to gauge a signal inside the board, first check the nodes. Before you start designing, figure out which points are suitable to troubleshoot the circuit. If you find that some of the points are inaccessible, make sure that you incorporate a test point. There are different types of test points, but those that make a loop are perfect for test probes with hooks.

Learn about the Specifications

PCB specifications vary from one manufacturer to the other. These include spacing, minimum trace width, number of layers, and more. Before you start your PCB design, understand what your needs are, look for a manufacturer, and let him know about your requirements, including the quality of materials used in the PCB. There are different material grades like FR-5 or glass cloth and epoxy and FR-1, i.e. paper-phenolic mixture. Though most manufacturers prefer using the FR-4, FR-2 finds its use in high-volume consumer electronics. This material has an impact on the PCB’s durability, flame resistance, and strength.

Separate Power and Control Grounds

A spike in electricity and large voltage resulting from power circuits may generate disruptive and unwanted interference in the control circuits. These circuits normally have low current and voltage. Make sure that you separate power and control grounds for enhanced performance. If you would like to secure them as one in the board, do so at a point near the closing stages of the supply path. We recommend that you do it close to the PCB ground connection.

Add Bypass Capacitors

Engineers recommend the use of bypass capacitors to sift out AC components from steady power supply. This will help in reducing ripples, noise, and other undesired signals or interferences. Bypass capacitors do it by circumventing the current fluctuations to the ground. The perfect place to add the capacitors is at the circuit board’s power inlet. The wires that connect the power supply to the board are generally long and serve as antennas, and collect a significant amount of radio frequency (RF) signals. You can also place bypass capacitors near the integrated circuits or ICs to control unwanted noise inside the circuit board.

PCB layouts with copper, holes, capacitors, and nodes improve performance. Additionally, you must also look for board level shielding material that can be custom-made to reduce EMI.

Elvis Moore is an active blogger with an extensive industry experience in the field of electronics and technology.