zeke 693 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I thought we should have a post that we collect useful PCB guidelines, tips, tricks and calculators in. Here's some contributions: 1. UltraCad's PCB Calculators and Tools 2. Saturn PCB Design Toolkit 3. High Speed USB Platform Design Guidelines 4. Dave Jones' PCB Layout Tutorial 5. TI's PCB Design Guidelines For Reduced EMI 6. Altera's High-Speed Board Layout Guidelines 7. SMPS' Power Supply PCB Design Guidelines 8. Maxim's General Layout Guidelines for RF and Mixed-Signal PCBs 9. High Voltage PCB Design 10. Op Amps for Everyone - Chapter 17: Circuit Board Layout Techniques I think I touched on most of the important design topics. Low noise A2D pcb design is one I didn't track down yet. RobG, bluehash, NurseBob and 1 other 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bluehash 1,581 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 Good call on #4. I did not know one existed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 BH, is this worthy to be made a sticky post? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bluehash 1,581 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 I don't see why not. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattTheGeek 99 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 And for those high current PCBs, A trace width calculator. http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/ ... alculator/ radcliffkaty1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted November 13, 2011 Author Share Posted November 13, 2011 I'm personally using #2. It's very comprehensive. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattTheGeek 99 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 I'm personally using #2. It's very comprehensive. Ahh i didn't even see that! Looks awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
username 198 Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 How relevant are these pcb calculators? Just curious cause i've never really seen the need for one yet. Granted i'm still quite new to all this. Do you guys really run into issues with your hobbyist projects where trace impedance or trance inefficiencies at high frequencies are really an issue? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Yes! Emphatically YES! You'll need to craft a 50 ohm trace from your RF module out to the antenna connector. How are you going to do that? What are the proper dimensions for that trace? Unless you know the dimensions already, you ain't gonna know. What happens to the impedance of that trace when you decide that you need a 0.100" thick PCB instead of a 0.062" PCB? Just plug the dimensions into the calculator and out pops your routing information. Another scenario that you alluded to is high speed differential traces. Granted, I doubt they would ever be used on an MSP430 but I've had to use them on FPGA designs where I was trying to get data in and out of the chip at 600MHz! It's a combination of RF and Transmission Line theory at that point. If you upset the impedance of those tracks with a misplaced 0603 resistor then BLAMMO you're dead in the water and you've wasted $2000 or more on your PCB. It's all about signal integrity. You have to find it and struggle to keep it. There's an entire industry built up around SI and PCB layout. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PolkaDot 12 Posted April 9, 2013 Share Posted April 9, 2013 While we're here, can you recommend or link to any recommended software packages? Much appreciated Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sfcircuits 0 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 On 4/9/2013 at 11:26 PM, PolkaDot said: While we're here, can you recommend or link to any recommended software packages? Much appreciated We (San Francisco Circuits) wrote a pretty massive PCB design software comparison article that compares 5 of the top CAD packages. And, along the lines of high speed design tips, our RF PCB manufacturing page has a handy table of RF material selection based on application/industry. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
radcliffkaty1 2 Posted November 23, 2018 Share Posted November 23, 2018 All these shared files have a lot of learning material. Thanks, @zeke for these helpful files. 😍 zeke 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zeke 693 Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 You are welcome @radcliffkaty1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hunghoang11 0 Posted September 18, 2019 Share Posted September 18, 2019 This Javascript web calculator calculates the trace width of printed circuit board conductors for a given current using formulas from IPC-2221. Other options that Calculator consists are as following: Regulators Track Width Electrical Spacing Trans Line RF Attenuators Color Code Board Classes Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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