The Basics Of Printed Circuit Board Design

by | Jan 6, 2016 | Electronics

With the use of electronics, computers and other devices in today’s world it is impossible not to have experienced the importance of printed circuit board design. Often people fail to understand how important these thin, flat components are until there is a problem.

While a printed circuit board may be commonplace today, originally all circuits were created by point-to-point wiring. This meant literally hundreds of wire connections on the board, leading to a very real risk of wires breaking or failing, and a short lifespan on many of these boards.

Needless to say, these original circuit boards were labor intensive to produce and also were very costly and bulky. With the increasing need for high volume types of electronic components, the need for printed circuit board design came into being.

The Design

While a printed circuit board (PCB) may look like a single thin strip of fiberglass, there are several layers to the board. This is important in printed circuit board design and includes a thin layer of copper just under the soldermask, typically green, and the silkscreen on the surface that is usually white and shows the actual components and text on the board. Boards can have one, two or multiple layers of copper depending on the needs for components on the board. The more components on the board, the more layers of copper that are required.

Modern PCBs may have a core of fiberglass, or they can be designed to be flexible. These are often used in very small spaces where the board may have to bend or fold to fit into a particular space in the design.

The Components

While there can be many different components to printed circuit board design, it is essential that the board is designed following all design rules. This includes the spacing of the components on the board as well as the positioning of drill holes, slots, resistors, plated holes and even pads, which are exposed metal areas on the board which will eventually have components attached by soldering.

There are other components that need to be carefully considered with the printed circuit board design. One important consideration is the location of the surface mounts, which are the components that are set on the board and not actually going through the board. This is an important consideration for manufacturing as it is much less time intensive to produce boards with surface mounts rather than having to go through the board for assembly.

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