Seven key points of high-quality PCB design

For most electronic engineers (EEs), circuit board design is a daily job. Although they have many years of PCB design experience, it is difficult to produce high-quality PCB design. There are many factors to consider. Let’s discuss seven factors that need to be considered in high-quality PCB design.
If electronic engineers want to design high-quality circuit boards, electronic engineers or beginners should remember the following seven points. 1. PCB material: It is the basis of any PCB design project. You need to understand how many materials are needed to make PCB. PCB is a non-conductive solid material, which is pressed together with copper. Copper plating can help to form a conductive surface. Generally, the material is glass reinforced FR-4 epoxy. This material is moderately priced and flame retardant. PTFE or ceramic base used in RF or high-performance circuits, for various fillers. 2.PCB stacking: PCB refers to how many layers each PCB will have. This enables electronic engineers to know the required impedance of each layer. A reasonable number of layers can help engineers determine the correct manufacturing process, so as to obtain the ideal output, reliability and minimize the production cost. 3. Copper wire: Copper wire is the most important component on PCB and is made of copper. When designing them, be sure to understand their nature and limitations. Generally, copper wires can be produced by placing a solid metal sheet on a substrate and removing part of copper. 4. Types of through holes: Through holes are a key part of any PCB, because they help to establish connections between different components. You need to learn all kinds of Vias: embedded, penetrating, blind area and microcomputer (stacked, multi-stacked and single-stacked). For the best PCB design, the through hole is very small. You also need to understand the current carrying capacity of these vias. 5. Selecting parts: This is the most tedious step in all PCB design projects. Correct selection of parts can reduce errors and ensure the quality of PCB design. Because there are millions of components in the market, you need to remember the following: Choose common and easy-to-use components. Don’t use parts outside the production. Some products sell a lot, so pay attention when choosing goods. All components of are packaged in a form that helps EE connect it with PCB. Some parts can use multiple packages, which can make them compatible.
6. Circuit board design rules: Electronic engineers should focus on design rules after meeting all the above requirements. Issues such as crosstalk budget, component layout, hierarchy, flight time analysis and production design rules should be widely considered. 7. Signal and power integrity: This is regarded as one of the advantages of high-quality PCB. There are many factors to consider, such as signal attenuation and rise time, driving strength, track length and characteristic impedance. To ensure the quality performance, signal integrity (SI) simulation will be performed before and after the layout. An efficient circuit requires high current. Therefore, AC and DC performance of distribution network should be considered.