12/21/2015

PracticalPCBLayoutTipsEveryDesignerNeedstoKnow

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PracticalPCBLayoutTipsEveryDesignerNeedsto
Know
November13,2015byDavidKnight(/author/davidknight)

PracticalPCBLayoutTips
Engineerstendtopaymostattentiontocircuits,thelatestcomponents,andcode
asimportantpartsofanelectronicsproject,butsometimesacriticalcomponent
ofelectronics,thePCBlayout,isneglected.PoorPCBlayoutcancause
functionandreliabilityproblems.ThisarticlecontainspracticalPCBlayouttips
thatcanhelpyourPCBprojectsworkcorrectlyandreliably.

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SizingTraces
Realworldcoppertraceshaveresistance.Thismeansthatatracehasavoltage
drop,powerdissipation,andatemperaturerisewhencurrentflowsthroughit.
Resistanceisdefinedbythisformula:
(resistivity length)
R =
(thickness width)

PCBdesignersmostcommonlyuselength,thickness,andwidthtocontrolthe
resistanceofaPCBtrace.Resistanceisaphysicalpropertyofthemetalusedto
makethetrace.PCBdesignerscan'treallychangethephysicalpropertiesof
copper,sofocusonthetracesize,whichyoucancontrol.
PCBtracethicknessismeasuredinouncesofcopper.Oneounceofcopperis
thethicknesswewouldmeasureifweevenlyspread1ozofcopperovera1
squarefootarea.Thisthicknessis1.4thousandthsofaninch.ManyPCB
designersuse1ozor2ozcopper,butmanyPCBmanufacturerscanprovide6
ozthickness.Notethatfinefeatureslikepinsthatareclosetogetherarehardto
makeinthickcopper.ConsultyourPCBmanufactureraboutwhattheir
capabilitiesare.
UseaPCBtracewidthcalculator(http://www.4pcb.com/tracewidth
calculator.html)todeterminehowthickandwideyourtracesshouldbeforyour
application.Aimfora5Ctemperaturerise.Ifyouhaveextraspaceontheboard,
usebiggertraces,astheydontcostanything.
Whendoingamultilayerboard,rememberthattracesonexternallayershave
bettercoolingthantracesoninternallayersbecausetheheatfrominnerlayers
hastotravelthroughlayersofcopperandPCBmaterialbeforebeingconducted,
radiated,orconnectedaway.

MakeLoopsSmall
Loops,especiallyhighfrequencyloops,shouldbemadeassmallaspossible.

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Loops,especiallyhighfrequencyloops,shouldbemadeassmallaspossible.
Smallloopshavelowerinductanceandresistance.Placingloopsoveraground
planefurtherreducesinductance.Havingsmallloopsreduceshighfrequency
voltagespikescausedbyV

di
= L

dt

.Smallloopsalsohelpreducetheamount

ofsignalsthatareinductivelycoupledintothenodefromexternalsources,orare
broadcastfromthenode.Thisiswhatyouwant,unlessyouredesigningan
antenna.Alsokeeploopssmallforopampcircuitstopreventnoisefrombeing
coupledintothecircuit.

DecouplingCapacitorPlacement
Placedecouplingcapacitorsasnearaspossibletothepowerandgroundpinsof
integratedcircuitstomaximizedecouplingefficiency.Placingcapacitorsfarther
awayintroducesstrayinductance.Multipleviasfromthecapacitor'spintoa
groundplanereduceinductance.

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KelvinConnections
Kelvinconnectionsareusefulformeasurements.Kelvinconnectionsaremadeat
theexactpointstoreducestrayresistanceandinductance.Forexample,Kelvin
connectionsforacurrentsenseresistorareplacedexactlyattheresistorpads,
notatsomearbitraryplaceonthetraces.Althoughontheschematic,placingthe
connectionsattheresistorpadsoratsomearbitrarypointmaylookthesame,
realtraceshaveinductanceandresistancethatcouldthrowyourmeasurements
offifyoudontuseKelvinconnections.

KeepDigitalandNoisyTracesAwayfrom
AnalogTraces

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AnalogTraces
Paralleltracesorconductorsformacapacitor.Placingtracesclosetogether
capacitivelycouplesthesignalsonthetraces,especiallyifthesignalsarehigh
frequency.Keephighfrequencyandnoisytracesawayfromtracesthatyoudont
wantnoiseon.

GroundisNotGround
Groundisnotanidealconductor.Takecaretoroutenoisygroundsawayfrom
signalsthatneedtobequiet.Makegroundtraceslargeenoughtocarrythe
currentsthatwillflow.Placingagroundplanedirectlyundersignaltraceslowers
theimpedanceofthetraces,whichisideal.

ViaSizeandNumber
Viashaveinductanceandresistance.Ifyoureroutingatracefromonesideof
thePCBtotheotherandneedlowinductanceorresistance,usemultiplevias.
Largeviashavelowerresistance.Thisisespeciallyusefulingroundingfilter
capacitorsandhighcurrentnodes.Useaviasizecalculatorlikethisone
(http://www.saturnpcb.com/pcb_toolkit.htm).

UsingPCBasHeatsink

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UsingPCBasHeatsink
Placeextracopperaroundsurfacemountcomponenttoprovideextrasurface
areatodissipateheatmoreefficiently.Somecomponentdatasheets(especially
powerdiodesandpowerMOSFETsorvoltageregulators)haveguidelinesfor
usingPCBsurfaceareaasheatsinks.

ThermalVias
ViascanbeusedtomoveheatfromonesideofaPCBtotheother.Thisis
especiallyusefulwhenaPCBismountedonaheatsinkonachassisthatcan
furtherdissipateheat.Largeviastransferheatmoreefficientlythansmallvias.
Manyviastransferheatmoreefficientlythanonevia,andlowertheoperating
temperatureofcomponents.Loweroperatingtemperaturescontributetohigher
reliability.

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ThermalRelief
Thermalreliefismakingconnectionsbetweenatraceorafillandacomponent
pinsmalltomakesolderingeasier.Thissmallconnectionisshorttoreducethe
impactonelectricalresistance.Ifthermalreliefoncomponentpinsisnotused,
thenthecomponentmaybealittlecoolerbecausetheresabetterthermal
connectiontotracesorfillsthatcandissipateheat,butitllbehardertosolder
anddesolder.

DistancebetweenTracesandMountingHoles
Leaveroombetweencoppertracesorfillsandmountingholesthishelps
preventshockhazards.Soldermaskisntconsideredareliableinsulator,sotake
carethatthereisdistancebetweencopperandanymountinghardware.

HeatSensitiveComponents
Keepcomponentsthataresensitivetoheatawayfromothercomponentsthat
generateheat.Examplesofcomponentsthataresensitivetoheatinclude
thermocouplesandelectrolyticcapacitors.Placingthermocouplesclosetoheat
sourcesmaythrowofftemperaturemeasurements.Placingelectrolytic
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capacitorsclosetoheatgeneratingcomponentswillreducetheiroperatinglife.
Componentsthatgenerateheatmayincludebridgerectifiers,diodes,MOSFETs,
inductors,andresistors.Theheatdependsoncurrentflowingthroughthe
components.

Conclusion
ThisarticlehascoveredsomebasicpracticalPCBlayouttipsthatcanpositively
impactthefunctionalityandreliabilityofyourdesign.Havemoretipsandtricks?
Leavetheminthecomments!

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