ABOUT C-DOT

The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) is the Telecom

Technology development centre of the Government of India. It was
established in August 1984 as an autonomous body. It was vested with full
authority and total flexibility to develop state-of-the-art telecommunication
technology to meet the needs of the Indian telecommunication network. The
key objective was to build a centre for excellence in the area of telecom
technology.
While the initial mandate of C-DOT in 1984 was to design and develop
digital exchanges and facilitate their large scale manufacture by the Indian
Industry, the development of transmission equipment was also added to its
scope of work in 1989.
C-DOTs current product portfolio spans world-class Digital Switching
Systems, Intelligent Network Solutions, Access Network products, Voice over
IP solutions, SDH & WDM technologies, Satellite Communication Systems,
Network Management Systems and Operation Support Systems.
Digital Switching systems, Intelligent Network systems and Rural Telecom
products from C-DOT dominate the large Indian Telecom Network. This
distinction emerges from the cost-effectiveness and ruggedness of C-DOT
products as well as a comprehensive technology transfer and field support
methodology that focuses on long-term relationship with the technology
recipients, network operators and service providers.

FOCUS AREAS :

Commercial support for legacy system.

Advanced Intelligent Network Services.

Operational Support Systems.

Network Management Systems.

Fixed and Mobile Rural Wireless Systems.

Next Generation Network Systems for Intercity Trunk Exchanges.

Strategic Sector Development Projects.

OBJECTIVES:

Provide solutions for current and future requirements of

telecommunication and converged networks including those required for
rural applications.
Provide market orientation to R&D activities and sustain C-DOT as a
centre of excellence.
Build partnerships and joint alliances with industry, solution providers,
Telcos and other development organisations to offer cost effective
solutions.
Support Telcos and service providers in the introduction of new
technologies, features and services by optimal utilization of installed
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networks.

PRODUCTS OF C-DOT
1. C-DOT CIRCUIT SWITCH: Rural automatic exchange
Main automatic exchange
THE C-DOT DSS MAX FAMILY
Total Solutions for Wide Area Telecommunication
The C-DOT Digital Switching System Main Automatic Exchange (DSS
MAX) is a family of The C-DOT digital switching systems that offers total
switching solution for national telecom networks. The C-DOT DSS MAX
products have the proven ability to serve as local, toll, transit and Integrated
Local-cum-Transit (ILT) switches. The in-built support for SS7 enables the
C-DOTMAX to function as integrated Signal Transfer Point (STP) and
integrated Service Switching Point (SSP). The switch also supports ISDN
and V5 interfaces. Starting from a switch that supports a few hundred lines
for rural applications to the40, 000- line switch for central office
applications, the modular architecture of the C-DOT DSS MAX is capable
of serving the needs of the entire range of customers.
Total
Solutions
For
Wide
Area

RURAL AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE

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C-DOT RAX is a digital stored program control switching system with upto
256 terminations or ports. It employs a non-blocking 4-wire PCM switching
network. C-DOT RAX is a digital stored program control switching system
with upto 256 terminations or ports. It employs a non-blocking 4-wire PCM
switchingnetwork.
It is ideal for rural applications since it provides immediate basic telephone
connections with practically no infrastructure. It is easy to install and
possesses a fault-tolerant system with inbuilt redundancy. Besides requiring
no air-conditioning, it withstands dust, wide temperature fluctuations (-5 to
50 C), humidity and salinity. Moreover, it consumes very little power,
sustaining itself despite frequent power failures due to low batter drain. A
distinguishing feature of the C-DOT 256P RAX is its simple and flexible
connectivity through a satellite wide range of transmission systems such as
UHF, VHF, radio and satellite. Because it is program-controlled, it can be
easily integrated as per the network requirement through man machine
commands. Thus, proving to be an extremely cost-effective and viable
proposition.

2. INTEGRATED IN SOLUTION
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C-DOT offers complete and cost-effective Intelligent Network (IN) solution

comprising Service Control Point (SCP), Service Management Point (SMP)
and Service Switching Point (SSP) with integrated Intelligent Peripheral
(IP). It has adopted the evolutionary path as defined by ITUT/ETSI and has
successfully implemented Capability Set One (CS-I). Development of IN
services conforming to CAMEL for mobile subscribers and further
Capability Sets (CS-2,CS-3, etc.) is in progress. This would lead to the
development of long-term IN architecture for the converged networks of the
future. The C-DOT DSS MAX switching systems have been enriched with
the service switching functionality to allow them to function as SSPs. The
SCP and SMP have been developed indigenously using standard computing
platforms. Since the SCP and SSP implementation in the C-DOT DSS MAX
adheres to the ITUT\ETSI and Indian National standards, it can interface
with SSPs and SCPs from multiple vendors

3. C-DOT OPTICAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM: Compact STM-.I

Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing
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COMPACT STM-I
The world is fast becoming a global village. This has led to an explosion in
the demand for sophisticated telecom service. Today services such as
videoconferencing remote database access and multimedia file transfer
require a high capacity network with the availability on demand of virtually
unlimited bandwidth. The current network, based on high plesiochronous
transmission systems is not ideally suited to the efficient delivery and
management of high bandwidth connections. It had evolved mainly
tosupport plain voice telephony. Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
forms the platforms for the future transport networks to provide
connectivity in the trunk, junction and local networks. A synchronous
network offers a reliable cost effective and future -proof network solution
requiring much less hardware and skipping many steps of multiplexing. An
important aspect of the SDH network is the built in sophisticated network
management and maintenance function that provides high degree of
flexibility and availability of the network. While SDH is ideally suited to
work in a totally synchronous environment, the initial introduction of SDH
shall begin by forming islands having interface gateways to the existing
PDH network.
DENSE WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM is a revolutionary
technology, with point-to-point DWDM system representing the first phase
in the evolution of Optical Transport Networking. DWDM is the most costeffective way to expand capacity than some other alternatives such as
adding fibre or replacing current capacity (say 2.5 Gbps) Time Division
Multiplexing (TDM) systems with new higher bit-rate (say 10 Gbps) TDM
systems. Laying new fibre is expensive, particularly for long routes, and its
installation can take too long to satisfy customers. TDM technology is no
longer able to keep pace with the emerging ultra-broadband data backbone
demands.

OPTICAL FIBERS

Optical fibers are long, thin strands of very pure glass about the diameter
of a human hair. They are arranged in bundles called optical cables and
used to transmit light signals over long distances.
An optical fiber is a glass or plastic fiber designed to guide light along its
length by confining as much light as possible in a propagating form. In
fibers with large core diameter, the confinement is based on total internal
reflection. In smaller diameter core fibers, (widely used for most
communication links longer than 200 meters) the confinement relies on
establishing a waveguide. Fiber optics is the overlap of applied science and
engineering concerned with such optical fibers. Optical fibers are widely
used in fiber-optic communication, which permits transmission over longer
distances and at higher data rates than other forms of wired and wireless
communications. They are also used to form sensors, and in a variety of
other applications.

If you look closely at a single optical fiber, you will see that it has the
following parts:
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Core - Thin glass center of the fiber where the light travels
Cladding - Outer optical material surrounding the core that reflects
the light back into the core
Buffer coating - Plastic coating that protects the fiber from damage
and moisture
Hundreds or thousands of these optical fibers are arranged in bundles in
optical cables. The bundles are protected by the cable's outer covering,
called a jacket.

Optical fibers come in two types:

Single-mode fibers
Multi-mode fibers

Single-mode fibers have small cores (about 3.5 x 10-4 inches or 9 microns
in diameter) and transmit infrared laser light (wavelength = 1,300 to 1,550
nanometers).
Multi-mode fibers have larger cores (about 2.5 x 10 -3 inches or 62.5
microns in diameter) and transmit infrared light (wavelength = 850 to 1,300
nm) from light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Some optical fibers can be made from plastic. These fibers have a large
core (0.04 inches or 1 mm diameter) and transmit visible red light
(wavelength = 650 nm) from LEDs
PHYSICS OF TOTAL INTERNAL REFLECTION
When light passes from a medium with one index of refraction (m1) to
another medium with a lower index of refraction (m2), it bends or refracts
away from an imaginary line perpendicular to the surface (normal line). As
the angle of the beam through m1 becomes greater with respect to the
normal line, the refracted light through m2 bends further away from the
line.
At one particular angle (critical angle), the refracted light will not go into
m2, but instead will travel along the surface between the two media (sine
[critical angle] = n2/n1 where n1 and n2 are the indices of refraction [n1 is
greater than n2]). If the beam through m1 is greater than the critical angle,
9

then the refracted beam will be reflected entirely back into m1 (total internal
reflection), even though m2 may be transparent!
In physics, the critical angle is described with respect to the normal line. In
fiber optics, the critical angle is described with respect to the parallel axis
running down the middle of the fiber. Therefore, the fiber-optic critical
angle = (90 degrees - physics critical angle).

In an optical fiber, the light travels through the core (m1, high index of
refraction) by constantly reflecting from the cladding (m2, lower index of
refraction) because the angle of the light is always greater than the critical
angle. Light reflects from the cladding no matter what angle the fiber itself
gets bent at, even if it's a full circle!
Because the cladding does not absorb any light from the core, the light wave
can travel great distances. However, some of the light signal degrades
within the fiber, mostly due to impurities in the glass. The extent that the
signal degrades depends upon the purity of the glass and the wavelength of
the transmitted light (for example, 850 nm = 60 to 75 percent/km; 1,300 nm
= 50 to 60 percent/km; 1,550 nm is greater than 50 percent/km). Some
premium optical fibers show much less signal degradation -- less than 10
percent/km at 1,550 nm.

ADVANTAGES OF FIBER OPTICS

10

Less expensive - Several miles of optical cable can be made

cheaper than equivalent lengths of copper wire. This saves your
provider (cable TV, Internet) and you money.
Thinner - Optical fibers can be drawn to smaller diameters than
copper wire.
Higher carrying capacity - Because optical fibers are thinner than
copper wires, more fibers can be bundled into a given-diameter
cable than copper wires. This allows more phone lines to go over
the same cable or more channels to come through the cable into
your cable TV box.
Less signal degradation - The loss of signal in optical fiber is less
than in copper wire.
Light signals - Unlike electrical signals in copper wires, light
signals from one fiber do not interfere with those of other fibers in
the same cable. This means clearer phone conversations or TV
reception.
Low power - Because signals in optical fibers degrade less, lowerpower transmitters can be used instead of the high-voltage electrical
transmitters needed for copper wires. Again, this saves your
provider and you money.
Digital signals - Optical fibers are ideally suited for carrying digital
information, which is especially useful in computer networks.
Non-flammable - Because no electricity is passed through optical
fibers, there is no fire hazard.

OPTICAL FIBER SYSTEMS

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1. PLESIOCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY

The term plesiochronous is derived from Greek plesio, meaning near, and
chronos, time, and refers to the fact that PDH networks run in a state where
different parts of the network are almost, but not quite perfectly,
synchronized.
The Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) is a technology used in
telecommunications networks to transport large quantities of data over
digital transport equipment such as fiber optic and microwave radio
systems. PDH is now being replaced by Synchronous Digital Hierarchy
(SDH) equipment in most telecommunications networks.
PDH allows transmission of data streams that are nominally running at the
same rate, but allowing some variation on the speed around a nominal rate.
By analogy, any two watches are nominally running at the same rate,
clocking up 60 seconds every minute. However, there is no link between
watches to guarantee they run at exactly the same rate, and it is highly likely
that one is running slightly faster than the other.
Implementation
The European and American versions of the PDH system differ slightly in
the detail of their working, but the principles are the same. The European
system is described below.
The basic data transfer rate is a data stream of 2.048 Mbit/s
(megabits/second). For speech transmission, this is broken down into 30 x
64 Kbit/s (kilobits/second) channels plus 2 x 64 Kbit/s channels used for
signalling and synchronization. Alternatively, the whole 2 Mbit/s
(megabits/second) may be used for non speech purposes, for example, data
transmission. The exact data rate of the 2 Mbit/s data stream is controlled by
a clock in the equipment generating the data. The exact rate is allowed to
vary some percentage (+/- 50 ppm) either side of an exact 2.048 Mbit/s.
This means that different 2 Mbit/s data streams can be (probably are)
running at slightly different rates to one another. In order to move multiple
2 Mbit/s data streams from one place to another, they are combined
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together, or "multiplexed" in groups of four. This is done by taking 1 bit

from stream #1, followed by 1 bit from stream #2, then #3, then #4. The
transmitting multiplexer also adds additional bits in order to allow the far
end receiving multiplexer to decode which bits belong to which 2 meg data
stream and so correctly reconstitute the original data streams. These
additional bits are called "justification" or "stuffing" bits.
Because each of the four 2 Mbit/s data streams is not necessarily running at
the same rate, some compensation has to be made. The transmitting
multiplexer combines the four data streams assuming that they are running
at their maximum allowed rate. This means that occasionally, (unless the
2 Mbit/s really is running at the maximum rate) the multiplexer will look for
the next bit but it will not have arrived. In this case, the multiplexer signals
to the receiving multiplexer that a bit is "missing". This allows the receiving
multiplexer to correctly reconstruct the original data for each of the four
2 Mbit/s data streams, and at the correct, different plesiochronous, rates.
The resulting data stream from the above process runs at 8,448 Kbit/s
(about 8 Mbit/s). Similar techniques are used to combine four x 8 Mbit/s
together, giving 34 Mbit/s. Four x 34 Mbit/s, gives 140. Four x 140 gives
565. 565 Mbit/s is the rate typically used to transmit data over a fiber optic
system for long distance transport. Recently, telecommunications
companies have been replacing their PDH equipment with SDH equipment
capable of much higher transmission rates.

Limitations of the Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy

US and European systems had little in common - expensive translators
required for transatlantic traffic
"Standard" equipment from different vendors was incompatible
No self checking - expensive manual check and repair system
No standard for high bandwidth links - proprietary
Not synchronous above US DS-1 bandwidth

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2. SYNCHRONOUS DIGITAL HIERARCHY

What does synchronous mean to a telephone engineer?
Bits from one telephone call are always in the same location inside a digital
transmission frame
Synchronous digital hierarchy or Synchronous optical networking is a
method for communicating digital information using lasers or light-emitting
diodes (LEDs) over optical fiber. The method was developed to replace the
Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH) system for transporting large
amounts of telephone and data traffic and to allow for interoperability
between equipment from different vendors.
There are multiple, very closely related standards that describe synchronous
optical networking:

SDH or synchronous digital hierarchy standard developed by the

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), documented in standard
G.707 and its extension G.708
SONET or synchronous optical networking standard as defined by
GR-253-CORE from Telcordia

Synchronous networking differs from PDH in that the exact rates that are
used to transport the data are tightly synchronized across the entire network,
made possible by atomic clocks. This synchronization system allows entire
inter-country networks to operate synchronously, greatly reducing the
amount of buffering required between elements in the network.
Structure of SONET/SDH signals
SONET and SDH often use different terms to describe identical features or
functions. The two main differences between the two:

SONET can use either of two different basic framing units while SDH
has one
SDH has additional mapping options which are not available in SONET
14

The basic unit of transmission

The basic unit of framing in SDH is an STM-1 (Synchronous Transport
Module level - 1), which operates at 155.52 Mbit/s. SONET refers to this
basic unit as an STS-3c (Synchronous Transport Signal - 3, concatenated),
but it is otherwise identical in size, bit-rate, and high-level functionality.
SONET offers an additional basic unit of transmission, the STS-1
(Synchronous Transport Signal - 1), operating at 51.84 Mbit/s - exactly one
third of an STM-1/STS-3c.
Framing Structure
The frame consists of two parts, the transport overhead and the path virtual
envelope.
Transport overhead
The transport overhead is used for signaling and measuring transmission
error rates, comprised of 27 bytes/octets as follows:

Section overhead - called RSOH (Regenerator Section Overhead) in

SDH terminology: 27 octets containing information about the frame
structure required by the terminal equipment.
Line overhead - called MSOH (Multiplex Section Overhead) in SDH: 45
octets containing information about alarms, maintenance and error
correction as may be required within the network.
Pointer these point to the location of the J1 byte in the payload
overhead

Path virtual envelope

Data transmitted from end to end is referred to as path data. It is comprised
of two components:
Payload overhead (POH): 9 bytes used for end to end signaling and error
measurement.
Payload: user data (774 bytes for STS-1, or 2340 bytes for STM-1/STS3c)
15

3. WAVELENGTH DIVISION MULTIPLEXING

Wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) is the practice of dividing the
wavelength capacity of an optical fiber into multiple channels in order
to send more than one signal over the same fiber. This requires a
wavelength division multiplexer in the transmitting equipment and a
wavelength division demultiplexer (essentially a spectrometer) in the
receiving equipment. Arrayed waveguide gratings are commonly
used for multiplexing and demultiplexing in WDM. Using WDM
technology now commercially available, the bandwidth of a fiber can
be divided into as many as 80 channels to support a combined bit rate
into the range
As explained before, WDM enables the utilization of a significant portion of
the available fiber bandwidth by allowing many independent signals to be
transmitted simultaneously on one fiber, with each signal located at a
different wavelength. Routing and detection of these signals can be
accomplished independently, with the wavelength determining the
communication path by acting as the signature address of the origin,
destination or routing. Components are therefore required that are
wavelength selective, allowing for the transmission, recovery, or routing of
specific wavelengths.

In a simple WDM system (Figure 7), each laser must emit light at a
different wavelength, with all the lasers. Light multiplexed together onto a
single optical fiber. After being transmitted through a high-bandwidth
16

optical fiber, the combined optical signals must be demultiplexed at the

receiving end by distributing the total optical power to each output port and
then requiring that each receiver selectively recover only one wavelength by
using a tunable optical filter. Each laser is modulated at a given speed, and
the total aggregate capacity being transmitted along the high-bandwidth
fiber is the sum total of the bit rates of the individual lasers. An example of
the system capacity enhancement is the situation in which ten 2.5-Gbps
signals can be transmitted on one fiber, producing a system capacity of 25
Gbps. This wavelength-parallelism circumvents the problem of typical
optoelectronic devices, which do not have bandwidths exceeding a few
gigahertz unless they are exotic and expensive. The speed requirements for
the individual optoelectronic components are, therefore, relaxed, even
though a significant amount of total fiber bandwidth is still being utilized.
WDM (wavelength division multiplexing), in which several base bandmodulated channels are transmitted along a single fiber but with each
channel located at a different wavelength (Figure 2). Each of N different
wavelength lasers is operating at the slower Gbps speeds, but the aggregate
system is transmitting at N times the individual laser speed, providing a
significant capacity enhancement. The WDM channels are separated in
wavelength to avoid cross-talk when they are (de)multiplexed by a nonideal optical fiber. The wavelengths can be individually routed through a
network or individually recovered by wavelength-selective components.
WDM allows us to use much of the fiber bandwidth, although various
device, system, and network issues will limit the utilization of the full fiber
bandwidth. Note that each WDM channel may contain a set of even slower
time-multiplexed channels.

17

A WDM system uses a multiplexer at the transmitter to join the signals

together and a demultiplexer at the receiver to split them apart. With the
right type of fiber it is possible to have a device that does both
simultaneously, and can function as an optical add-drop multiplexer. The
first WDM systems only combined two signals. Modern systems can handle
up to 160 signals and can thus expand a basic 10 Gbit/s fibre system to a
theoretical total capacity of over 1.6 Tbit/s over a single fibre pair.
WDM systems are popular with telecommunications companies because
they allow them to expand the capacity of the network without laying more
fibre. By using WDM and optical amplifiers, they can accommodate several
generations of technology development in their optical infrastructure
without having to overhaul the backbone network. Most WDM systems
operate on single mode fibre optical cables, which have a core diameter of 9
m. Certain forms of WDM can also be used in multi-mode fibre cables
which have core diameters of 50 or 62.5 m.
WDM systems are divided in different wavelength patterns, conventional,
dense and coarse WDM.
Conventional WDM systems provide up to 16 channels in the 3rd
transmission window (C-band) of silica fibres around 1550 nm with a
channel spacing of 100 GHz. DWDM uses the same transmission window
but with less channel spacing enabling up to 31 channels with 50 GHz
spacing, 62 channels with 25 GHz spacing sometimes called ultra dense
WDM. New amplification options enable the extension of the usable
wavelengths to the L-band, more or less doubling these numbers.CWDM in
contrast to conventional WDM and DWDM uses increased channel spacing
to allow less sophisticated and thus cheaper transceiver designs. To again
provide 16 channels on a single fibre CWDM uses the entire frequency
band between second and third transmission window (1310/1550 nm
respectively) including both windows (minimum dispersion window and
minimum attenuation window) but also the critical area where OH
scattering may occur, recommending the use of OH-free silica fibres in case
the wavelengths between second and third transmission window shall also
be used.

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4. PASSIVE OPTICAL NETWORK

A passive optical network (PON) is a point-to-multipoint, fiber to the
premises network architecture in which unpowered optical splitters are used
to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises, typically 32. A
PON consists of an Optical Line Termination (OLT) at the service provider's
central office and a number of Optical Network Units (ONUs) near end
users. A PON configuration reduces the amount of fiber and central office
equipment required compared with point to point architectures.
Downstream signals are broadcast to each premises sharing a fiber.
Encryption is used to prevent eavesdropping.
Upstream signals are combined using a multiple access protocol, invariably
time division multiple access (TDMA). The OLTs "range" the ONUs in
order to provide time slot assignments for upstream communication.

Why is PON needed?

As high-speed file sharing, High Definition Television, video-on-demand
and other high-speed services increase, so too does the demand for higher
bandwidth. Using passive optical networking (PON) results in bandwidth
improvements that are orders of magnitude greater than today's broadband
technologies, such as ADSL and broadband cable. ITU-T's Gigabit PON
(GPON) offers the highest bandwidth connection of any mainstream PON
technology available supporting up to 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.25
Gbps upstream data transmissions. Telecommunication carriers can leverage
the higher bandwidth of GPON technology to increase their revenue streams
and reduce the overall cost of deployment through point-to-multi-point
architectures.

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PON Architecture
The three main elements in the PON networks are the Optical Line Terminal
(OLT), the passive optical splitters, and the Optical Network Terminal
(ONT). The OLT at the central office connects the subscriber's local loop to
the network.
A Splitter divides the single line into 32 equal channels. The ONT (or ONU
in businesses) provides the interface between the optical network and the
home/business. Depending on where the PON terminates, the system is
referred to as fiber-to-the-curb (FTTC), fiber-to-the-building (FTTB), fiberto-the-premise (FTTx) or fiber-to-the-home (FTTH).

Standards:20

ITU-T G.983
o APON (ATM Passive Optical Network). This was the first
Passive optical network standard. It was used primarily for
business applications, and was based on ATM.
o BPON (Broadband PON) is a standard based on APON. It adds
support for WDM, dynamic and higher upstream bandwidth
allocation, and survivability. It also created a standard
management interface, called OMCI, between the OLT and
ONU/ONT, enabling mixed-vendor networks.
ITU-T G.984
o GPON (Gigabit PON) is an evolution of the BPON standard. It
supports higher rates, enhanced security, and choice of Layer 2
protocol (ATM, GEM, and Ethernet). In actuality, ATM has not
been implemented.
IEEE 802.3ah
o EPON or GEPON (Ethernet PON) is an IEEE/EFM standard
for using Ethernet for packet data.
IEEE 802.3av
o 10GEPON (10 Gigabit Ethernet PON) is an IEEE Task Force
for 10Gbps backwards compatible with 802.3ah EPON.
10GigEPON will likely be based on Wave Division Multiplexing
(WDM) technology

PCB DESIGNING

21

Usually an electronics or electrical engineer designs the circuit, and a layout

specialist designs the PCB. There are numerous techniques and standards
used to design a PCB that is easy to manufacture and yet small and
inexpensive.
Most PCBs have between one and twenty conductive layers laminated
together in a sandwich with insulating plastic. PCBs with more than two
layers help construct complex or dense circuits. They are not always used
because they are more expensive, and the inner layers are more difficult to
inspect and repair.
In more complex PCBs, two or more of the layers are dedicated to
providing ground and power. These ground planes and power planes
distribute power well. They also prevent radio waves from antennas
unintentionally formed by tracks. These planes are rectangular sheets of foil
that occupy entire layers.They distribute electrical power and heat better
than narrow traces. Sometimes solid metal PCBs with thin layers of
insulation are used. The power electronic substrate carries away waste heat
when air cooling is impossible.
The width and spacing of conductors (or "traces") on a PCB is very
important. If the traces are too close, solder can short adjacent traces, and
the PCB will be difficult to construct or repair. If too far apart, the PCB may
be too large and expensive. When a PCB carries high frequencies, traces
22

may need to be exact widths and lengths to control the characteristic

impedance of the trace.
Removing large areas of copper wastes increases pollution. Also, a PCB
etches more consistently and tends to resist warping if all regions have the
same average ratio of copper to bare board. Therefore, designers may widen
connectors, leave unconnected copper in place, or cover large areas of what
would otherwise be bare board with arrays of small, electrically isolated
copper diamonds or squares.
Most PCBs have alignment marks (called fiducials) and tooling holes to
align layers. These permit the PCB to be mounted in equipment that
automatically places and solders components. Some designs also have
quality control patterns to measure soldering and etching processes.
Layers may be connected together through drilled holes called vias. Either
the holes are electroplated or small rivets are inserted. High-density PCBs
may have blind vias, which are visible only on one surface, or buried vias,
which are visible on neither, but these are expensive to build and difficult or
impossible to inspect after manufacture. Good designers minimize the
number of vias to reduce the cost of drilling. A solder mask is a plastic layer
that resists wetting by solder. It also protects the outside conductors layers
from abrasion and corrosion. Without the solder mask, the fiberglassreinforced epoxy appears a translucent off-white. Solder masks are usually
green, but they may be found in other colors.
A silkscreen legend on the top or bottom surface of the board provides
readable information about component part numbers and placement. New
technology allows for the component designators to be printed directly onto
the board surface, saving time and money by doing away with silkscreens.
This is sometimes done by a special inkjet printer. Radio transmitters and
radio receivers are difficult to design. PCB designers working on them must
minimize parasitic effects due to layout of components, or take them into
account with a general model and use simulation software such as SPICE.

PCB LAYOUT BASIC GUIDELINES:

23

it is often a good idea to have made a prototype circuit using point-topoint construction or wire wrap, as you will have solved certain basic
issues to do with component selection:
Consider physical constraints on the assembled board's size and heat
dissipation requirements; choose your heat sinks if needed.
Consider carefully the physical size of the components you are laying
out; the circuit schematic doesn't tell you this.
How will the board connect to its power source? What other connectors
will be required (e.g: signal inputs, outputs)?
Use construction paper and a pencil and sketch the board in its actual
size; or use component layout software that includes information about
the component outlines.
Decide appropriate widths for each of the signal traces; this depends on
the current each trace is expected to carry.
Decide whether you will have a single-layer board, 2-layer, or multilayer based on the circuit complexity and fabrication costs.
Begin by placing component outlines, then by placing signal traces; leave
a little room around each for tolerances.
for a single layer board, spend more effort to avoid having traces cross
each other; play with component placement or run traces underneath
components; sometimes a jumper wire is needed.
In 2-layer and multilayer boards simply run the traces on different layers,
and use plated-through holes to jump from one layer to another.
If your PWB design software has a DRC (design rule check), use it.

STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF A PCB DESIGN

1.The Schematic
Before you even begin to lay out your PCB, you MUST have a complete
and accurate schematic diagram. If your schematic is neat, logical and
clearly laid out, then it really does make your PCB design job a lot easier.
Good practice will have signals flowing from inputs at the left to outputs
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on the right. With electrically important sections drawn correctly, the way
the designer would like them to be laid out on the PCB.
2.Imperial and Metric
The first thing to know about PCB design is what measurement units are
used and their common terminologies.A thou is 1/1000th of an inch,
and is universally used and recognized by PCB designers and
manufacturers everywhere. mil is the same as 1 thou, and is NOT to be
confused with the millimeter (mm), which is often spoken the same as
mil. The term mil comes from 1 thou being equal to 1 mili inch.
100 thou (0.1 inch) = 2.54mm, and 200 thou (0.2 inch) = 5.08mm etc
3.Working to Grids
The second major rule of PCB design is to lay out your board on a fixed
grid. This is called a snap grid. 100 thou is a standard placement grid for
very basic through hole work, with 50 thou being a standard for general
tracking work, like running tracks between through hole pads. For even
finer work you may use a 25 thou snap grid or even lower.
4.Working from the top
PCB design is always done looking from the top of your board. This is
how all the PCB packages work. The only time you will look at your
board from the bottom is for manufacturing or checking purposes. This
through the board method means that you will have to get used to
reading text on the bottom layers as a mirror image, get used to it!

5.Tracks
There is no recommended standard for track sizes. What size track you
use will depend upon (in order of importance) the electrical requirements
of the design, the routing space and clearance you have available, and
your own personal preference. Every design will have a different set of
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electrical requirements which can vary between tracks on the board. All
but basic non-critical designs will require a mixture of track sizes. As a
general rule though, the bigger the track width, the better. Bigger tracks
have lower DC resistance, lower inductance, can be easier and cheaper
for the manufacturer to etch, and are easier to inspect and rework.
6.Pads
Pad sizes, shapes and dimensions will depend not only upon the
component you are using, but also the manufacturing process used to
assemble the board, among other things. There are a whole slew of
standards and theories behind pad sizes and layouts.Your PCB package
should come with a set of basic component libraries that will get you
started. There is an important parameter known as the pad/hole ratio.
This is the ratio of the pad size to the hole size. As a simple rule of
thumb, the pad should be at least 1.8 times the diameter of the hole, or at
least 0.5mm larger.
7.Vias
Vias connect the tracks from one side of your board to another, by way of
a hole in your board. On all but cheap home made and low end
commercial prototypes, vias are made with electrically plated holes,
called Plated Through Holes (PTH). Plated through holes allow electrical
connection between different layers on your board. Pads and Vias are,
and should be, treated differently. You can globally edit them separately,
and do some more advanced things to be discussed later. So dont use a
pad in place of a via, and vice-versa.
Using a via to connect two layers is commonly called stitching.
8.Component Placement & Design
At this point it is a good idea to give you an idea of the basic steps
required to go about laying out a complete board:
Set your snap grid, visible grid, and default track/pad sizes.
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 Divide and place your components into functional building blocks

where possible.
Identify layout critical tracks on your circuit and route them first.
Place and route each building block separately, off the board.
Move completed building blocks into position on your main board.
Route the remaining signal and power connections between blocks.
Do a general tidy up of the board.
Do a Design Rule Check.

9.Basic Routing
Routing is the process of laying down tracks to connect components on
your board. An electrical connection between two or more pads is known
as a net.
Keep nets as short as possible..
Tracks should only have angles of 45 degrees. Avoid the use of right
angles, and under no circumstances use an angle greater than 90
degrees
Point to point tracking shouldnt be used because its ugly and not
very space efficient.
Enable your Electrical grid, which is sometimes referred to as a snap
to center or snap to nearest
Always take your track to the center of the pad. Use a single track, not
multiple tracks tacked together end to end
For high currents, use multiple vias when going between layers. This
will reduce your track impedance and improve the reliability
Keep things symmetrical.
Do not place vias under components.
Try and use through hole component legs to connect top tracks to
bottom tracks. This minimizes the number of vias
10.Finishing Touches
Once you have finished all your routing,There are a few last minute
checks and finishing touches you should do.
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 If you have thin tracks (<25 thou) then its nice to add a chamfer to
any T-junction, thus eliminating any 90 degree angles.
Minimizes the number of hole sizes.
Double check for correct hole sizes on all your components
Ensure that all your vias are identical, with the same pad and hole
sizes.
Check that there is adequate physical distance between all your
components.
11.Layer Alignment
When the PCB manufacturer makes your board, there will be alignment
tolerances on the artwork film for each layer. This includes track, plane,
silkscreen, solder mask, and drilling. If you dont allow for this in your
design, and make your tolerances too fine, you can end up in big trouble.
12.Netlists
A netlist is essentially a list of connections (nets) which correspond to
your schematic. It also contains the list of components, component
designators, component footprints and other information related to your
schematic.The netlist file can be generated by your schematic package.
Generating a netlist is also called schematic capture.Your PCB package
can then import this netlist file and do many things. It can automatically
load all the required components onto your blank board. It can also
assign a net name to each of your component pins. With nets assigned
to your PCB components, it is now possible to Auto Route, do Design
Rule Checking, and display component connectivity. This is the
fundamental concept behind modern Schematic and PCB CAD packages.

13.Design Rule Checking

Design Rule Checking (DRC) allows you to automatically check your
PCB design for connectivity, clearance, and other manufacturing errors..
Examples of what you can check with a DRC are:
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 Circuit connectivity. It checks that every track on your board matches

the connectivity of your schematic.
Electrical clearance. You can check the clearance between tracks,
pads, and components.
Manufacturing tolerances like min/max hole sizes, track widths, via
widths, annulus sizes, and short circuits.
14.Good Grounding
Grounding is fundamental to the operation of many circuits. There are
several grounding techniques which are always good practices to
incorporate into any design.
The more copper you have in your ground path, the lower the
impedance
Always dedicate one of your planes to ground on multi-layer boards.
Make it the layer closest to the top layer.
Run separate ground paths for critical parts of your circuit, back to the
main filter capacitor
If using a ground plane, utilize split plane techniques to give
effective star grounding.
Stitch required points straight through to your ground plane, dont
use any more track length than you need.
Use multiple vias to decrease your trace impedance to ground.
.
15.Good Bypassing
Active components and points in your circuit which draw significant
switching current should always be bypassed. This is to smooth out the
power rail going to a particular device. Bypassing is using a capacitor
across your power rails as physically and electrically close to the desired
component or point in your circuit as possible. When bypassing, you
CANNOT replace multiple capacitors with one single capacitor, it
defeats the entire purpose of bypassing!
16.Soldering
There are three basic soldering techniques - hand, wave, and reflow.
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 Hand soldering is the traditional method typically used for prototypes

and small production runs
Wave soldering is a common process used for surface mount and
through hole production soldering. It involves passing the entire board
over a molten bath of solder.
Reflow soldering is the latest technique and is suitable for all surface
mount components. The blank board is first coated with a mask of
solder paste over the pads.Then each component is placed. The entire
board is then loaded into an infrared or nitrogen oven and baked. The
solder paste melts on the pads and component leads to make the joint.
17.Electrical Testing
Finished PCB is checked for electrical continuity and shorts at the time
of manufacture. This is done with a automated flying probe test
machine.It checks that the continuity of the tracks matches your PCB
file.It is mandatory for multi-layer boards. If you have a manufacturing
error on one of your inner layers it can be very difficult to fix.
18.Signature
Like any work of art, no board is complete without adding your name or
signature to it! A signature can be placed on any of the copper layers, or
on the component overlay.

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