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High speed printed circuit boards have grown both in terms of popularity and manufacturing. These PCBs are extremely complex and utilize various integrated components. So it may not be surprising to hear that such PCB products do face challenges when it comes to PCB assembly. Up-to-date knowledge of the problems faced by high speed PCBs can prove to be beneficial in terms of PCB manufacturing and assembly.

High Speed PCB Assembly Problems

There are many factors that can contribute to the failing of a high speed PCB. Some of the reasons are given below.

• Mixed Material Boards: High speed PCBs usually utilize boards made with a combination of 2 or 3 materials. It has been found that while the boards may pass at general spectrum speeds, they may fail at extremely high speed applications. They may even pass all general testing such as flying probe and functional tests. To prevent this, these boards need to be processed using special pre-preg and heat treatment procedures.
• PCB Components: The ICs and other components used in high speed PCBs are manufactured to exacting specifications. Components such as pins and chips are designed to be assembled only onto specific parts of the board or pad. If these are used in an incorrect manner, it can lead to problems in the PCB.
• FPGAs: If a high speed PCB is running at a lesser speed, chances are the FPGA chips are responsible for it. The reason for this is simple. The FPGA chips are designed with extremely fine geometries so that many Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) can be packed onto the silicon. These transistors create numerous functions to achieve to the high speed and performance. The downside is that the million functions also cause the chip to heat up. If there is no dissipation procedure, the chip will fail prematurely.

An understanding of the common problems can help a company be prepared for them during the PCB assembly process.

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The success of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) prototyping and manufacturing takes place mainly due to the design process. The PCB layout and design process is essential as that allows for the creation of an error-free prototype and a smooth manufacturing process. But what sort of tools are utilized to accomplish the design and layout process? Let’s find out.

The Basic PCB Design and Layout Process

Before we get down to the tools, it is important to have a clear idea of the basic PCB design process.

• Schematic design creation
• Schematic design capture
• Determination of PCB template, card dimensions, heat sinks, and fixed components
• Deciding on PCB stack layers
• Line impedance determination
• Component placement
• Signal traces routing
• Gerber file generation

PCB Design Tools and Software

There are a variety of tools and software that are used to complete this process precisely and efficiently.

• Electronic Design Automation Tool (ECAD): This is a category of design tools that is used for schematic design capture. They work together in modular design flows to produce design descriptions. Some of the most popular tools that come within this category are mentioned below.
  • ORCAD: This software is used by the design engineers to create the electronic schematics and prints.
  • EAGLE: Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor or EAGLE is a solution driven PCB design program. It contains schematic capture editor, PCB layout editor, auto router, and Bill of Materials Tools (BOM).
  • PADS: This is a layout tool that comprises schematic design, advanced analysis, and ECAD to MCAD collaboration.

These and other types of software allow engineers to create detailed and error-free PCB designs.

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Prototyping is essential to any company that wishes to create its own line of branded products. It is also an important process for PCB companies that design new PCBs for their clients. PCB prototyping is important because it is one of the processes that affects the company’s bottom line.

There is a debate that goes on in the industry whether PCB prototyping should be kept in-house or whether it should be outsourced to a contractor. Earlier, the answer would have been mostly the latter. However, times are changing. Today, PCB manufacturers prefer opting for in-house prototyping.

Why In-house Prototyping is Better

There are a few reasons why in-house prototyping is being preferred in today’s markets.

• Costs: The biggest argument for outsourcing work is that the costs are considerably less. It is true that investing in an in-house prototyping machine requires a considerable amount. However, over time, the amount that you will pay to an outside contractor for his services may be considerably higher than the amount you would have invested in the machine.

• Easier to Make Changes in Prototype Design: These days, prototype designs are created using computer aided design programs. While a contractor may have the latest software, people tend to forget that a software cannot really predict the behavior of the prototype, once it is made. The prototype may showcase different signals or different reactions to applications with varying temperatures. Such problems can easily be taken care of by an in-house prototyping team.

• Possibility of Alternative Designs: With an in-house prototyping team, it becomes easier to come up with numerous prototype designs. Design engineers can experiment and provide variations in terms of materials, weight, performance, etc. This task would be quite expensive if given to an outside contractor.

• Fixing Current Designs: No outside contractor is perfect. There is always a possibility of the contractor making a mistake in the prototype design. While this may mean more work for the in-house designers, they will also have the freedom to make changes that they see fit so that the prototype will meet expectations.

These are some of the reasons why prototyping is being given first preference as compared to outsourcing.

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An electrical engineer requires the usage of PCB layout software after the stage when he finishes designing and prototyping a PCB project. The software is used in order to test, inspect and construct a circuit before finally engraving the same into a circuit board.

The various benefits of using PCB layout software

An electrical engineer or a PCB designer basically depends upon PCB layout software if he needs to conduct few tasks. This include addition and removal of circuit components, changing or deviation of voltages and resistance of various parts of the PCBs, altering circuit paths and creating a working model of the PCB before finalizing on the design.It is crucial to create an efficient and intelligent PCB design that would be in sync with the circuit schematics, and this is where PCB layout software plays an important role.

The engineers and designers are hence expected to utilize this software to imitate the functions of a schematic design, so that to create a product that will be capable of carrying out the functions designed in the original schematic. PCB layout software are also used to detect anomalies and design irregularities, minor structural flaws, inconsistencies and trouble areas that may lead to poorly-designed products.

Mostly, PCB layout software comes with preset and pre-arranged electrical components and pre-configured tests to be adapted into design projects by the engineers, depending upon their individual software suite selected for a specific project. Although it is not a difficult task to use PCB layout software, however, learning about the individual software programs may need some time investment.

How do these PCB layout software work?

Ideally, the electrical engineers can simply suggest the circuit components as the software is capable of automatically place and route them properly on the design. At certain cases, engineers may require to do minor editions to achieve a particular desirable effect if they wish to create experimental circuitry designs.

The design that is created with the help of the PCB layout software is printed either onto the copper clad circuit board or onto a specially designed trace sheet. Next, the PCB is then soaked in an etching solution to wash off the unwanted conductor from the board. This leaves just the final PCB circuit design.

This specific process has the benefit of eliminating the lengthy trial and error testing process while designing the experimental circuits. Apart from these benefits, some highly technical PCB layout software are also capable of alerting the users about existing flaws, dangerous configurations and errors in the design before they are finally etched in the circuit boards.

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Printed circuit boards are considered to be one of the most important elements of electronic devices as PCBs must perform precisely to make the electronic device work with accuracy and efficiency. Printed circuit boards direct and regulate the transition of electronic current through the laminated sheets and etched copper pathways, which in turn allow the electronic devices to operate accurately. The necessity of PCB testing is evident by the fact that even the slightest of fault or error in any of the PCB components can cause to major quality issue in the device.

Importance and Relevance of PCB testing

PCB testing can be defined as the final step of the manufacturing process wherein the PCBs are tested against any manufacturing, operational or functional defects, errors or loopholes. It is hence very crucial for a customer to choose a PCB manufacturing company that provides an extensive range of testing and inspection services that will ensure highest quality and efficiency of the PCB sets.

PCB designs can be simple or complex, rigid or flexible, single-sided or double-sided, depending upon the kind of operation and type of application in varied industrial sectors. Immaculate PCB testing and inspection process is crucial to ensure that the final products would work with efficiency, reliability and high-quality on introduction to the market. Apt and complete PCB testing process aims at delivering high quality products with no loopholes, reducing net fabrication costs and increasing customers’ business revenues.

In other cases, PCB testing is capable to discover certain major latent quality and performance issues in PCB sets, the production and market introduction of which can ruin the brand name and image.

What are the PCB components that require proper testing?

There are certain complex electrical elements that a PCB consists of, which include resistors, diodes, capacitors, fuses and transistors. It is important for a PCB to be tested to make sure that each of these components is working efficiently and without any irregularity.

Resistors: These are tiny electronic elements in the PCBs with two terminals that help in transmitting electric current, producing voltage.

Capacitors: This element store energy in the form of electrostatic field and is made of an insulating material held between 2 conductive plates.

Diodes: This device makes the electric current flow in one direction and is made of semi-conductive material placed between 2 terminals

When it comes to PCB testing, trust only American Progressive Circuits, Inc. for their extraordinary PCB manufacturing process.

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Expenditure is one of the most important factors when it comes to printed circuit board manufacturing. It is this important factor that led to the outsourcing boom in the PCB industry. Lately, there have been some immense changes taking place in the industry worldwide. These changes are directly related to cost competitiveness and the creation of quality enhanced products.

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consultant firm, recently released research on dramatic changes taking place worldwide in terms of global PCB manufacturing cost competitiveness. According to the research, perception regarding nations that manufacture PCBs (both low and high cost) has changed radically, thanks to changes in global economies, labor, and infrastructure.

Today, 6 out of 10 low cost manufacturing countries are in Asia. The rest are dispersed in the United States and Eastern Europe. While China was known to be the most popular destination, today, Mexico has been found to have much lower manufacturing costs. When studying Western Europe, the United Kingdom was found to be the country with the lowest manufacturing costs.

The United States and Eastern Europe are on par with each other. The manufacturing cost structure in Australia has been found to be 25 to 30% higher than the US. The biggest surprise is that Brazil has been found to have the highest manufacturing costs in South America. The reason for these changes is that PCB manufacturing organizations are beginning to rethink their manufacturing networks around the world as countries are trying to establish strong and stable economic bases.

So what is the bottom line here? The age old perception that some countries can be demarcated as low cost and others as high cost is quickly dissolving. For example, while the US may have been previously seen as a high cost nation; the research shows that overall costs in the US is 25% less than any of the top 10 global goods exporting countries. The only exception to this case is China.

The main feather in the cap for US’ success is energy. Rich but low cost energy sources are being supported by a stable economy and a knowledgeable and diligent work force. The combination of these three factors results in a huge low cost market for printed circuit board manufacturing.

One can presume that the American PCB manufacturing industry can see a huge boom in the near future. Bob Dylan perfectly summed up this current situation when he sang, “Oh the times they are a-changing.”

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The increasing level of automation in PCB manufacturing has led to the production of extremely fine pitch devices. Surface Mount Technology (SMT) design has been a huge catalyst for this result. Nonetheless, every PCB manufacturing process is bound to come across some limitations in terms of prototyping, mechanics, or manufacturing. For this reason, it is always important to ensure that certain best practices be maintained during the PCB design and manufacturing processes.

SMT Best Practices

The best practices given below are used to ensure that a SMT device can be manufactured.

• Avoid Natural Bridges: Natural bridges are straight tracks between leads that create a trace over which the solder can run. This result can be seen as a defect during inspection, and may cause delays in the production process. This can be avoided by designing tracks from the ends of the pads instead of linear connections.

• Weight and Thermal Balance: It is important to balance the weight of the PCB and thermal mass of the leads. These problems take place when a double sided board does not have enough support, and when the lead chip carrier creates too much heat within the PCB. Clear edges for stiffeners can help to provide support to the PCB and maintain its weight. Titanium stiffeners are a good choice as they provide strength and stability. For thermal imbalances, solder spheres can be attached between the IC and the PCB.

• Vias and BGAs: Vias that occur under Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs) should always be masked to ensure that no solder from the balls leak onto the vias, creating a defect. Also, vias should be avoided in pads as the solder can run down the via. This can lead to difficult reworking and loss of control over the volume of the solder joint.

• Plating: Appropriate plating can prevent the occurrence of open circuits and open leads. Plating also helps to maintain a flat finish on the PCB when it comes to materials such as tin finishes and gold plating.

• Damming: Use solder mask dams to minimize solder bridging between pads. These are extremely important to fine pitch devices. The reason is that a PCB without solder dams can increase the risk of short circuiting. Generally, the minimum size of the dams should be .003″ between leads.

These best practices can help to ensure that all PCBs can be easily manufactured and marketed. For more Information about SMT Design. Please Click Here.

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Before going ahead and placing order for a high volume PCB for the next circuit design, it is wise on the part of electronic manufacturers and businesses to first order a prototype or a small batch of PCB. The purpose behind doing so is to make those prototypes or samples go through testing in order to detect any potential errors which may hinder or interrupt the production during the final stage.

This is what the PCB prototype method of manufacturing is all about. It tests the product beforehand to give the makers an assurance that they won’t be out of huge finances, in case something goes wrong during final phase of production and manufacturing. Any technical trouble or problems with the schematics during the end phase can cost huge finances, especially if the assembly is going to take place in-house.  That is why companies prefer to outsource prototyping to specialized companies before ordering larger volumes of circuit boards.

Apart from saving finances, the prototypes offer benefits of ensuring that the product is a tangible one by showing how exactly the PCB is going to function and look like at the final stage. This way, if the client or the production company feels that it is not something most efficient, then changes in the design can be introduced. This way, the clients can save themselves from wasting money into changing the design and schematics.

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In today’s time, electronic manufacturing companies prefer outsourcing the designing of PCB. There are many reasons to support this context, which are as follows:

• Companies save on finances- If they don’t outsource, they would have to set up a research and development department and hire designing professionals for the same.
• The service providers are professionals with years of experience in surface mount PCB design services. Therefore, the electronic company need not require understanding the norms, standards and laws associated with this area of work.
• Designing samples go through various testing procedures that helps to make it sound feasible and of best quality standard.
• Time utilized by electronic company in designing and preparing of PCB’s gets saved, as right from gathering of material, designing and testing of PCB all things are carried out by the outsourced PCB manufacturing company.
• The product is checked thoroughly before it is sent to the electronic company. This helps to ensure client about the feasibility of product.

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