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86 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2020 When you focus on design as an opportu- nity to be creative, rather than a task standing between you and production, you put yourself in a position to better fulfill the promise of in- novation. Let's start with components. The placement and use of components aren't just pragmatic; there is also an element of creativity in their use. There is no single right way to place them, but there is something unspoken about the el- egance and aesthetic beauty of well-arranged components. It's important to remember, and this is where "The Matrix's" rules cannot be broken, how you orient and organize compo- nents will heavily influence the manufactur- ability of design and, ultimately, the function- ality of your finished board (Figure 1). Pro Design Tips: • Orient similar components to facilitate efficient and error-free soldering • Do not place components on the solder side of a board that would sit behind through-hole components; your assembly shop will tell you how much room they need • Organize through-hole and surface-mount components to minimize assembly steps • Avoid components that will give you heat- ing issues when the board is in use or take steps to control or remove that heat Next, consider routing. Almost every piece of PCB design software has an auto-router fea- ture that can be useful in a lot of situations, but when you're designing something brand new, you can benefit from taking over the con- trols yourself. Leave the auto-router in charge, and the results can be asymmetrical, even look and feel messy. These configurations are not eas- ily manufactured and can be lacking when it comes to performance. It's like a pilot who doesn't know the destination of the flight. Use this tool as a complement to your routing ef- forts—not a replacement for you. If you have time, hand route the entire de- sign; it will look more professional, work more efficiently, and be easier to update if you must rework a section of the board. If you cannot avoid having to auto-route some of the board, hand route the critical traces yourself, and then auto route the remaining ones. In this ca- pacity, the auto-router can help with sched- ule compression while also making the bulk of your non-critical connections. There will be some messy routing and too many vias— plus editing will be harder down the road— but you'll have something to work with much sooner. Innovation increasingly goes hand in hand with PCBs getting smaller. A multilayered PCB can offer requisite functionality if it occupies a small space in your device. If you have limited or no experience with multilayer board design, the prospect of an attempt can be daunting. Multilayer boards don't have to be a hassle. Think of them as multiple single-layer boards stacked together. Pro Design Tips: • Become familiar with multilayer design tips and guidelines provided with your CAD tool • Familiarize yourself with components, tolerances, and requirements unique to multilayer PCBs • Make sure your design tool library is set up for multilayer boards • Know your manufacturer's requirements for multilayer designs • Stay away from blind and buried vias unless you really need them • Don't hesitate to ask for help Figure 1: Components.