Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1500943
16 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JUNE 2023 Remember: We are all just plumbers using very leaky water pipes. We design three- dimensional spaces for managing EM field movement. is is not rocket science. What problem should PCB designers be more aware of? Engineering teams worldwide face increas- ingly difficult challenges in designing elec- tronic products and achieving good signal integrity and compliance. e status quo had become to expect the design to fail EMC test- ing, and not just once, but three, four, maybe even five times. Each time the design is sent to be retested, there is little confidence in success. is cycle is expensive in both the time it takes to redesign the product and the cost of expe- diting fabricating the new PCB and assembly. Add this to the cost of retesting the product, and the numbers add up very quickly. is expense and delay in product certifica- tion are not in the budget or the schedule. e expense not only directly affects the bottom line of the electronics supply company, but also affects the customers waiting for the prod- uct. Instead of designing the next big thing, teams are trying to fix the current one. Billions of dollars are lost each year designing products that most likely will not work. e key here is to remember that we all are involved with developing products that generate, control, and consume electromagnetic field energy. Following the rules for managing this energy will result in success. Scott Miller Freedom CAD Services What are the problems, concerns, or issues that PCB layout designers should be more aware of? e answers can vary widely depending upon the perspective of the person answering. It's assumed that the layout designer should have a strong command of the soware and its capabilities, and the questions are more aimed at technical aspects that can make or break a design. If you ask a design engineer, you are likely to hear items such as: • PCB designers need to be very detail ori- ented. Pay close attention to the schemat- ics. Designers should be aware of the small details that can oen get missed. It's a good practice to have a checklist to ensure that you're consistently covering all the bases. • Placement is the one of the most important steps in the PCB design process. Special care needs to be expended at the placement stage to save time and effort on the rest of the design. • Pull the datasheets of the key components and follow their recommendations when you can, especially for placement. Guessing where to place parts can impact the design's integrity. • Creating a PCB layout requires the PCB designer to be very detailed oriented. Designers should be more aware of the small details that oen get missed. As a designer, you should have your own checklist. If you design a board and there is a problem, the Scott Miller