Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1503357
16 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2023 drome, better known as FFS. Many users with FFS have expressed frustration with the dimin- ishing size of smartphone keyboards, making typing more challenging and prone to errors. e reduced surface area of the keyboard oen leads to unintentional typos, making it difficult for people (such as myself ) to type accurately. Nowhere is the tinier tech trend happening faster than with wearables and medical devices. e future market size and revenue growth of such a wearable technology market is expected to experience significant growth. Statista said the wearable devices' market size was around $27 billion in 2020 1 , and it is projected to reach over $74 billion by 2026. You see them every- where: fitness trackers, smart watches, glasses, rings, jewelry, clothing, and even shoes with embedded sensors monitoring every feasible detail about your life. It's today's version of the mood ring. (e younger genera- tion may have to Google that one.) S u c h d e v i c e s c o m e with unique engineering challenges, but the bigger problem is that wearable devices collect and transmit personal data. is is all done wirelessly by uploading your health metrics, location information, and even personal hab- its into the cloud. ere lies the risk that this data could be intercepted or misused, compro- mising an individual's privacy. ese wearable devices are vulnerable to security breaches and hacking. If not properly secured, per- sonal information or sensitive data stored on the device could be accessed by unauthorized individuals. Design Challenges and Considerations As we saw in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," size matters; the same goes for our PCBs. ings that were not typically a concern with a larger PCB design become significant problems when you reduce the board size. It is the equivalence of the backyard becoming the vast jungle. Serendipity refers to the occurrence of unex- pected and fortunate events or discoveries by chance, oen while searching for something unrelated. But a principle known as "designed serendipity" refers to the deliberate creation of conditions or environments that increase the likelihood of serendipitous discoveries or opportunities. at, in its basic form, is a PCB. We are creat- ing an environment where the forces of energy are controlled in a specific way. Over the years, I have changed how I look at PCB design. It's not just "connecting the dots." Instead, there is a fascinating interconnection of the various parts of the design. ere's an intricate balance between every part of the PCB, the FR-4, down to the grain on the copper. A change in one area impacts others dif- ferently. Like dominoes, the other areas are impacted when one is tipped over. Nothing has more of an impact than the size of the PCB. I want to walk through a scenario that explains what happens when we reduce the PCB size. Form, Fit, and Function As we know, wearable medical devices oen need to be compact, lightweight, and com- fortable. at requires designing PCBs that fit within the limited space available and conform to the shape of the wearable device. Getting everything into a device requires using unique solutions and miniaturization techniques, much like the old joke about squeezing 10 pounds of "stuff " into a five-pound bag. First, just using smaller components like 1005s for your discretes will not cut it. You As we saw in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," size matters; the same goes for our PCBs.