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JULY 2025 I DESIGN007 MAGAZINE 19 been thoroughly engineered, resolved, and reviewed to bal- ance in the positive direction. What are the biggest chal- lenges to setting PCB design constraints? The biggest challenge these days with using constraint man- agement for engineering your PCB design is the very idea of making the decision to use con- straint management. In the olden days, we knew we could use 12-mil traces and 50/20 vias, all spaced at least 5 or 10 mils from each other, and we would meet fabrication requirements. Those days are long gone, and the leaders of the board design sec- tion at engineering companies must train their board design engineers to embrace the use of constraint management tech- niques and managed settings. The next big challenge is to get everyone trained on the type of constraints needed for all board type designs, then apply as nec- essary. It is as easy as that. Lots of planning and hard work, but once done, moving forward is an easy path to engineering board designs. Which IPC standards or docu- ments are useful in setting constraints? There are two IPC standards that help with defining guide- lines, specifications, and requirements which help con- strain settings for various rout- ing aspects, trace width, clear- ances of routing, component placement, material types/selec- tions, and pad patterns: IPS- " " Constraint management has become the biggest engineering methodology to utilize and set into your PCB designs so you can engineer your designs. 2221 and IPC-2222, and IPC- 7351. One must understand that everything about a PCB board design is a constraint and that many constraints must be man- aged to perfection. Design engi- neering constraints can be mov- ing targets and also a saving grace. How you place compo- nents, utilize DFM methodolo- gies, and how it also centers around constraint methodolo- gies is central to solid design engineering practices that make a big difference in eliminating manufacturing, cost, and sched- ule delays. The Global Electronics Associa- tion (formerly IPC) is setting up a database of DFM profiles for participating fabricators, which would provide much of the info needed by designers when set- ting their constraints. Have you used any of these DFM profiles? I have not used any of these DFM profiles. Based on what I engineer in my current PCB designs, I am leaning more toward my own custom con- straint management ideals and tools, as well as making my own custom DFM profiles. But the Association's database of DFM profiles is a fantastic idea, pro- viding advanced guidelines and DFM methodologies from partic- ipating fabricators. As advanced as the world of PCB design is now, and is likely to keep changing every month, having a good set of starting guidelines to help with constraints and DFM ideals is a solid way to get after those designs. Is there anything else you'd like to add? What else is there to say? Con- straint management has become the biggest engineering method- ology to utilize and set into your PCB designs so you can engi- neer your designs. PCB board design is no longer just placing parts, routing traces and vias, and connecting all the nets. PCB board design is now an engi- neering process and one of the fastest-moving career choices in the engineering world. Learn constraint management and get ahead of your designs. For those of you who want to know and learn more, I will be presenting two Global Electronics Associa- tion courses later this year, one on model-based PCB design and the other on constraint manage- ment. Visit electronics.org for more information. Thanks for your time, Fil. Thanks, Andy. DESIGN007