PCB design services must be provided by skilled professionals with enough experience to come up with the optimum physical layout for a client's printed circuit board. They must have the resources and capability to deploy the latest CAD software and other PCB design tools to handle complex designs and all kinds of boards. Generally speaking, the designing process has the same multiple stages irrespective of the type of board and the layout, and it all begins with schematic captures.
At this point, it would be appropriate to note that the client is usually required to provide the designer with information about at least three basic aspects. One is the aforementioned schematic, although it may also be provided by the client as a netlist file. The netlist is simply a file that contains all the connectivity information for the design, along with descriptions of components used.
The client also has to provide the BOM (bill of materials) that lists all the components to be used and their footprints, although some designers also offer assistance with component footprint capture. Then there's also the board outline that must be provided. The outline, schematic/netlist and the BOM together constitute all the necessary information that will be used for designing the PCB.
There are many intermediate techniques used in several stages that build on the schematic or netlist. These functions include things such as library development, signal integrity checks, stress analysis, thermal simulation and EMI checking. All this leads up to the generation of the gerber file. This is the most commonly used format used for transferring complete PCB images ready for manufacturing.
Designers must be able to work on complex solutions involving everything from digital and analog to RF circuits and mixed PCBs. The board can be designed as per specifications as a single or double sided board, or a multi-layered one. The size is also likely to vary, and so will other factors such as component quantities and pin densities.
Another important thing that has to be decided in the designing stage is about the characteristics of the board. The most critical thing is deciding the technique used for creating traces and mounting components. The most widely used solution is surface-mount technology.
Using this surface-mount technique, the end caps are directly soldered now on the same side of the board. This new method has almost completely replaced the earlier through-hole boards. In these older boards, leads were inserted from one side of the board and soldered onto traces on the other side.
Designing new boards is just one part of the services offered by PCB designers. They may also be asked to perform other functions such as evaluate designs, along with the components used and their footprints. Clients sometimes ask them to assist with procurement of prototypes and check for availability and pricing information against the BOM contents.
There may, in fact, be other PCB design services required even after delivery of the end product. Customers often need to do minor changes to the design right away and on an ongoing basis, and reorders are also on the cards. Designers are sometimes asked to reverse engineer the process, starting with gerber files. Coming up with a netlist or schematic from a gerber file helps the client rebuild the circuit to implement large-scale changes.
At this point, it would be appropriate to note that the client is usually required to provide the designer with information about at least three basic aspects. One is the aforementioned schematic, although it may also be provided by the client as a netlist file. The netlist is simply a file that contains all the connectivity information for the design, along with descriptions of components used.
The client also has to provide the BOM (bill of materials) that lists all the components to be used and their footprints, although some designers also offer assistance with component footprint capture. Then there's also the board outline that must be provided. The outline, schematic/netlist and the BOM together constitute all the necessary information that will be used for designing the PCB.
There are many intermediate techniques used in several stages that build on the schematic or netlist. These functions include things such as library development, signal integrity checks, stress analysis, thermal simulation and EMI checking. All this leads up to the generation of the gerber file. This is the most commonly used format used for transferring complete PCB images ready for manufacturing.
Designers must be able to work on complex solutions involving everything from digital and analog to RF circuits and mixed PCBs. The board can be designed as per specifications as a single or double sided board, or a multi-layered one. The size is also likely to vary, and so will other factors such as component quantities and pin densities.
Another important thing that has to be decided in the designing stage is about the characteristics of the board. The most critical thing is deciding the technique used for creating traces and mounting components. The most widely used solution is surface-mount technology.
Using this surface-mount technique, the end caps are directly soldered now on the same side of the board. This new method has almost completely replaced the earlier through-hole boards. In these older boards, leads were inserted from one side of the board and soldered onto traces on the other side.
Designing new boards is just one part of the services offered by PCB designers. They may also be asked to perform other functions such as evaluate designs, along with the components used and their footprints. Clients sometimes ask them to assist with procurement of prototypes and check for availability and pricing information against the BOM contents.
There may, in fact, be other PCB design services required even after delivery of the end product. Customers often need to do minor changes to the design right away and on an ongoing basis, and reorders are also on the cards. Designers are sometimes asked to reverse engineer the process, starting with gerber files. Coming up with a netlist or schematic from a gerber file helps the client rebuild the circuit to implement large-scale changes.
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