PCB design services require skilled designers who know how to come up with an optimum physical layout for a printed circuit board. They use cutting-edge CAD tools and other PCB design software that helps them create all kinds of board designs. No matter what sort of board and layout is required to be made, it's always going to be a multi-stage designing process starting with schematic capture.
Information about three key aspects of the project must be provided by the client to the designer. The schematic is obviously the most important thing. Note that it may also be in the netlist format. The netlist file contains the circuit's connectivity details and descriptions for the components.
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.
Starting from the netlist/schematic, the process is taken further using techniques including library development, signal integrity and EMI checks, stress analysis, thermal simulation, etc. The series of intermediate steps ends with the creation of the gerber file. This format is the preferred one used by the electronics industry to transfer finished PCB images that are ready to be used in the manufacturing stage.
The designer must be capable of coming up with solutions for complicated analog, digital, RF and mixed PCBs. Then there's also the type of board, which can be single-sided, double-sided or multi-layered. The board's size may vary, and so can the pin densities and component quantities.
There's also the question of deciding on the characteristics of the board. This refers to the method used to mount components and create the traces for the circuit. Surface-mount technology is the most popular technique used now for mounting components.
Components on boards that use this technology have their end caps soldered on the same side as the components themselves. This is hugely different from earlier techniques such as through-hole boards. The leads of components in such older boards were inserted through holes and soldered on to the 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.
Information about three key aspects of the project must be provided by the client to the designer. The schematic is obviously the most important thing. Note that it may also be in the netlist format. The netlist file contains the circuit's connectivity details and descriptions for the components.
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.
Starting from the netlist/schematic, the process is taken further using techniques including library development, signal integrity and EMI checks, stress analysis, thermal simulation, etc. The series of intermediate steps ends with the creation of the gerber file. This format is the preferred one used by the electronics industry to transfer finished PCB images that are ready to be used in the manufacturing stage.
The designer must be capable of coming up with solutions for complicated analog, digital, RF and mixed PCBs. Then there's also the type of board, which can be single-sided, double-sided or multi-layered. The board's size may vary, and so can the pin densities and component quantities.
There's also the question of deciding on the characteristics of the board. This refers to the method used to mount components and create the traces for the circuit. Surface-mount technology is the most popular technique used now for mounting components.
Components on boards that use this technology have their end caps soldered on the same side as the components themselves. This is hugely different from earlier techniques such as through-hole boards. The leads of components in such older boards were inserted through holes and soldered on to the 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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