A printed circuit board (PCB) mechanically supports and electrically connects electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other features etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto and/or between sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. Components are generally soldered onto the PCB to both electrically connect and mechanically fasten them to it. Printed circuit boards are used in all but the simplest electronic products. They are also used in some electrical products, such as passive switch boxes.
Alternatives to PCBs include wire wrap and point-to-point construction, both once popular but now rarely used. PCBs require additional design effort to lay out the circuit, but manufacturing and assembly can be automated. Electronic computer-aided design software is available to do much of the work of layout. Mass-producing circuits with PCBs is cheaper and faster than with other wiring methods, as components are mounted and wired in one operation. Large numbers of PCBs can be fabricated at the same time, and the layout only has to be done once. PCBs can also be made manually in small quantities, with reduced benefits.PCBs can be single-sided (one copper layer), double-sided (two copper layers on both sides of one substrate layer), or multi-layer (outer and inner layers of copper, alternating with layers of substrate). Multi-layer PCBs allow for much higher component density, because circuit traces on the inner layers would otherwise take up surface space between components. The rise in popularity of multilayer PCBs with more than two, and especially with more than four, copper planes was concurrent with the adoption of surface mount technology. However, multilayer PCBs make repair, analysis, and field modification of circuits much more difficult and usually impractical.
The world market for bare PCBs exceeded $60.2 billion in 2014 and is estimated to reach $79 billion by 2024.
Hello everyone, I am working on a very low cost, small and basic vending machine ($300) with wooden cabinet for small neighborhood stores. As you may know, it is necessary to properly protect the components to prevent users from trying to steal money or damage the components. The PCB has a TFT...
Into a project I am working is use 12Vdc SMPS to power an audio amplifier and some more components. We have no “noise” on that stage.
Then I use a step down converter to convert the 12V to 5V and power a mic preamplifier (Respeaker – usb Mic array) and a development board. There is a lot of...
I am designing a board which will have relatively high current. The options are to use heavier copper (4 oz), use two layers (2 oz), or 4 layers (1 oz).
Are there any benefits to using one configuration over the others?
Hello, I am a beginner but I have a few board design experiences. Now, I want to learn Cadence, but I am confused. Can someone explain the difference between the following software?
-Allegro Design Entry L vs. Allegro Design Entry CIS
-OrCAD vs. Cadence
-Signal Integrity/Sigrity vs. Package...
Hi,
I am making a half bridge power amplifier that operates at 24 V.
The bridge has to supply around 3A current to an inductive load (10mH)
The bridge will be controlled using 20kHz PWM from a microcontroller.
I have put a ACS712 current sensor in the load path to give feedaback to the...
I'm designing a PCB with large exposed metallic pads for an experiment I'm running. The idea is I'll be able to solder directly and repeatedly onto the pads, so ideally the pads should be able to withstand multiple removals of solder.
Any thoughts on whether ENIG or bare copper would be...
I need help in selecting best pcb design software out of kicad, eagle and altium. I have to design pcb for my project. But I am having confusion in these software.
Hello,
what PCB Design program do you prefer? What's the reason for your choice?
I am freshman to PCB design and working on PADS from Mentor Graphics. But I have to admit it seems me a little bit unintuitive and I am unhappy with non-perfectly fitting transmission lines and prolonged editing...
Hi, I recently designed a PCB in EAGLE, and I got it manufactured and I had all the pieces Sufrace Mounted on it, put it in the oven, everything seems fine and dandy, but I already killed 3 LEDs because of some weird thing going on.
I have 5 different LEDs conneced to my circuit, the leds run...
Has anyone here have any experience on PCB Design / Fab / Assembly start up?
May I know how did it to?
What are the considerations?
What are the challenges involved?
To all practicing electrical engineers:
Is it part of your job to do PCB design, or are you only responsible for the schematics? A previous company I was with had separate PCB design and EE teams (lumped into HW group). At a different company, some EE's work on the circuit as well as the PCB...
I am going to be redesigning some PCBs for some legacy products and want to use the most up to date software I can to keep these designs easy to update in the future. The current design is in Theda and the CAD files are no longer available. I appreciate any input.
Hi there! I am thinking about learning to design PCB boards but I only know a little about PCB boards to begin with. So can any of you guys give me some resources that could help me in learning more about PCB design (i.e. using CAD tools). I think that before going about designing the schematic...
Alright, so I made my first PCB using CIRCAD '98. I went through it a couple times, found a couple overlapping traces, but I always miss something.
I was wondering if you guys wouldn't mind taking a look at it before I send it off to be printed.
PCB...