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Understanding Schematics The Not So Simple Foundation of A PCB Design Project

Understanding schematics is crucial for PCB design, as they serve to document complex circuits in an easily readable format. Standardization of schematic symbols is essential to avoid confusion among stakeholders, and effective communication of design intent is necessary for successful collaboration. The document emphasizes the importance of simplicity, consistency, and adherence to industry standards in schematic design to facilitate the PCB layout process.

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Benyamin Farzaneh Aghajarie
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19 views4 pages

Understanding Schematics The Not So Simple Foundation of A PCB Design Project

Understanding schematics is crucial for PCB design, as they serve to document complex circuits in an easily readable format. Standardization of schematic symbols is essential to avoid confusion among stakeholders, and effective communication of design intent is necessary for successful collaboration. The document emphasizes the importance of simplicity, consistency, and adherence to industry standards in schematic design to facilitate the PCB layout process.

Uploaded by

Benyamin Farzaneh Aghajarie
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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UNDERSTANDING

SCHEMATICS:
THE NOT-SO-SIMPLE FOUNDATION OF A PCB DESIGN PROJECT
Understanding Schematics

U
nderstanding key schematic design fundamentals is Examining this simple schematic, it is easy to see the surfer
of utmost importance when beginning a PCB design is going to leave his hut, go to the surf shop, come out with
project. This foundation of knowledge begins with what a surfboard, and head for the ocean to surf a wave. Now, ask
a schematic is and its main purpose. three different EE’s to draw a schematic depicting a surfer’s
day. As you can imagine, each EE will have his or her own
Creating a schematic diagram is a way for an engineer to take on what the beach hut looks like: does it have a back
quickly document the elements of a complex circuit in a door or a basement; is it solar powered or off grid? How an
way which can be easily read and understood. It allows the EE would depict a surf shop or surfboard schematic symbol
engineer to quickly document the elements of a complex is anyone’s guess. When it comes to depicting a wave, well,
circuit in a way that is easy-to-read and understand. A let’s just say EE’s can be very knowledgeable about waves
properly captured schematic helps the PCB design process by observed on an oscilloscope, but schematically-depicting a
hierarchically organizing the electrical areas of the evolving wave viewed from a beach will again yield a wide variety of
PCB design. interpretations, leading to confusion amongst those trying to
decipher these simple schematic drawings.
A complex schematic drawing package, or design database,
usually starts with a system-block diagram showing all the The electronics industry foresaw this issue many years ago
parts of the design on the first sheet. A completed schematic and as a result, organizations formed to standardize the
should look simple and basic to any viewing stakeholder, such way schematic symbols are depicted. ASME Y14.44-2008
as a field service tech or test engineer. However, stakeholders and IEEE 315-1975 define how to reference and annotate
such as those involved in design and layout leverage the vast components of electronic devices. Below is a quick list
amounts of data embedded within the ECAD schematic to of reference designators and their matching symbols. A
complete the design layout. complete list is on the IEEE standard’s website.

Standardization
Throughout the years, engineers have been using some
creative methods to capture schematics. Capture software
has very few input requirements and can be used by anyone
to make connections between almost anything. For instance,
ECAD tools today are so easy to use even a surfer with no
electrical knowledge could create a schematic symbol for a
beach hut, a surf shop, a surfboard, and a wave and tie them
together with connections to show other surfers what he
would be doing throughout the day:
Successful schematic capture is basically the process of unintentionally made schematic capture rather complicated
creating simple schematic symbols which contain simple by adding vast amounts of complex functionality. It is now
nodal contacts. These symbols represent simple part the responsibility of the EE to investigate these complexities,
configurations which are each documented on a page of the and understand them thoroughly, before implementing
manufacturer’s data sheet. them. As mentioned, a basic ECAD schematic library symbol
represents the connectivity of an electronic part within a
It is important to recognize the goal of capturing the circuit on the schematic. However, the explosion of ECAD tool
schematic—to define or “capture” as much data as required functionality has required electronics designers to take on
to be imported into the layout database, so it can be a much more holistic view of the selected part. Information
leveraged to create the physical aspects of the design. As beyond pin assignment and connectivity can now be
previously mentioned, the schematic is a simplified, symbolic embedded into the part symbol. Functionality can be added to
representation of what will materialize as a physical PCB the modern schematic symbol to access multiple PCB layout
assembly. footprints which contain 3D representations of the part—a
recent boon to the “mechatronics” movement which is
quickly emerging.

As we can see, the simple building blocks of a schematic


diagram are no longer simple due to advanced requirements
for functionality. They remain the building blocks, so it is more
important than ever to confirm every attribute entered is accurate.

Schematic Layout Best Practices


When creating schematic symbols, simplicity is key. There
are not many rules regarding the creation of a symbol in a
Default Values and Software schematic unless they are pre-defined in an internal company
Automation design specification. For EE’s working on a design team, it is
essential for a symbol to have some form of consistency.
There are many undesirable outcomes which can stem from
naively using defaulted values and blindly launching software Symbol creators are free to replicate the part connectivity
automation without understanding. If you were to replicate a information in the symbol almost any way they see fit, but for
simple schematic symbol hundreds of times in a schematic those without pre-existing company standards, there are a
which contains incomplete or misunderstood data, the results couple of basic guidelines which will help with consistency:
would be catastrophic.
• For bi-directional discrete parts, consistently orient the
So ECAD suppliers have made schematic capture easier, symbol within the editor either horizontally, with pin one
right? Well yes, but it’s not inherently simple. Over the years, to the left, or vertically with pin one at the top.
to help address complex design issues the ECAD industry has
Understanding Schematics

• For uni-directional part symbols, follow the same at the same level. A hierarchical design includes one or more
guidelines as mentioned for bi-directional, but carefully modules which can be opened to view the corresponding
consider information which may need to be added to schematic. These can be used for complex, multi-sheet
the symbol to prevent the part from being installed designs where the circuit is broken down into building blocks
backwards. and are typical when reusing parts of circuitry, like a power module.

Communicating Design Intent and Schematics: Anything but Simple


Design Tips
While a completed schematic should look basic to any
viewing stakeholder, the information included within them is
Effective communication of design intent is an essential
anything but simple. Stakeholders, such as those involved
part of the schematic design process. Since it will be used
in design and layout, leverage the vast amounts of data
by various stakeholders through the design cycle (review,
embedded within the ECAD schematic to complete the design
layout, testing, etc.) schematics need to be easy-to-read and
layout and influence decisions along the way.
understand. As mentioned previously, schematic readability
is subjective, so keep the end user in mind and organize it in a
Schematic diagrams can range from straightforward to
way that is anticipated by the reader.
complex based on the design being captured. However,
the methodology used to capture the schematic can be
Questions to ask yourself before you begin designing:
kept simple by following industry standards, implementing
• Are special notes or performances requirements consistency, common sense, and knowing what to watch out for.
expected?

• Do current-carrying capacity or impedance need to be


noted?

• Will the schematic be viewed electronically or on paper?

To create an effective schematic layout, there are some tried


and true tips that need to be followed, the most basic being:
Include as much information as possible. This includes part
values, manufacturing information and net names. Have a
good library of parts containing all the necessary symbols,
footprints and part attributes. This will reduce errors in
throughout designs and save time.

The second step is to determine if the design with be flat or


hierarchical. This will also help with the flow of the schematic.
A flat design is a single or multi-sheet design with all pages

©2018 EMA Design Automation, Inc. All rights reserved in the U.S. and other countries. EMA Design Automation and the EMA logo are trademarks of EMA Design
Automation Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

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