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Printed Circuit Board Design Flow

CS194-5, Spring 2008


February 4, 2008
Prabal Dutta
[email protected]
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~prabal



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A design flow is a rough guide for turning
a concept into a real, live working system
Inspiration
(Concept)



An air-deployable motion
sensor with 10 meter
range and 6 month
lifetime.
Implementation
(Working System)


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Starting with the end in mind: a printed circuit board
Drill files
(size & x-y coords)
Top side
Bottom side
Silkscreen
(white)
Copper
(pads & traces)
Soldermask
(green)
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The cross-section of a PCB shows its layered construction
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A practical PCB design flow that is
action-oriented and artifact-focused
Brainstorm
Needs
Evaluate*
Sys arch,
block diag
ERC/Sim,
Sch/Netlis
t
BOM
Constraint
s
Capability
Standards
DRC,
PCB Files,
MFG Files
Design
concepts
(multiple)
Design
(High-level)
*evaluate through models,
prototypes, and discussions
Capture
(Logical Design)
Layout
(Physical Design)
In library,
In stock,
Standards
Reqs,
Budget,
Constraint
s
Figures,
Rankings,
Tradeoffs
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Brainstorming
Goal: generate as many ideas as possible!
Use the needs as the rough guide
Do not (yet) be limited by constraints or formal
requirements
Ideally, brainstorm in a group so diversity of
perspectives emerge
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Brainstorming example: energy metering in sensor networks
Need: measure the energy consumed by a mote
Brainstorm
Resulting design concepts
Single-chip battery fuel gauge
High-side sense resistor + signal processing
Low-side sense resistor + signal processing
Pulse-frequency modulated switching regulator
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Requirements and constraints address the myriad
of important details that the system must satisfy
Requirements address:
Functionality
Performance
Usability
Reliability
Maintainability
Budgetary
Requirements may be at odds!




Use correlation matrix to
sort things out in this case
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Evaluation
Goal: identify best candidates to take forward
Use requirements and constraints as the metric
Get buy-in from stakeholders on decisions
Also consider
Time-to-market
Economics
Non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs
Unit cost
Familiarity
Second-source options
If none of the candidates pass, two options
Go back to brainstorming
Adjust the requirements (hard to change needs though)
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Evaluation example: energy metering in sensor networks
Requirements: Low High Low High Low
Cost Accu Power Rez Pert.

Design concepts

Energy meter IC N Y N Y Y

High-side sense resistor N Y N Y Y
+ signal processing

Low-side sense resistor Y Y Y Y N
+ signal processing

PFM switching regulator Y Y Y Y Y
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Evaluation example: energy metering in sensor networks
Sometimes a single experiment or figure says a lot
Accuracy / linearity are really important for an instrument
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Design
Translate a concept into a block diagram
Translate a block diagram into components
Top-down
Start at a high-level and recursively decompose
Clearly define subsystem functionality
Clearly define subsystem interfaces
Bottom-up
Start with building blocks and increasing integrate
Add glue logic between building blocks to create
Combination
Good for complex designs with high-risk subsystems
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Design II
Design can be difficult
Many important decisions must be made
Analog or digital sensing?
3.3V or 5.0V power supply?
Single-chip or discrete parts?
Many tradeoffs must be analyzed
Higher resolution or lower power?
Higher bit-rate or longer range, given the same power?
Decisions may be coupled and far-ranging
One change can ripple through the entire design
Avoid such designs, if possible
Difficult in complex, highly-optimized designs
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Design example: energy metering in sensor networks
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Schematic capture turns a block diagram into a detail design
Parts selection
In library?
Yes: great, just use it! (BUT VERIFY FIRST!)
No: must create a schematic symbol.
In stock?
Yes: great, can use it!
No: pick a different park (VERIFY LEADTIME)
Under budget?
Right voltage? Beware: 1.8V, 3.3V, 5.0V
Rough floorplanning
Place the parts
Connect the parts
Layout guidelines (e.g. 50 ohm traces, etc.)
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The schematic captures the logical circuit design
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Layout is the process of transforming a schematic (netlist)
into a set of Gerber and drill files suitable for manufacturing
Input: schematic (or netlist)

Uses: part libraries

Outputs
Gerbers photoplots (top,
bottom, middle layers)
Copper
Soldermask
Silkscreen
NC drill files
Aperture
X-Y locations
Manufacturing Drawings
Part name & locations
Pick & place file
Actions
Create parts
Define board outline
Floorplanning
Define layers
Parts placement
Manual routing
(ground/supply planes, RF
signals, etc.)
Auto-routing (non-critical
signals)
Design rule check (DRC)

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Layout constraints can affect the board size,
component placement, and layer selection
Constraints are requirements that limit the
design space (this can be a very good thing)
Examples
The humidity sensor must be exposed
The circuit must conform to a given footprint
The system must operate from a 3V power supply
Some constraints are hard to satisfy yet easy to
relaxif you communicate well with others.
Passive/aggressive is always a bad a idea here!
Advice: the requirement make it as small as
possible is not a constraint. Rather, it is a
recipe for a highly-coupled, painful design.
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Layout: board house capabilities, external constraints,
and regulatory standards all affect the board layout
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Floorplanning captures the desired part locations
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The auto-router places tracks on the board, saving time
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Layout tips
Teaching layout is a bit like teaching painting
Suppy/Ground planes
Use a ground plane (or ground pour) if possible
Use a star topology for distributing power
Split analog and digital grounds if needed
Use thick power lines if no supply planes
Place bypass capacitors close to all ICs
Layers
Two is cheap
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Discussion? Questions?
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There are lots of design flows in the
literature but they are awfully general