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.
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.
Another thing the client is required to provide is the bill of materials (BOM) specifying each component used and its footprint. Designers are sometimes asked to help with component footprint capture. The client is also expected to provide the board outline. Once they have the schematic or netlist, BOM and the board outline, the designer should be able to do the rest.
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.
Electrical and electronics circuit designers are expected to be able to work with and create complex designs for digital, analog, RF and mixed PCBs. The boards themselves may be single or double sided or multi-layered. They can be designed to match the customer's needs in different sizes with varying pin densities and component quantities.
The designer also has to decide the board characteristics. This is the method that must be used for mounting components and creating circuit traces. The most popular technique that is now in use is called surface-mount technology.
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.
Certain PCB design services are required even after the client receives the finished product. Customers may seek changes to the design immediately or in future, and reorders are quite common. It works the other way around too, with designers asked to reverse engineer gerber files or film artwork into a netlist format or schematic. This is often required when complex circuits require heavy modifications at the most basic level.
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.
Another thing the client is required to provide is the bill of materials (BOM) specifying each component used and its footprint. Designers are sometimes asked to help with component footprint capture. The client is also expected to provide the board outline. Once they have the schematic or netlist, BOM and the board outline, the designer should be able to do the rest.
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.
Electrical and electronics circuit designers are expected to be able to work with and create complex designs for digital, analog, RF and mixed PCBs. The boards themselves may be single or double sided or multi-layered. They can be designed to match the customer's needs in different sizes with varying pin densities and component quantities.
The designer also has to decide the board characteristics. This is the method that must be used for mounting components and creating circuit traces. The most popular technique that is now in use is called surface-mount technology.
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.
Certain PCB design services are required even after the client receives the finished product. Customers may seek changes to the design immediately or in future, and reorders are quite common. It works the other way around too, with designers asked to reverse engineer gerber files or film artwork into a netlist format or schematic. This is often required when complex circuits require heavy modifications at the most basic level.
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