-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueLevel Up Your Design Skills
This month, our contributors discuss the PCB design classes available at IPC APEX EXPO 2024. As they explain, these courses cover everything from the basics of design through avoiding over-constraining high-speed boards, and so much more!
Opportunities and Challenges
In this issue, our expert contributors discuss the many opportunities and challenges in the PCB design community, and what can be done to grow the numbers of PCB designers—and design instructors.
Embedded Design Techniques
Our expert contributors provide the knowledge this month that designers need to be aware of to make intelligent, educated decisions about embedded design. Many design and manufacturing hurdles can trip up designers who are new to this technology.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Tips for Designing in—and Escaping From—the Vacuum
May 10, 2022 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamEstimated reading time: 3 minutes
For decades, fabricators and PCB design instructors have preached a steady gospel: “Communicate with your manufacturer early and often.” But many designers find themselves working with no idea who will be fabricating or assembling the board, not to mention dealing with the usual missing data, such as impedance requirements.
We asked Monsoon Solutions VP of Engineering Jen Kolar if she had any thoughts on “designing in a vacuum,” and her response was, “Absolutely!” In this wide-ranging discussion, Jen and Senior PCB Engineer and Director of Designer Development Cory Grunwald share some tips and techniques for designing PCBs in a vacuum, and a few methods for getting out of the Hoover’s dust bag.
As Cory points out, “In the end, the communication is going to happen anyway. It’s just a matter of whether it happens at the end or in the beginning.”
Barry Matties: For years, we’ve heard fabricators and design instructors recommend that designers communicate with their manufacturers, and as early in the design process as possible. However, we are often told that the PCB designer does not know who the fabricator is going to be when they embark on the design. As a design service, how do you approach that?
Jen Kolar: That can be one of the big tricks when we’re working with a lot of different customers. If we’re managing the fabrication, then that’s easy. Many of our customers, however, want to be that interface. They want to be the one who passes the data back and forth, and thus things get lost in translation, and that can add a lot of time. We’ve found that can be a real barrier if the designer isn’t able to directly talk to the manufacturer, even if we’re trying to. Our best practice is that our designers always verify information with the fab manager in advance.
Andy Shaughnessy: Everyone talks about DFM and the need for communication, but in the end, there’s almost no communication with the fabricator because they don’t know where the board will be built. So, instead of telling designers to talk to your manufacturer, maybe we should just embrace reality and call it “designing in a vacuum?”
Cory Grunwald: If I’m working with a customer and I don’t know which fab shop I’m going to, I must make a lot of assumptions. I must work over what I expect a minimum trace and space or minimum via sizes will be. I’ll start with a capability sheet from a known supplier that we’ll go through. But then I must add a little bit to what I expect for those tolerances, because I don’t know if they’re going to a shop that can do 3-mil trace and space, or if a shop has to go to 5 mils.
Matties: When you’re designing like that, what’s the downside?
Grunwald: The downside is you can’t be on the cutting edge. You can’t be working on the smallest parts and the thinnest traces and spaces because you don’t know who it’s going to and who can handle it.
Matties: But is the design that you’re allowing some tolerance for still a successful design?
Grunwald: Yes. It can be a successful design, but as you know, projects are getting smaller and faster, and those requirements usually require a top-end board shop. Without talking to your shop directly, you can’t assume that you’re going to a place that can do it.
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the May 2022 issue of Design007 Magazine, click here.
Suggested Items
I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week
05/03/2024 | Nolan Johnson, I-Connect007This week’s most important news is strategic—and telling. When one puts together the IPC industry reports, we simply have to include the recent conversation with Shawn DuBravac and Tom Kastner. On the design side, check out the latest “On The Line With…” podcast featuring Brad Griffin from Cadence Design Systems, discussing SI and PI in the realm of intelligent system design.
Synopsys, Samsung Electronics Collaborate to Achieve First Production Tapeout of Flagship Mobile CPU
05/03/2024 | PRNewswireSynopsys, Inc. announced that Samsung Electronics has achieved successful production tapeout for its high-performance mobile SoC design, including flagship CPUs and GPUs, with 300MHz higher performance using Synopsys.ai™ full stack AI-driven EDA suite and a broad portfolio of Synopsys IP on Samsung Foundry's latest Gate-All-Around (GAA) process technologies.
Altair Acquires Research in Flight, Forging a New Path for Aerodynamic Analysis
05/03/2024 | AltairAltair a global leader in computational intelligence, announced it has acquired Research in Flight, maker of FlightStream®, which provides computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software with a large footprint in the aerospace and defense sector and a growing presence in marine, energy, turbomachinery, and automotive applications.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: Software Solutions for Circuit Board Challenges
05/03/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPONolan Johnson speaks with Will Webb from Aster Technologies about their software solutions for design teams, manufacturing, test engineers, and process engineers. Aster's software addresses the increasing complexities of circuit boards and the need for alternative testing methods.
Real Time with… IPC APEX EXPO 2024: My Role as a Technology Solutions Director
05/02/2024 | Real Time with...IPC APEX EXPOPeter Tranitz, senior director of technology solutions at IPC, shares insights into his role as the design initiative lead. He details his advocacy work, industry support, and the responsibilities of the design initiative committee. The conversation also covers the revamping of standards, the IPC Design Competition, and the implementation of design rules in software tools.