Questions tagged [ground-plane]
An area of copper on a PCB which is connected to the PCB's ground node in order to provide a return path for current from the various circuits on the board. The ground plane's area is typically made as large as possible (even occupying an entire board layer) in order to minimize its impedance, thus allowing it to conduct high return currents without a significant voltage drop from one part of the board to another. Use with related tags such as "pcb".
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Does separating DGND and AGND with two different layers for each make any sense?
In my last question I found out that having two different layers for Ground and Analog Ground may induce capacitive coupling. Now I want to ask more generally if the idea I had is worse than ...
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Does it make sense to connect the MAX6675 to a Analog Plane?
I'm currently designing a PCB with 4 Layers. The stack up is as follows:
Signal - DGND Plane - AGND Plane - Signal.
There are a ton of components connected to the DGND Plane, and I know that for ...
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How can I connect the ground planes to GND?
I'm trying to make a double-sided PCB in Proteus Ares. I added the planes using the Power Plane Generator tool, but there is no connection between planes and ground, if that makes sense. The only ...
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Chassis and digital ground in an eight layer PC motherboard
I have GNDC (chassis GND) and GND (digital GND) on my PC motherboard design.
All connectors in my design (RJ45, USB-TypeC, USB-TypeA, HDMI, DP, etc.) are connected to the chassis through the GNDC ...
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What's the intuition behind connecting a wire shield to the ground plane on a bare board?
I have an old (1970s) PCB that generates a (baseband, composite) NTSC video signal. It is a bare board without a containing chassis or case. I am using a shielded cable for the video output line and ...
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Stripline with coplanar ground plane?
I can't seem to find any impedance calculator that offers this configuration — not sure if it has a different name; I'm referring to a trace on an inner layer, sandwiched between ground planes on the ...
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Noise on PCB trace influences NTC measurement
I have a general question regarding noise in PCB-Designs.
The PCB I'm currently working on is failing some tests on the RF side. I have scanned the internet for information, but there are no concrete ...
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Why does this RF PCB have small holes in the ground polygon?
I usually pay attention to RF PCBs.
This shape is like a hole, but it is not, the ground surface is used in the form.
What is the purpose of making these holes?
How can I make them easily with the ...
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Is a ground plane useful in this analog PCB scenario?
I'm planning to make a DAC amplifier circuit on a PCB, with a schematic similar to the following example:
The PCB will be composed of a one quad op-amp, some resistors, some caps, and connectors for ...
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Multiple grounds on a small PCB
I'm designing a carrier board for an INS module. The carrier board is small (64 mm x 92 mm). Due to providing isolated GPIOs, I had to use 4 isolated power supplies on this small area, one for the ...
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What is the best way to route a two-layer MCU based PCB?
Considering we're designing a two-layer PCB with a 100-pin MCU, what's the best way to routing? As you can see in the image, many pins of this MCU are used (almost all.)
When designing a two-layer ...
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Which PWR routing strategy has the best return path for a SIG/PWR-GND-GND-SIG/PWR stackup?
I'm trying out the stackup SIG_ROUTE/PWR_ROUTE-GND_PLANE-GND_PLANE-SIG_ROUTE/PWR_ROUTE after reading of its advantages. How should I route power to components on the opposite side of the PCB?
Here is ...
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LTM4612: Power Ground and Signal Ground Planes
I'm trying to figure out how to create the GND layers for a PCB with an LM4612 buck converter module. The datasheet says a bunch of seemingly contradictory things:
"Place a dedicated power ...
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Power Supply PCB ground plane and thermal vias
I've been working on a light controller, GPS tracker, anti-theft, etc. board for my e-bike and I originally designed the 48V - 12V DC converter around a standard sixteenth-brick power converter (PS1):
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How to create thermal relief for multiple vias close together?
I've run into several situations where closely spaced vias are useful. Via stitching, reducing inductance, thermal vias in a pad, etc.
However, when I place power vias close together in software, the ...
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How to fully connect component pad with the ground plane
I'm trying to make a simple PCB board on eagle.
I've learned how to make a ground plane, and it worked great. But I wonder, why is the component pins/pads connected to ground as more like a plus (+) ...
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Could I use aluminum foil as a ground plane for 1.4 GHz antenna?
I'm currently attempting to make a radio telescope that works at 1.4 GHz. Would household aluminum foil work as a ground plane? I saw someone asking the same thing for a 900 MHz antenna and I was ...
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PCB design review: Questions about power/ground plane
I am designing a small four layer PCB with KiCad. The purpose of this PCB is to control and monitor the lights of a car (not for road use) and without having to resort to old relays and fuses.
I have ...
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Ground planing H-bridge and drivers
I'm currently routing a DC/DC converter using a controller that need an external H-Bridge. As I wanted to reduce the noise at the controller level (to preserve the measures it makes clean), I started ...
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Component Placement Strategy for Regulator and Controller
I am reading this interesting document from TI PCB Layout Considerations for Switchers
It explains the issue of the return path for high di/dt currents in regulators. To summarize my understanding, it ...
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Is it bad practice to connect a heatsink to my PCB's ground plane?
So, basically, I have this LED project which is going to dissipate lots of heat (I am assuming close to 50W) inside a case. The LEDs themselves are on a separate aluminum board which will be attached ...
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Point-to-point building of medium- frequency circuits, ground plane implementation
I build audio projects and small logic control circuits using point-to-point on perfboard (see pic of a recent build).
As you can see this allows me to select wire gauge in accordance to the currents ...
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How can I step down 24V to 5.5V and 3.3V with separate grounds?
I have a 24VDC 4A input that I need to step down to both 5VDC and 3.3VDC, but I need the 24V ground plane to be separate (isolated) from the 5V and 3.3V plane (these can have a shared ground).
What ...
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KiCad: Ground plane won't connect to pads
I am currently running into a problem in KiCad where the ground plane won't connect to some pads.
KiCad even tells me to connect them but doesn't seem to make the connection automatically.
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What is the name of this antenna?
I compared RSSI of several antennas including this one I found laying around:
It performed from all angles about 10 dB better than for example the quarter wave ANT-433-CW-HD-SMA (Mouser Link).
Tests ...
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PCB ground planes with isolated voltage
I have designed a PCB that I need to work in which a microcontroller drives a 24 V brushed motor. The input power to the board is 24 V, this is then lowered to 5 V by a step down converter, and this 5 ...
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EAGLE 7.7 do not fill GND polygon
Adding a polygon GND, but it not going to fill at all. Ratsnest - not helping. Orhans also not helping. Any idea?
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ESP32 Pad 39 - Where do I add vias?
I am building my first PCB ever with an ESP32. I want the PCB to be built by JLCPCB (or similar) and I am not sure what to do with the Pad39
I read these opinions:
Do not add vias in pad, and if you ...
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Questions about LED strip PCB and ground return currents
This question is about the PCB part of a double LED strip 'controller' circuit.
See the circuit at: Questions about LED strip circuit and current.
The arrow shows now the 5V GND pin (JST XH) pin in ...
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Mesh ground advantage over single rod ground
In high voltage laboratories, how do mesh grounds perform better than that of single rods?
Does frequency play a role here ?
Which one is more beneficial, using multiple single rods in lab for ...
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Where is the ground in this circuit?
I am designing a simple digital circuit on a PCB that includes a power supply that provides +24V and -24V, but there is no ground. I am assuming that the negative voltage (-24V) is ground? What about ...
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KiCad ground plane error or DRC glitch?
I have a PCB that when I run a design rule check in KiCad I am getting an error that an IC's earth pins are unconnected to a via which is also connected to earth. I don't get these errors a lot so I ...
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Form all your ground nets properly vs Ground Plane
I developed my project one more step and moved to the PCB stage.I will make a PCB for the first time with a microprocessor and SMD components.
I did my PCB design. Only the ground connections left. I ...
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VCC and GND islands on TOP layer
I was checking Intel Tiger Lake UP3 reference board layout and I noticed that they made core VCC islands on top layer and through vias they connected to a layer that has the bigger/continuous plane of ...
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Bluetooth antenna on top of large metal object and other RF questions
I've been doing some research on RF antenna design considerations but haven't really found anything close to the situation my device will be in. I am designing a wireless sensor for my FSAE team that ...
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Should there be ground vias on a TVS diode GND if positioned right next to a DC jack?
Say you have a TVS diode which is right next to the DC jack, would you want to have ground vias around the GND pad of the TVS diode, or would you want to avoid vias here because the current would just ...
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On a two-layer PCB, should I have a plane for both grounds, or for only one ground and the 3V3 power?
The microprocessor on my board can switch off all the other components via an NPN transistor.
This means that I have the 3V3 line going from the processor to everything, a ground going from all the ...
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Aluminium foil as a ground plane for 900 MHz antenna
I have designed and manufactured an antenna that works around 900 MHz. The design includes a ground plane and metallic enclosure that are not strictly necessary, but do affect the performance of the ...
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Does vias along the edge of the board help for 2 layer boards? (EMC)
I know that ground vias along the edge of the PCB can help for the PCB to radiate less (from a EMC perspective). But does it help only for with 4 or more layers PCBs?
Or does this also help alot for 2 ...
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Multiple ground
In my design I have four different ground:
Ground: from USB for step up and battery charger IC.
Ground1: for a split supply (virtual ground).
Ground2: for the input signal reference.
Ground3: for the ...
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Digital inputs for analog switches (analog or digital ground?)
I'm using an analog switch, ADG1434 to switch some filter components in a circuit. My question is about general best practice for the digital signals going to analog switches. The switch is dual ...
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Any advantage to isolate digital ground of an ADC from the rest of the top ground plane?
What if you have the traces which run to a very sensitive sensor right next to the digital ground of an ADC, would it be an advantage at all to isolate the ground exit by cutting off the connection to ...
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PCB via array for "better" heat dissipation
My two PCB mount power supplies are getting quite hot (temp 60 to 70 degrees). Max temp of the power supply is 90 degrees. I cannot use external heatsinks due to space constraints.
Input voltage is ...
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General approach to routing with copper fill
I don't have much experience with designing PCBs and when doing so I had to make a surprising number of decisions concerning the copper fill.
Assume a simple analog or digital circuit, 2-layer PCB. No ...
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Properly grounding an SMA connector (bottom ground plane only)
I’m currently designing my own breakout board for the RFM95W (LoRa module). I’ll be operating at ~900 MHz.
The board has two layers. The top layer contains all the signal tracks (no ground pour). The ...
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PCB design guidance. Is AC in a power plane a bad idea?
I have a 4 layer PCB board that I am working on a new revision for with the following general layer setup:
Top=signal = signal layer
middle1 = 5V power plane (with 24VAC subdivisions)
middle2 = gnd ...
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Multiple copper pours in ground plane of a 2 layer board
I am an amateur PCB designer.Trying to design my first PCB. I am using a two-layered power supply board. I am using a 72V battery pack as the input to get +15V,+5V, and -15V as outputs. The pic shows ...
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splitting ground plane
I have a 4 layer board, where I have a 3.3V STM32 and some 3.3V components, and also a 24V H bridge to drive a 24V DC motor. The board is supplied with a 24V DC power supply, the 3.3V is created by a ...
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How parallel plates are buried in the soil in real life?
From this site:
The most common reference is Earth itself. Power systems are usually
“earthed” at some point to provide a reference for the system
voltages. The earth symbol represents the parallel ...
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Vias versus ground plane entirety
I am facing a kind of dilemma with my PCB design. I am designing a two-layer PCB with the ground plane (GP) on the 2nd layer. I have many tracks that run from one side to the other of the board, hence,...
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