Questions tagged [routing]
Questions relating to the routing of printed circuit boards (PCBs) which involves the placement of tracks on the board. It may be performed manually however many PCB CAD programs provide an autorouter to assist in the process.
213
questions
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3answers
92 views
How are Circuitboards with Multiple CMOS Chips Routed?
For my school side project i'm building a digital clock from 40xx series chips. I'm at 11 IC's now, taking up two regular sized breadboards.
While I could simply solder this all onto solderable ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
Routing signal and power lines using MCU
I got an MCU (STM32F103C8T6) and a special device
The device has 2 main lines of interest: ID and VCC. The VCC is 3V3 tolerant and takes around 100-250 mA depending on mode. And ID is used for ...
0
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1answer
53 views
Is there a rule of thumb for choosing polygon width?
I am currently using the same width as the smallest wire inside the polygon, is this too small?
0
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1answer
54 views
How to connect power to multiple pins on a microcontroller?
I'm creating board with basic MCU STM32F334K8T6.
STM32 have three VCC pins.
Each of them needs to be fed.
Two options:
Connect them to each other.
Connect all power lines at one point.
To use the ...
0
votes
1answer
52 views
Is this wiring between two USB-C connectors (receptacle) valid?
I am working on a small (hobby) device that does passthrough of USB-C connection (signals are untouched, only power/gnd are used in the device).
To simplify assembly I put both receptacles on the top ...
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0answers
25 views
EAGLE. Differential pair routing. Width of the track changes after first change of direction
I try to route differential pair of tracks. When I click the mouse to change the direction it also changes the width
0
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4answers
142 views
PCB routing mismatches the schematic
I have design a board on Kicad and now trying to route the tracks. However there is something I don't understand. Different pins on a microcontroller are connected to 3.3V power source through a ...
0
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0answers
43 views
Quadrax routing on a PCB
When connecting twisted pair wires to a printed circuit board, I hope I am right in thinking that differential pair routing is used on the board in either a stripline or a microstrip configuration to ...
0
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0answers
74 views
Why does Altium say this net is uncoupled?
I have some differential pairs in Alitum. They require impedance matching to 100R, which is easy enough. Putting the numbers into Saturn PCB Toolkit V7.08, it works out that I want a conductor width ...
1
vote
1answer
173 views
Can I swap TX+ and TX- (and RX+ and RX- ) using ethernet magnetics?
I am building ethernet connectors and a switch into a product. There is a requirement to include PoE which I haven't done before. This has required the use of a new magnetics chip to expose the two ...
0
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1answer
152 views
PCB Routing of CANH and CANL
Continuation from an earlier question: Current Consumption of CANbus (CANH and CANL)
I understand how to specify my power supply for multiple CAN transceivers but I am now wondering about the details ...
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vote
3answers
142 views
PCB routing around capacitors “snake style” possible electric disadvantages?
Is there any reason not to route the +12V and GND lines in a snaking pattern as shown with C7 + C11? From instinct I'd always route caps in parallel to power and gnd rails.
Top left near D1 is the ...
0
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1answer
32 views
When placing a new line it doesn't get assigned a net, how to fix it in Altium?
I had this working well before, but now, every time i'm placing a new line from a component, it never gets assigned the net.
In the Net field it is always "No Net", which forces me to manually place ...
1
vote
2answers
292 views
2 layers pcb : ground plane at bottom layer, what to put on top?
Disclaimer: I'm designing a simple arduino based board, so I'm maybe over-complicating things, but I'd still like to do the board well.
I've carefully this answer : Decoupling caps, PCB layout, ...
1
vote
1answer
45 views
Ondulatory routing in Raspberry Pi [duplicate]
I bought a Raspberry Pi and I noticed some of the routings are not straight lines but instead they make a funny ondulatory shape (see picture at the right and bottom of the processor).
I'm not sure ...
4
votes
2answers
183 views
Routing long usb 2.0 high speed traces: microstrip or stripline?
I'm tweaking the design of my usb-audio device to pass the usb high speed eye pattern test. Due to the positioning of key components, the design features quite long d- d+ traces, 139mm (5.47") to be ...
6
votes
1answer
454 views
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Manhattan-Style routing?
Manhattan-Style routing being the use of expressly east-west planes and north-south planes, using a via and changing planes when a signal changes direction.
Comparing to freestyle routing, which lets ...
2
votes
1answer
103 views
Traces over ground plane [duplicate]
Sometimes it cannot be avoided to run traces over a ground plane (bottom layer) in a two layer PCB.
I have two questions regarding this:
In the (simplified) example below, what is preferred? To use ...
0
votes
2answers
527 views
How to import PCB 3D model (step file) designed in MCAD software in Altium and place PCB footprints, and route it?
I have my PCB board from Mechanical Design software as a Step file. Now, I want to import it into Altium Designer and place PCB footprints, and do the routing etc. I am looking for some guidelines or ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Some questions to cleanup my first PCB
I'm trying to create my first PCB after having too many problems wire-soldering every single wire.
I learnt KiCAD yesterday and so far it seems like a very good application.
For creating the scheme,...
7
votes
2answers
358 views
USB-C Connector: How to route signals
I'm having trouble understanding how to route the signals out of the Molex 1054500101 Type-C USB connector - specifically the B1-B12 pins.
The distance between row A and row B is only 0.5mm, too ...
2
votes
2answers
163 views
USB Routing: Switching layers during routing
I'm working on a standard 4 layer board that involves USB 3.0. I have to route the SS TX/RX pairs as well as D+/D- pairs across a 2.8" PCB. I have found multiple calculators that provide me the ...
1
vote
2answers
139 views
How important is it to track from centre of pad in PCB routing?
When reading through the review comments of a PCB, there was one which raised some questions for me:
"Aim to route tracks out of pad centres and in line with the pad, not exiting at an angle."
I ...
3
votes
2answers
145 views
Does it matter if differential pairs have no reference plane or cross reference planes?
More specifically, does it matter on a PCB if routing differential pairs if they cross reference planes?
Do they need a reference plane?
Is there even a reference plane with a differential pair?
I ...
0
votes
2answers
156 views
PCB Stack up 4 layer Micro vias, Stacked Vias and Buried Vias
I am designing a 4 layer board in which I HAVE to use blind and buried vias. This is a very dense board with (SOLID COPPER ON LAYER 4, No exceptions )
I am planning to use
1.) 1-2 microvia and 2-3 ...
0
votes
1answer
113 views
Does it matter how I cross a 2 MHz SPI clock signal on a two layer board?
Background
Currently I am working on a breakout board which allows me to connect a number of external boards (analog and mixed signal) to an Arduino Micro, using a variety of connectors.
The ...
0
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0answers
56 views
Unrouted Nets Error in Altium 18!
So, I use Altium 18 and I was checking the Board information for my PCB.
Under Nets, it showed total of 24 Nets and 0 Unrouted Nets. During my checks I found one of the nets was unconnected, yet the ...
1
vote
0answers
32 views
Altium: Stitching vias applying for multiple nets in multiple channels
I'm tryint to add stitching vias to my multichannel project.
I have 5 nets for via stitching to be applied on each channel and 3 channels in the project. So 15 nets in total.
Looks not too much to ...
1
vote
0answers
317 views
Altium Designer: Copy room format does not modify polygon net name
I have a multichannel PCB with channels named U1, U2 and U3. I'm trying to copy the format of one channel to other two:
component placement,
routing,
polygons.
In the first place I was facing that ...
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Filter power supply for video signals
I'm drawing a board with an MCU (running at 32 MHz), some serials and an analog video section (mux and amplifiers).
I kept the video section physically separated from the digital one: i.e. it's placed ...
7
votes
1answer
309 views
Best layer stack strategy for a 6 layer PCB with mostly SMD components
I am doing a design in a 6 layer PCB where both sides are populated. 95% of the components are SMD. The design is not "High Frequency" in terms of signal speeds....the fastest thing here is a MCU with ...
2
votes
2answers
304 views
Routing traces over traces in two layer pcb
I am kind of new to PCB Design. I have a few confusions on my board layout, in order to reduce EMI in routing. I am designing a two-layer PCB design
I am aware that when you route traces over ...
3
votes
1answer
317 views
Is this 0.5mm pitch BGA fanout OK?
I have not used any BGA packages before, but (lucky for me) my first one is a 0.5mm pitch device.
Since the pitch is so fine, there is no room for vias between the pads, even at the smallest drill ...
10
votes
4answers
1k views
Can I put vias on routing I2C lines traces on FR4 PCB?
I am using a MSP430FR2633 micro controller and ADS122C04IPWR DAC over I2C at 100kHz.
Can I route the I2C lines through vias in a 2 Layer PCB?
1
vote
1answer
202 views
I am trying to PCB using a schematic I made
Routing isnt my strong point. I would like to know if this looks correct?
So I have 230V AC to 12V DC. I then have DC coupling, then an LED emitter, transimpedance amplifier, then active high pass ...
0
votes
1answer
138 views
Does polarity of differential DisplayPort signals matter
I am routing a DisplayPort interface. I know from PCIe that the polarity of the differential pairs does not matter. So if it is helpful during routing I can connect the n to the p pin and vice-versa.
...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
Room lines stills on my pcb and the top layers tracks are not displayed in 3D view, Altium
The fact is that I have routed. I would like to know how to proceed when this kind of thing happens when using altium.
The routed tracks can be seen perfectly in 2D view. But when click 3D view I can ...
0
votes
1answer
429 views
shortcut to change layer/add via while routing in Altium doesn' t work
I'm trying to change my tracks during routing to pass from bottom to the top, or from top to bottom using +/- buttons, but neither numerical buttons neither +/- buttons from keyboard buttons are doing ...
5
votes
1answer
425 views
Acute angle on a pad or a via
It is better to avoid acute angle to join two routes (depending on current direction and waveform). I often see on board acute angle with a pad or a via. Is it bad? Should it be avoided as well?
0
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2answers
58 views
Eagle routing (manual routing) [closed]
I am new to eagle and I need to practice routing. I've read many general tips (about using jumpers for example) to use while routing, however I want a precise step by step procedure I can follow to ...
1
vote
1answer
321 views
Differential Pair Reference Plane Coupling
I am routing LVDS pair on a flex board. The signal is 264MHz. I used Saturn PCB design to calculate width and spacing between conductors. The targeted impedance for diff pair is 100 ohms, which is ...
1
vote
2answers
122 views
Can a via be placed in between the pads of a resistor?
Can I place a via in between the pads of a resistor as shown in the image?
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Why are ground pours isolated from each other on the top layer?
I am reading the application note from TI about the LM3409 evaluation board.
In the board layout (Figure 3) the bottom layer is a single GND pour.
But top layer has also some copper pours which end ...
3
votes
2answers
227 views
How does one duplicate tracks on both sides in KiCad?
I have a problem: I'm making an Arduino shield that has tracks which are supposed to handle up to 10A (maximum, instantaneous) current (usually it's around 2A, but we want to be on the safe side.
...
1
vote
3answers
106 views
Electrical isolation problems when routing between pads of SMT resistors/caps
According to answers to this previous question, routing traces between the pads of SMD caps/resistors, as shown in the picture, is not dangerous as long as trace to pad clearances are obeyed and the ...
5
votes
1answer
837 views
Does this PCIe routing look ok?
It is the first time for me to design a PCB with a PCIe bus. My first design failed, the bus is not working!
Tom helped me in this question and instructed me how to correctly route a high speed bus - ...
1
vote
1answer
407 views
GND connections and ground plane routing?
When I let Altium do autorouting and then I define a ground plane using a polygon connected to my ground pin, I often get layouts where a GND line is flanked on both sides by the GND polygon, and then ...
1
vote
1answer
171 views
VLSI channel routing: Why only route through channels?
I know that after placement you have your blocks and channels between the blocks. Now, the routing only takes place in the channels.
My question is: Why can't we just route 'over' the blocks by ...
1
vote
1answer
92 views
Why is the Image Sensor Board routing different?
The below posted is a open source camera project Elphel PCB layout images
I have took their 353 model camera, which is mounted with an Onsemi sensor
I only know that for high speed signals we go ...
0
votes
1answer
202 views
Open-source layout routing tool [closed]
I am looking for an open-source circuit layout routing tool (with scripting option) for custom layout design. For example: I design a NAND schematic and convert it into layout and place components (...
