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.
253
questions
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38 views
LED Array Controller Circuit PCB Design Questions and Feedback
Background
I'm designing a LED controller based on a Teensy 4.1, some AD9833 Function Generators and some TLC5948 LED Drivers. I'm aiming to make an instrument of sorts, specifically a POV display ...
0
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1answer
76 views
Identifying decoupling capacitors in schematics and routing them properly to ICs
I am a chemistry student trying to replicate a 4-layer PCB design from a pre-designed schematic , this is my first PCB project.
The design:
The stack:
Signal/component top layer (jacks,pots,buttons)
...
1
vote
1answer
36 views
Routing on Nine Grid Thermal Pad
I have a component with a land pattern I haven't routed before. Usually thermal pads have the vias in them so the connectivity is obvious. However, in this case the vias are placed between the pads. ...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
Choosing the correct Ground or Power net for internal copper planes in a 4-layered design
I am a chemistry student trying to replicate a PCB circuit as part of an extra-curricular challenge. I am in over my head, but I am learning a lot and don't want to give up. I tried to route the ...
0
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2answers
84 views
Trace impedance for two signal layers between ground planes
When watching a few videos about stackup, EMI and impedance (especially this video from Fedevel Academy: https://youtu.be/52fxuRGifLU), I got confused how to compute trace impedance in the case of two ...
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1answer
93 views
Half-bridge gate driver fried, how can I make my design work?
I made a half-bridge following the recommended schematics from the IRS2184 datasheet.
However when I powered it, it triggered over-current and got quite hot.
Here is are schematic and routing.
I ...
0
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0answers
62 views
Help with SPI routing for a display
I’m designing my first PCB and got weird SPI issues after my second revision of the PCB layout. I did a few small changes for the SPI routing in the second revision but nothing that I thought would ...
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0answers
32 views
Signal routing to power amp LM1876 based on TS5A22362 SPDT
Has anyone ever used the TI's TS5A22362 CI to route audio? I though of implementing the circuit below on which I intend to use the same supply voltage to switch between normally closed and normally ...
0
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1answer
27 views
Altium 3D View not showing properly and Via placement problem
Can some please tell me how to fix this?
I select all 3D views but every time I get transparent board.
and when I try to place a via for routing it moves outside of the board.
need help.....
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0answers
53 views
Routing Guidelines for Analog Video (VGA, RGsB, PAL)
I am currently into the design of the analog video IN/OUT. Basically I have a 3U PCB on which the encoder/decoder ICs are present, that converts the digital video to the analog RGsB (RGsB OUT) and PAL ...
2
votes
1answer
146 views
4-Layer Stackup PCB design
I was designing a 2-Layer PCB and now I'm stuck. I have routed like 80% of all nets and now I'm no more sure if it makes sense to continue. It's getting pretty messed up with all the crossing routes ...
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3answers
84 views
Sharing lots of signals between micro-controllers
I have a board where a backup MCU is connected to all the same IOs as the main board. An error checking mechanism will select which MCU to power up. The other one will have all of it's IO ports in Hi-...
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2answers
58 views
PCB return path for Ethernet signals
While working on a new design, we had to route Ethernet signals on our PCB. My colleague and I has some discussion on how we should handle the grounding around the Ethernet signals, and their return ...
2
votes
3answers
181 views
Are specific impedances for high-speed signals maintained beyond the PCB connectors?
I found this article that describes the specific impedances that single/differential traces must have for high speed signals (using microstrips).
But what happens to these impedances beyond the ...
1
vote
1answer
100 views
Why do I get these odd foot prints from JLCPCB - 0602 and 1206
Why do I get these foot prints from JLCPCB?
The parts are regular 0602 and 1206 and capacitors.
I'm using KiCad 5.1.7. No external libraries. Everything is default.
My GerbView:
1
vote
1answer
56 views
How to decide the DDR3 routing topology?
I am designing board which has got 4 DDR3 Die on it, 64 bit SDRAM interface. DDR3 Memory controller will be xilinx FPGA. I have some confusion in the signal routing from the DDR3 interface to DDR3 ...
1
vote
2answers
95 views
PCB Design: When having a power plane, should I only be doing vias or also route?
Is it some times relevant to also make the routing between two nodes that are close to each other? Or is it always sufficient to just have vias?
The same question for something other than power, such ...
3
votes
0answers
53 views
Track width needed higher than pin size
I'm learning PCB design and more than once I faced this issue. What are the standard practices when the trace width is higher than the pin size? Suppose you are designing a 3A charger with a Micro-USB ...
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vote
5answers
130 views
Huge analog switching matrix
My application is a PCB that has 2 different 100 pins connectors and has to be capable of arbitrarily connect each pin on the first connector to each pin of the second.
The signal going through the ...
2
votes
3answers
139 views
PCB Layout Optimization Regarding VCC and GND
I have two questions regarding routing power and ground.
With respect to power, is it generally better to flood copper planes and have one via per pin/pad connecting directly to the plane under, or ...
0
votes
1answer
135 views
How to batch update package delays in Altium Designer?
Altium Designer lets me specify a package pin length and a propagation
delay for each pad of a component. However, I don't know a way to do
this besides manually selecting each pad and typing in the ...
0
votes
2answers
118 views
Is it possible to route USB 2.0 using regular traces?
In the future I will be faced to design a system that includes USB 2.0 connectivity. I've seen that there are many trace calculators, but as far as I can see, they refer to microstrip lines.
So, is it ...
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0answers
47 views
A bus routing puzzle, does it ring a bell?
I am breaking my head over a puzzling bus routing puzzle, and I wonder if this sort of problem rings a bell. I have 4 memory cell ports, let's call them EE, OE, EO, and OO, that are being mapped to 4 ...
2
votes
2answers
106 views
4 layer PCB, mixed signal, multiple different voltages
For a mixed signal PCB with DACs, ADCs, MCUs and multiple analog opamp circuits. With +/-15V to power the opamps, 3.3V for all the digital stuff and a couple reference voltage rails (1.5V and 3V).
Can ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
Is it necessary to remove ground on all layers when using isolated DIO
So, I am using uptocouplers and digital isolators for a project connected to a microcontroller GPIO. I removed the ground (ground plane cutouts) under the load side of the components, is it necessary ...
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vote
2answers
71 views
Routing decoupling capacitors to a micro-controller
I'm attempting to design and make a Keyboard PCB and have stumbled onto a question I can't seem to find online (probably because I'm not searching for the right thing/lack of info)
When routing ...
0
votes
1answer
30 views
Why is it suggested to keep 2cm between the chip and the remote antenna in TESEO-LIV3F?
I am reading the TESEO-LIV3F hardware reference manual.
In the remote antenna subsection (9.3, page 24), it explicitly suggest to keep a couple of centimeters between the chip and the remote antenna.
...
1
vote
1answer
91 views
Routing 5 differential pairs over a short distance with limited space
I have 5 differential pairs (4-lane MIPI-DSI) going from left (SOM header) to right (FPC connector). As you can see on the right, for each lane, the signals end on opposite ends of the FPC connector. ...
2
votes
1answer
222 views
50 ohm Dummy Load With 50dB Attenuator
I am designing a 50 ohm 10 watts dummy load for 100-1000MHz frequency range. The signal strength should not exceed -10dBm.
The load must be able to dissipate 5 watts minimum, that is +37dBm.
The ...
1
vote
1answer
114 views
USB Type C swap A/B rows for easier routing
I'm routing a USB-C receptacle on a carrier board for a System on Module. The location and orientation of the receptacle and the SoM headers are dictated by the design of the device.
I noticed that ...
0
votes
0answers
27 views
Autorouter not working between board regions
I created a default Altium 20 two layers PCB and I divided it in two regions with a split line. I am able to hand route the tracks with no problems.
Anyway, in these conditions the autorouter is not ...
0
votes
1answer
72 views
How many multiplexers is too much?
This is a general question. I have a specific task that I am working on. For this task, my solution requires around 300 multiplexers with all of them 16 inputs and 16 bits per input, and a single ...
2
votes
0answers
196 views
JLC2313 stackup with DDR3 fly-by
I’m building a simple SBC based on Allwinner A33 for my undergraduate final project, includes two x8 DDR3 chips. I’m going with 6 layers JLC2313 Stackup 1.2mm thickness (cost reasons). It’s my first ...
0
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1answer
54 views
Is there a term for something like a “routing scheme”?
I would like to know if there is any common term to describe the routing of devices to conceptually understand the setup. E.g. something that explains how the devices are connected to each other on a "...
0
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1answer
81 views
Step-up layout - Is important trace order?
I am adding step-up to my PCB and I wonder if I have to make trace order like in this design. I mean if input voltage has to go first through power inductor, then capacitor and finally step-up ...
14
votes
7answers
6k views
Autoroute or not?
I made a fairly complex circuit (at least for my level).
After spending a few hours trying to manually autoroute, I had like only 5% finished, and every time run into obstacles of not being able to ...
1
vote
1answer
233 views
Is it better to route Ethernet on the top layer, or to use vias?
I'm making a circuit board with Ethernet (PoE if that makes a difference) coming in through an M12 connector, passing through magnetics and a PHY and going to a micro. I've always heard that there are ...
0
votes
2answers
111 views
Parallel power traces with PWM and unwanted EMI
I'm in the process of designing a PCB for an RGB LED light source that will allow me to dim each color channel separately using PWM. To help manage the thermal output of the LEDs I'm trying to use an ...
0
votes
3answers
62 views
How to route and solder TO-263AB packages?
Am working on making a PCB and i was using RFP30N06LE MOSFET on my breadboard circuit, now that am making a PCB i want to use the other variation RF1S30N06LESM of the same component. which as you can ...
1
vote
4answers
206 views
Freerouter doesn't want to route to inside an FPGA
Prefacing this by saying I'm entirely new to designing electronics for a PCB and I've only worked with breadboards before, so if there's more that I'm doing wrong in my project besides just the PCB ...
3
votes
1answer
499 views
Routing strategy - 24-bit RGB display on a 4 layer PCB
I'm routing traces between a microcontroller and a TFT display (24-bit RGB, clock frequency at 18 MHz).The stackup is:
L1 - Signal
L2 - GND (solid layer)
L3 - PWR (solid 3.3V in the region of ...
0
votes
3answers
806 views
Should internal signal layers of a PCB have a ground pour?
I see a lot of discussion about using copper pours on the outer layers of a multi-layer PCB, as well as a single continuous ground plane on a multi-layer board, but there isn't a lot of information ...
0
votes
3answers
103 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
56 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
votes
1answer
102 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
81 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 ...
0
votes
1answer
91 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
198 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
votes
0answers
186 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
1k 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 ...
