Your Component Footprint Library to Find Future Footprints
Your component footprint library gets used to generate this type of stencil before manufacturing. Every new piece of electronic equipment starts as a block diagram, and turning your block diagram into a new board takes a complete set of PCB footprints. Your manufacturer will need a set of documentation to put your new board into […]
Efficiently Creating PCB Footprints: A Checklist for Your Layouts
PCB component footprints may appear simple, but they contain a huge amount of information required for assembly. Your PCB design application will need to take your footprints and create manufacturing documentation, such as assembly drawings and Gerber files. If your PCB footprints are incorrect or contain careless errors, you may find your board cannot be […]
SMD Component Datasheets: Mastering Enclosure Constraints and Connectivity
SMD components are not going away anytime soon, thanks to their low cost and low profile. SMD components come in a variety of standardized packages that make manufacturing and assembly with automated equipment much easier. The size of an SMD component can range from a large FPGA measuring inches across to a small resistor […]
LGA Package Footprints and the Difficulty in Finding Full Package Models
Most HDI (high density interconnect) designers and many high speed designers are familiar with BGA (ball grid array) components, which provide a way to connect dense, high pin-count components to a PCB. These components function as a standard flip-chip BGA, but without solder balls for surface-mounting. LGA (land grid array) packages are designed to […]
An IC Footprint Library for Your Component Data Needs
The stencil shown above is required to etch copper in your circuit board and create conductor patterns. Doing this accurately takes skill and precision equipment, but it also takes accurate footprints in your IC footprint library. Your Gerber files are created directly from your layout data, and your layout data is generated directly from […]
Not All Vendor Counts Are Created Equal
As more sources become available for ECAD data, designers are looking for ease of use, quality, and coverage of parts. Often, this leads designers to ask the question: how much data does a source truly have? It can be frustrating to search for a component on a data provider’s site only to find out they […]
Common Library Creation Errors – What NOT to Do When Designing Library Parts
PCB librarians and designers know that in order to execute a flawless design, your data has to be precise and accurate. In today’s design environment, there are a lot of external pressures on your design: size constraints, project timelines, and exacting design standards. Add complicated datasheets, non-intuitive design tools, and deadlines to the situation and […]
How to Build a Part from the Manufacturer’s Datasheet
When a designer needs to create a component for a PCB board, they have many places where they can gather data – manufacturer websites, distributors, aggregators, or even crowd-sourced resources. However, the gold standard for information to build components is the manufacturer datasheet. This document provides all the information needed to build a component – […]
Adapt and Overcome: The Great Component Shortage
The electronics market has continued to flourish throughout 2017 as we migrate towards a more connected society. Electronics are becoming a growing and integral part of our daily lives, with the number of devices out in the market quickly outnumbering the worldwide population. According to a recent press release by Gartner, the forecast for 2017 semiconductor […]