Common Op-Amp ICs and Selection Guidelines
Who doesn’t have a drawer full of LM741 op-amp ICs? Every engineer will develop an intimate relationship with op-amps during their electronics courses. These are fundamental circuits in analog electronics and are used as the building blocks for high-precision power systems, amplifiers, filters, and many other devices. You probably won’t be using the same op-amps […]
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 […]
0402 Package Footprint: Resistor Sizes and Parameters
Electronic components come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from extremely complex land/ball grid array components to simple axial resistors and capacitors. If you have experience working with SMD components, you’re probably familiar with chip resistors and their wide range of package sizes. Among the smallest, and yet most popular, is the 0402 resistor, and […]
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 […]
How to Read a Component Datasheet: Parameters, Cautions, and Selection Processes
If you’ve worked with a component before and you’re very familiar with its specifications, you probably won’t need to read a datasheet. Whenever you’re comparing new components, or you need to know the limits of a new component, it’s critical that you scan through a datasheet to find the information you need. Some […]
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 […]
Electronic Parts Search, or EPS: Engineering at the Speed of Innovation
Symbols, footprints, and models can be difficult to find, but they are part of the foundation of any new electronic product. These important pieces of information need to be accurate representations of a component and need to be usable by your CAD software. It can be difficult to find correct component data and I’ve seen […]
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 – […]