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Commercially-Focused PCB Design

Get Your Product to Market Faster and Avoid Costly Mistakes Whilst Retaining all Your Intellectual Property Rights

 

Elektra Design Team of the Year

PCB Design Services

Electronic Product Design

Get support on Rigid, flexi-rigid and flexi PCB design and FPGA programming.

Design Out the Bugs and streamline your project.

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Ideal PCB layouts for your great product ideas

Avoid problems and get a great PCB layout.

Good PCB layout is critical to electronics designs properly working.
Poor layout can be the cause of numerous functional and compliance issues.
We use our Altium Designer 20 knowledge to streamline your projects.

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Our PCB layout process

Printed Circuit Board outline

Not all PCBs are square or rectangular.
Many of our designs are interesting shapes, created to fit in to the enclosures, make assembly easier or reduce the overall impression of size.

 

Cost considerations for PCB design

There are cost implications to making odd-shaped boards as they can increase material wastage if the boards do not tesselate when panelised. These cost implications need to be balanced against ease of manufacture, service, repair, form factor and use.
We can help you way up the costs against the look or functionality of your overall electronics design or product.
Evaluating the pros and cons?

Signal and power planes – layer stack

The complexity, board area and performance requirements of the product will determine how many copper layers are needed and what they will be used for. There are usually an even number of PCB layers. Often at least one layer is designated as a ground plane, others as signal layers for many interconnections and partial or complete power planes.

 

Be Careful

Care needs to be taken designing the layer stack to provide good EMC performance, break signals out of high pin count devices, allow impedance needs to be met and to keep copper balanced to minimise board warping during reflow.
We have a lot of experience as an engineering team at giving the care and attention to get a PCB board right.

PCB layout materials

Beyond deciding on whether the printed circuit board should be rigid, flexi or a combination, flex-rigid, the material selection and layer stack is important. Many PCBs are made from woven fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin, the most common of these is known as FR-4. There are a wide range of grades and thicknesses depending upon the application. High speed and radio PCBs benefit from boards with a tighter fibreglass weave.

 

Very high-speed electronics

For very high-speed electronics there are PTFE or Teflon cores which are more expensive but help to reduce losses.

Track geometries

When schematics are drawn it is useful to indicate which connections have special attributes and to set design rules up for these. This could include simple attributes for high current traces that need to be a minimum width or can be more complex for skew, length matching, characteristic impedances etc.

 

Attributes

Those attributes are applied to the PCB as rules which set up trace widths, separations and length checking. These are used when creating tracking, pouring copper planes and for verification checking at the end of the design.

PCB layout Component placement

Every component from the design needs to be placed on the printed circuit board – ideally on a grid for alignment and manufacturing ease.

 

Mechanical constraints

Mechanical constraints from connectors, lights, sensors and tall components are placed together with components with complex routing
requirements. This is a balance and feels like a puzzle, rotating and moving components around as well as flipping components onto the opposite side of the board can turn a very complex situation into one that is much clearer and simpler.

 

Using design tools

Where the same circuit design is repeated a number of times the design tools can allow you to replicate the component placement and tracking to save time and minimise the opportunities for error.

Tracking and Vias

PCB design tools allow connections to be made between components which span multiple layers of the printed circuit board. Individual layers are typically colour coded for clarity and are viewed by looking through the top of the board.

 

About Vias

Where connections change layers for example to cross over, to break out of a high pin count device, or for other reasons a via is used. Vias are copper pads in the pcb which have a drill- hole between them and which are electroplated to electrically join them. In high density boards it is possible to use blind and buried vias which don’t traverse the full PCB depth to make use of more of the PCB area. This increases cost but helps squeeze designs into smaller areas. Vias can be different diameters and need to be considered for current, impedance and manufacturability.

Thermal management

Electronics produce heat. Many components incorporate a thermal pad, often connected to ground, which is used to thermally conduct heat out of
the device. Copper areas in the PCB can act as heat spreaders to distribute the heat over a wider area and so act as a heatsink.
Care needs to be taken to ensure that this heat distribution, and the placement of other heat generating components doesn’t cause other devices to heat up beyond their specification to avoid premature component failures and incorrect operation.

 

Product testing

It is also worthwhile testing products in environmental test chambers if you are worried about heat, cold, humidity or temperature fluctuations. We have 2 environmental chambers on-site at Ignys on Nottingham Science Park.
What to read next:

Test and programming access

Many modern components have a high pin count and density which can make debug and test challenging. Small areas of bare copper, known as test points, can be left exposed (and if space allows labelled for ease of identification) to give access to key circuit parts. This could include power supply rails, sensor outputs, programming connections, serial interconnection busses such as I2C, SPI and USB.

 

Test points

The test points add no cost to the PCB and can be invaluable in development and also later in volume production. Fully populated printed circuit boards, with components soldered into place, can use a test fixture as a quality control measure and to program and calibrate units automatically and repeatably.

Silkscreen

PCBs can have up to two silkscreen layers. These are non-conductive text, markings, warnings and identification labels that can assist during assembly, test and installation.
Common uses of silkscreen are to indicate the polarity of components such as diodes and capacitors, indicate the pin 1 reference on ICs, identify test points, show the PCB part and revision number, provide warning symbols for high-voltage, ESD care, and to label each terminal on a connector that is manually wired to the board.

Design Rule Checking

Design rule checking is used to confirm that the manual placement of components, tracks and planes and the more complex attributes for high speed or high-power tracks meet the rules. This can include track length matching and maximum lengths, trace widths and a very simple but important check that all of the connections have been made.
As with other rule-based approaches this relies heavily on the rules being set up correctly in the first place.
We can help you set up these rules.

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PCB Dimensions
The specification, size, shape and materials used for a PCB are dictated by its function and performance needs. PCBs are often viewed as a simple item to connect components together. The PCB can make or break a design, reduce the wireless connectivity range, increase sensor noise, bring EMC compliance failures and more.
PCBs are a vital part of the electronics in your system and the success of your product.

Ignys Ltd are members of Altium Service Bureau 

Service bureaus are independent service providers that use Altium products and solutions.

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PCB design skillsets

Here’s just a few…

  • Flexi, Rigid-flex and rigid PCBs
  • Custom PCB layout
  • PCB prototypes
  • Multilayer PCBs
  • Surface mount components
  • Surface mount packages
  • Breaking signals out from surface mount packages
  • Through hole components

Some blogs we know you’ll love

A Brief Guide to CAD for Electronic PCBs

What’s so great about design reviews anyway?

4 reasons to use CAD

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Success Stories

Case studies from Ignys Ltd

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FPGA Design and EMC Compliance Support

Rapidly moving onto the next scale-up
Proof of Concept Technical Demonstrator for Energy Project

Hand-delivered a proof-of-concept demonstrator
Software Development Case Study

Extra features, problem solving and regular hours. "Stephen Lynch has been fantastic"
Environmental Simulation Test for Electronics Design

Test plan passing conformance metrics.
Product Development for Innovative Start-Up

Now at prototyping stage for a hot climate
Electronics Design For Availability

Successful sourcing of replacement parts with redesign
FPGA Design and EMC Compliance Support

Rapidly moving onto the next scale-up
Proof of Concept Technical Demonstrator for Energy Project

Hand-delivered a proof-of-concept demonstrator
Software Development Case Study

Extra features, problem solving and regular hours. "Stephen Lynch has been fantastic"
Environmental Simulation Test for Electronics Design

Test plan passing conformance metrics.
Product Development for Innovative Start-Up

Now at prototyping stage for a hot climate
Electronics Design For Availability

Successful sourcing of replacement parts with redesign
FPGA Design and EMC Compliance Support

Rapidly moving onto the next scale-up
Proof of Concept Technical Demonstrator for Energy Project

Hand-delivered a proof-of-concept demonstrator
Software Development Case Study

Extra features, problem solving and regular hours. "Stephen Lynch has been fantastic"
Environmental Simulation Test for Electronics Design

Test plan passing conformance metrics.
Product Development for Innovative Start-Up

Now at prototyping stage for a hot climate
Electronics Design For Availability

Successful sourcing of replacement parts with redesign
FPGA Design and EMC Compliance Support

Rapidly moving onto the next scale-up
Proof of Concept Technical Demonstrator for Energy Project

Hand-delivered a proof-of-concept demonstrator
Software Development Case Study

Extra features, problem solving and regular hours. "Stephen Lynch has been fantastic"
Environmental Simulation Test for Electronics Design

Test plan passing conformance metrics.
Product Development for Innovative Start-Up

Now at prototyping stage for a hot climate
Electronics Design For Availability

Successful sourcing of replacement parts with redesign
FPGA Design and EMC Compliance Support

Rapidly moving onto the next scale-up
Proof of Concept Technical Demonstrator for Energy Project

Hand-delivered a proof-of-concept demonstrator
Software Development Case Study

Extra features, problem solving and regular hours. "Stephen Lynch has been fantastic"
Environmental Simulation Test for Electronics Design

Test plan passing conformance metrics.
Product Development for Innovative Start-Up

Now at prototyping stage for a hot climate
Electronics Design For Availability

Successful sourcing of replacement parts with redesign
FPGA Design and EMC Compliance Support

Rapidly moving onto the next scale-up
Proof of Concept Technical Demonstrator for Energy Project

Hand-delivered a proof-of-concept demonstrator
Software Development Case Study

Extra features, problem solving and regular hours. "Stephen Lynch has been fantastic"
Environmental Simulation Test for Electronics Design

Test plan passing conformance metrics.
Product Development for Innovative Start-Up

Now at prototyping stage for a hot climate
Electronics Design For Availability

Successful sourcing of replacement parts with redesign

Our Collaborative Approach Helps You

We work directly with you to create the best PCB layout for your project

Need a PCB Designing? Our UK Based PCB Design experts can help.

Tell us what you are looking to create and we’ll help make that happen.

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What to read next

The importance of Printed Circuit Boards

Printed Circuit Boards provide a place to solder electronic components onto. This makes hundreds or thousands of connections necessary. This allows for circuits and designs to function.
In addition the PCB design is also key for:
  • Signal integrity
  • Noise performance
  • Safety
  • Electromagnetic compatibility
  • Mechanical fit
  • And much more
Drop us a line through the form below and we'll get back to you within 48 hours to let you know how we can help and answer all your questions.
Or call us: 0115 772 2825

Let's talk about your project