Re-engineering PCB designs

by guidokritz

Re-engineering PCB designs

Electronic circuitry has been integral to essential machine systems for a long time now. Factory systems, aircraft, cruise ships, locomotives, excavation equipment, drilling rigs and motor vehicles all have sophisticated PCB designs at their core. Without these circuits, the entire system is useless. If the PCB design becomes defective, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of valuable machinery will sit idle, until the defective component is replaced.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always as easy as calling the mechanical engineering company who built the machinery and asking them to pop in a new one off the shelf. Heavy machinery and transport systems are designed to last a long time, and the PCB circuits likewise. Replacing a PCB design that is still under warranty is one thing – replacing one which is a few years old, and may have become obsolete, is another – especially if the components were not standard OTS issue. Either the engineering company or the component manufacturer who supplied the parts may have gone out of business. For any number of reasons, the technical documentation and CAD data files for the PCB design may be unavailable – and without them, you can’t have a replacement made.

Or can you? There is a way of obtaining a new, working PCB design that’s identical in every respect to the old one – it can be re-engineered from the original. Reverse engineering originated during WWll, and was used more in mechanical engineering in earlier days. However, it can be applied to electronic, as well as mechanical designs – you can even re-engineer software programs. Companies offering a comprehensive and reliable PCB reverse engineering service are far and few between, but those who do can use the latest CAD technology to recreate a PCB, or even FPGA design, which is identical in every way to the original. And if that one goes wrong, you have all the electronic data files and technical documentation you need to order as many replacements as you want.

Even experienced developers baulk at the idea of unraveling the design pathways of the average printed circuit board. And customers baulk at the cost, if they’re paying by the hour. But specialists experienced in this space, utilizing unique innovative approaches, can create labeled schematics and complex netlists, allowing new-from-old PCB designs to be cloned quickly and easily. The schematics generated include names of both signals and components, utilizing simulated annealing algorithms and arranging the design over several pages for clarity. Such reverse engineering is possible in most leading PCB design tools, and have become invaluable to developers, researchers and design engineers.

The re-design begins with a detailed image of the original layout i.e. a drawing or photograph. Or the actual physical board. If the input is an image, this holds no information on, for example ground plane impedance. Nonetheless, it is the template an experienced engineer can use to redraw the connections and replace components. Modern PCB design software allows the image to be placed beneath the screen layout as it is created, after which the image can be deleted. This allows modifications of the original circuitry. For example, FPGA designs have been reverse engineered to create modern, low power consumption versions.

We at Enventure Technologies have a team of specialist engineers who can re-engineer advanced circuit board and FPGA designs to the highest level of precision, using the latest industry software.

Comprehending PCB design

by roberthunt1987

Comprehending PCB design

PCBs, or printed circuit boards, are found wherever there are electronic components. Whenever you see an electronic gizmo, a PCB layout is at its heart. PCB design is an essential element of business and leisure.

A PCB designer etches, or traces, conductive pathways from copper sheets that have been laminated onto a non-conductive base. This provides an electronic pathway to connect various electronic components together. Together, they are known as a printed circuit board assembly.

PCB layout is a complex and challenging skill. However, the low cost, high reliability, and high-volume speed of PCB design has seen it take over from older methods like point-to-point circuits.

PCB layout has been made a lot easier in recent years with the development of specialised software tools. However, it is still a specialised task needing a high degree of patience and concentration.  PCB design services remain dependent on maintaining very high standards.

It is important that the PCB layout is accurate, and the correct board is used. The conducting layers are made of thin copper foil, while the non-conducting, or insulating layers are composed from a variety of different substrates, laminated together with epoxy resin. It is pivotal to choose the right type of substrate as this will affect the insulating properties of the board. Similarly, the width of the trace will affect the resistance of the circuit.

We at Concept CAD employ highly skilled PCB designers and the very latest PCB layout tools, such as Cadence Allegro, to create complex PCB designs for a wide range of applications.

How the latest PCB design products are revolutionising the electronics industry

How the latest PCB design products are revolutionising the electronics industry

Printed circuit board design has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years; with tools like the Cadence Allegro PCB design range making intricate, small-scale layouts fast and easy to create. Cadence PCB design has a full range of features, specifically aimed at the electrical and physical constraints of modern PCB layouts. Modern electronic components are far smaller, and more complex, than those of yesterday – printed circuit boards have to address this, by becoming finer and easier to use. PCB’s were once a specialist area, and therefore designers could take many hours over each one. Today, however, they are used extensively in commerce, industry, health, research and consumer goods. Practically everyone has a mobile phone. Game systems and I-pods are found in every household. From toys to greetings cards, printed circuit boards are the norm. This puts tremendous pressure on the designers and creators, who are expected to have fast and reliable output to keep up with demand. Printed circuit boards, for all their modernity, are still one product that is largely assembled by hand. Today’s PCB design technicians are looking for specific features in the tools they use, which will enable them to create restraint-driven PCB’s swiftly and accurately. This is why products like the Cadence Allegro are so sought after – they have been thoroughly researched to offer the very latest PCB routing, design and layout systems. The user interface is consistent and easy to use, throughout the entire design flow. Global routing technology can be used in complex PCB layouts with a high speed interface, in a way that wasn’t possible before. We at Concept Cad use high powered tools like the Cadence Allegro Expert XL to give us full control, precision, accuracy and constraint – no matter how complex the boards we supply.

Printed circuit board design has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years; with tools like the Cadence Allegro PCB design range making intricate, small-scale layouts fast and easy to create.

Cadence PCB design has a full range of features, specifically aimed at the electrical and physical constraints of modern PCB layouts. Modern electronic components are far smaller, and more complex, than those of yesterday – printed circuit boards have to address this, by becoming finer and easier to use.

PCB’s were once a specialist area, and therefore designers could take many hours over each one. Today, however, they are used extensively in commerce, industry, health, research and consumer goods. Practically everyone has a mobile phone. Game systems and I-pods are found in every household. From toys to greetings cards, printed circuit boards are the norm. This puts tremendous pressure on the designers and creators, who are expected to have fast and reliable output to keep up with demand. Printed circuit boards, for all their modernity, are still one product that is largely assembled by hand.

Today’s PCB design technicians are looking for specific features in the tools they use, which will enable them to create restraint-driven PCB’s swiftly and accurately. This is why products like the Cadence Allegro are so sought after – they have been thoroughly researched to offer the very latest PCB routing, design and layout systems. The user interface is consistent and easy to use, throughout the entire design flow. Global routing technology can be used in complex PCB layouts with a high speed interface, in a way that wasn’t possible before.

We at Concept Cad use high powered tools like the Cadence Allegro Expert XL to give us full control, precision, accuracy and constraint – no matter how complex the boards we supply.

Know More about PCB Design in UK

by JulianBleecker

Know More about PCB Design in UK

On a daily basis, we use different types of electronic items such as mobile phones, television, laptops, computers and lots more. These all electronic equipments make the use of PCBs (printed circuit boards). A PCB can be defined as a platform where different electronic components are fixed all together in order to make the device functional. PCB design UK is an essential part of business.

A PCB designer etches, or traces, conductive pathways from copper sheets that have been laminated onto a non-conductive base. There are numerous electronic companies in UK that are involved into electronic components manufacturing make the use of PCBs on a large basis. These companies either make the PCB itself or purchase it from somewhere on bulk. A company involves into PCB design is capable of designing the circuit board for different types and sizes of electronic products. In simle words, the PCB design UK for a laptop is different from a desktop. To cater the needs of different markets, the PCB Design companies UK make the use of latest manufacturing technologies. The wide range of Printed Circuit Board layout services includes Assembly Drawings, BOM Creation, Schematic Capture, PCB Layout, and Library Part Creation etc. There are different types of PCBs such as Single-Sided, Double-sided, SMT, Multi-layer, Blind and buried vias, Flexi-rigid, and Rigidised flexi.

There are numerous softwares available in the market that is specifically developed for PCB design in UK. These softwares include Vutrax, Cadstar, and P-Cad etc. Modern PCB design tools fulfill a number of functions. They must be capable of facing the complex tasks in miniature, whist being quick and accurate in use. Modern PCB design UK systems make the use of latest technology in order to cater the need of different electronic markets.

PCB design services often utilize numerous platforms, so it’s essential the use interface of each is comprehensive and easy to use.

Established in 1987, Blackburn Circuit Design Ltd provides a high quality PCB design, manufacturing and assembly service to the electronics industry. We are a team of professional PCB design UK engineers offering a wealth of layout experience ranging from single-sided boards for the consumer market through to complex multi-layer flexi-rigid PCB’s for the defense industry.

[www.nexlogic.com] When it comes to PCB design layout, there are multiple steps which are involved in this process.In this tutorial video, we will go over steps 1, 2 and 3 which are; Layout preparation, parts library creation and constraints setup.

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