USB DSO: The PCB Design
Posted Fri, 23rd Mar '12 at 4:53am by Blackthorne TA
Updated Fri, 23rd Mar '12 at 5:07am by Blackthorne TA
Updated Fri, 23rd Mar '12 at 5:07am by Blackthorne TA
So, what's next now that the circuit design is complete? Well, you need some way of actually constructing the circuit in the real world, and these days that means surface mount parts and a printed circuit board or PCB.
Diptrace which was the tool I used for the design schematics, also includes a very nice PCB design tool that integrates directly with the schematics. So it lets you place all the parts and route all the traces in a very intuitive manner.
Since I wanted to create the PCB myself I was limited to a 2-sided board and thus a design goal was to have all the power and signal traces on the side with the parts and the entire other side to be a ground plane.
As you can see from the following PCB designs, I was successful, but I can tell you it was not an easy thing to accomplish, and PCB design is as much an art as it is a science
Here is the top side PCB design (the side with the parts, and the power and signal traces):
And here is the bottom side (the ground plane):
Coming up: Pictures of the real thing!
Diptrace which was the tool I used for the design schematics, also includes a very nice PCB design tool that integrates directly with the schematics. So it lets you place all the parts and route all the traces in a very intuitive manner.
Since I wanted to create the PCB myself I was limited to a 2-sided board and thus a design goal was to have all the power and signal traces on the side with the parts and the entire other side to be a ground plane.
As you can see from the following PCB designs, I was successful, but I can tell you it was not an easy thing to accomplish, and PCB design is as much an art as it is a science
Here is the top side PCB design (the side with the parts, and the power and signal traces):
And here is the bottom side (the ground plane):
Coming up: Pictures of the real thing!
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