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EDN.COMMENT: PCB prototypes add value in the design process

I spend a good portion of my time meeting with companies in the EOEM (electronics-original-equipment-manufacturing) market, and most of those meetings are with semiconductor vendors due to the vast number of such companies. But on a recent trip to the northwest of the United States, I spent time with some different types of companies—two of which are involved in the prototype-PCB (printed-circuit-board)area. The meetings got me thinking about how engineers use prototype PCBs in the design process. I’ll offer upa few things I heard. I’m also hopingthat you will respond in the FeedbackLoop comment section located alongsidethe online version of this articleand tell us and your fellow readers howyou use prototype PCBs.

First, I met with LPKF Laser & Electronics (www.lpkf.com). LPKF makes equipment that allows design engineers to quickly make their own prototype PCBs. A number of years ago, EDN ran a feature on this technology that you might find interesting: See www.edn.com/article/CA45861. LPKF offers computer-controller PCB plotters along with milling machines and plating systems. For as little as $10,000, you can buy the gear you need to build PCB prototypes, although the price can escalate based on your needs for multilayer and SMT (surface-mount-technology) support. The company even offers laserbasedplotters for small production runs.

LPKF President Stephan Schmidt claims that design engineers drive the purchase of most of the company’s systems due to the need for building prototypes during the design process. Schmidt doesn’t suggest that techniques such as simulation aren’t valuable. But he claims that designers often yield higher quality and better performing systems when they can do a series of prototypes to test the systemarchitecture and design.

Even if you don’t have an immediate need for a prototyping system in your lab, you might still want to request a copy of the LPKF catalog. In the back of the document, the company offers a technical guide on PCB manufacturing. Although the catalog presents the information relative to LPKF products, there is also good general information, including sections on design for microwave and RF systems and on SMT designs. LPKF is also worthy of praise for its efforts to encourage engineering education. The company provides refurbished gear to high-school preengineeringprograms.

Later in my trip, I met with Sunstone Circuits (www.sunstone.com), a manufacturer that specializes in prototype PCBs. Originally, Sunstone was in all of the United States’ production- PCB business, but almost all of the production-PCB business hasmoved to Asia.

I would have guessed that most designers ordering prototype PCBs would not order the PCB in the target-system form factor. I’m accustomed to seeing reference designs and development boards with extra connections that offer access to interconnects between chips and to test ports. But Sunstone claims that 80 to 90% of its orders are in the target-system form factor. Rocky Catt, Sunstone’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, claims that some designers will build prototype PCBs with more layers than the production board will use. For the prototype, the designer might rely on an autorouted layout that could lead to extra layers, whereas for the production board, the designer will hand-optimize the board to minimize the numberof layers.

 

EDN Europe Editor Graham Prophet adds: Do we do things differently in the European region, because of a different product mix, for example? Do you only prototype the challenging parts of a systems design or do you get as close as you can to the final design? Do you build more prototypes than you once did, or fewer? How should we cover this sector at EDN Europe, to be of most value to you? You can contact me at EDN Europe, or post your comments direct to EDN’s worldwide community at the feedback address below

Please contact me at graham.prophet@reedbusiness.com.

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Go to www.edn.com/070913ed and click on Feedback Loop to post a comment on this column.