Tips of Schematic design

Although there is no guarantee, a good layout starts with a good schematic. Be thoughtful and generous when drawing a schematic, and think about signal flow through the circuit. A schematic that has a natural and steady flow from left to right will tend to have a good flow on the board as well. Put as much useful information on the schematic as possible. The designers, technicians, and engineers who will work on this job will be most appreciative.

What kind of information belongs on a schematic besides the usual reference designators, power dissipations, and tolerances? Here are a few suggestions that can turn an ordinary schematic into a super schematic!

Add waveforms, mechanical information about the housing or enclosure, trace lengths, keep-out areas; designate which components need to be on top of the board; include tuning information, component value ranges, thermal information, controlled impedance lines, notes, brief circuit operating descriptions.

The increasing complexity and miniaturization of electronic devices are the catalyst for the ongoing evolution of PCB design. In these days, PCB designers are facing challenges of an entirely different level to that of their predecessors. New convergences with FPGA and mechanical design, integration and scale complexity, thermal challenges and information management are some of the issues which PCB designers need to contend with. Fortunately, fast PCB prototyping tools and advances in design software are on hand to keep up with these challenges PCB design.