Printed Circuit Board Terminologies.pptx

Printed Circuit Board Terminologies

1. PCB Designing Terminologies

2. GERBER FILES CAD file generated from a PCB design software like Eagle and Altium that a PCB manufacturer can refer with to build the PCB layer structure. The most commonly support Gerber file format is RS-274X.

3. Schematic Capture or Schematic Entry Schematic capture or entry is the step in the PCB design cycle where the electronic diagram or schematic of the designed electronic circuit is made using a schematic capture tool or a schematic editor. Normally, a manual hand sketch of the circuit design precedes schematic capture.

4. Circuit Simulation Once an electronic circuit is designed, circuit simulation is done to analyze and test the initial design. Most schematic capture tools allow you to perform interactive circuit simulation with the same schematic circuit representation used for layout, which is rather convenient.

5. NC Drill File A numerically controlled (NC) file specifies the size and position of holes used for unplated holes, plated through-holes, and holes for vias.

6. Annular ring The ring of copper around a plated through hole in a PCB or simply a copper-plated via. All around this via there should be enough copper to form a solid connection between the copper traces and the via in a multi-layer PCB. The main purpose of an annular ring is to establish a good connection between a via and the copper trace.

7. Teardrop Annular Ring The name “teardrop” is because of its shape. Teardrop pad is an extra feature that adds additional copper at the junction of annular rings with PCB traces. This shape can increase the structural integrity against mechanical or thermal stress.  

8. Design Rule Check (DRC) A software check of your design to make sure the design does not contain errors such as traces that incorrectly touch, traces too skinny, or drill holes that are too small.

9. Drill hit Places on a design where a hole should be drilled, or where they actually were drilled on the board. Inaccurate drill hits caused by dull bits are a common manufacturing issue.

10. Finger exposed metal pads along the edge of a board, used to create a connection between two circuit boards. Common examples are along the edges of computer expansion or memory boards and older cartridge-based video games.