Electrical Design Considerations

Electric component

Any device that handles electricity

Passive Components

Contributes no power gain No control action Does not require any input other than a signal to perform its function Gain < 1

Examples:

Resistors Capacitors Inductors

Active Components

Capable of controlling voltages or currents Can create a switching action in the circuit Amplify or interpret a signal

Examples:

Diodes Transistors ICs

Discrete Integrated Circuit

Discrete

Component packaged with one or two functional elements

Integrated Circuit

Combination of several interconnected discrete components Packaged in a single case to perform multiple functions

Through-hole Surface Mount

Through-hole

Have leads that can be inserted through mounting holes

Surface Mount

Attached directly on the surface of the board

Component Leads

Axial leads

Two leads, extending from each side of the component

Radial leads

Leads emanate from the bottom of the component

Single in-line Dual In-line Pin-grid array Leadless components

Conductor Dimensions

Conductor width

Component packing density Minimum spacing between conductors and components Geometrical constraints due to component outlines

Resistance Capacitance Inductance

Resistance

Measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric current

Resistance of conductor

Depends on the specific resistivity of copper @ 20oC

1.724x10-6 ohm-cm 1.78x10-6 ohm-cm

@ 25oC

Assume:

Standard copper foil of 35 um thickness (without plating)

R = L / A

Example 1

Compute the resistance of a 1mm wide copper conductor per cm length at 20oC

Example 2

Compute the resistance of a copper conductor at 25oC with a 0.3 mm conductor width and 35um copper thickness and 500 mm length

Example 3

Compute the resistance of an 8 mil wide copper conductor with a length of 120 mm and a copper thickness of 70 um. Assume the o temperature to be 25 C

Resistance and Temperature

When a current flows through a conductor, its temperature rises due to the joule effect

Rt = R0[1 + (T1-T0)]

Example 1

Assume that the inside temperature in an electric equipment is 80oC while the outside temperature is 20oC. Compute the resistance at 80oC given copper conductivity of 0.0039, the resistance of 0.5mm conductor, 10 cm long (with 100 ohm resistance)

Example 2

Rt = 2.706x10-8 = 0.0043 T1 = 25oC T2 = 20 C

o

Recommended Current Carrying Capacity of Traces

Capacitance

Ability of a body to hold electrical charge 2 situations:

Capacitance between conductors on opposite sides Capacitance between adjacent conductor

Capacitance between conductors on opposite sides of the PCB

C = 0.886 x x A/b

relative dielectric constant A total overlapping area b thickness of dielectric

Capacitance between adjacent conductors

Function of

Width Thickness Spacing Dielectric constant of the board material

Coupling capacitance for a G-10 laminate with dielectric constant of 5.4 and conductor thickness of 35um