C-Design, in Huntsville Alabama,  has been designing and laying out complex Printed Circuit Boards for over 25 years.  

We use the best in Printed Circuit Board layout  high-end software including differential pair routing for high-speed signals. Our staff can handle unlimited routes and layers using complex design PCB Example rules.

Some of our toughest Printed Circuit Board layout projects have been over 16 layer designs containing mixed RF / Analog and Digital designs, and have included military-qualified design methodologies and requirements.

Our PCB layout and PCB design services and capabilities include:

• Single-sided, double-sided, and multi-layer boards
• Rigid and flexible circuits
• Surface mount, through-hole, mixed technology
• Design for manufacturability (DFM)
• Design for testability (DFT)
• Design for EMC

Concurrent engineering means shortening the engineering process cycle by introducing parallel engineering processes instead of sequential ones.

Concurrent engineering is how you will shorten your lead times on your designs so that your manufacturing departments can start manufacturing that much sooner.

During the development of your product, our PCB designers will work closely with your electrical engineers and mechanical engineers to ensure that the placement of parts meets both circuit and mechanical architecture needs.

Our designers have experience in PCB layouts of high density, high speed, digital and RF circuits where signal integrity and electrical performance are critical.

We also work closely with manufacturers so that we can provide a printed circuit board design that supports efficient assembly and testing with high yields during production.

Working closely with your development team, C-Design will initially establish a physical  size of the printed circuit board based on guidance and constraints provided from your mechanical designers.

With an approved PCB outline in hand, C-Design nexts implements a preliminary component placement based on the BOM (Bill of Materials), electrical netlists, and component placement guidance from your electrical engineers.

You’ll then  receive the pre-routing component placement for your review.  Once any final component placement adjustments are implemented, we begin the routing process, after which you will receive an set of preliminary Gerber’s for your review.

After routing placement adjustments have been completed, a final review is conducted on the full design package delivered to you. 

The design package includes:  PCB layout design file, a was-is back annotated file for your schematic, Gerber files, a fabrication drawing set, automated pick-n-place X-Y coordinate files and any additional ancillary files required for manufacturing your completed assembly.

The main generic standard for the PCB design, regardless of materials, is
IPC-2221A. Whether a printed circuit board is single-sided, double-sided or multilayer , this standard provides rules for manufacturability and quality such as requirements for material properties, criteria for surface plating, conductor thickness, component placement, dimensioning and tolerance rules, and more.

For a specific technology, a designer can then choose an appropriate sectional standard from the IPC-2220 series. For power conversion designs, additional parameters are recommended by
IPC-9592A.

The width and thickness of the conductors should be chosen based on maximum allowable temperature rise at the rated current per IPC-2152 and an acceptable impedance.  Depending on circuit voltage, 4 mil is the minimum spacing and 6/6 mils is more common. The manufacturing capabilities of your fabricator also play a key roll in defining trace width and spacing.

Depending on the application and product end use, other standards may also apply. For example, for mains -powered or battery-powered information technology equipment, the creepage and clearance requirements of IEC/UL 60950-1 take precedence over IPC.