What's a PCB?

Printed circuit board is the most common name but may also be called "printed wiring boards" or
"printed wiring cards". Before the advent of the PCB circuits were constructed through a laborious
process of point-to-point wiring. This led to frequent failures at wire junctions and short circuits when
wire insulation began to age and crack.

->

courtesy Wikipedia user Wikinaut <-

A significant advance was the development of wire wrapping, where a small gauge wire is literally
wrapped around a post at each connection point, creating a gas-tight connection which is highly durable
and easily changeable.

As electronics moved from vacuum tubes and relays to silicon and integrated circuits, the size and cost
of electronic components began to decrease. Electronics became more prevalent in consumer goods,
and the pressure to reduce the size and manufacturing costs of electronic products drove manufacturers
to look for better solutions. Thus was born the PCB.
PCB is an acronym for printed circuit board. It is a board that has lines and pads that connect various
points together. In the picture above, there are traces that electrically connect the various connectors
and components to each other. A PCB allows signals and power to be routed between physical devices.
Solder is the metal that makes the electrical connections between the surface of the PCB and the
electronic components. Being metal, solder also serves as a strong mechanical adhesive.

Composition

A PCB is sort of like a layer cake or lasagna- there are alternating layers of different materials which are
laminated together with heat and adhesive such that the result is a single object.
Let's start in the middle and work our way out.

FR4

The base material, or substrate, is usually fiberglass. Historically, the most common designator for this
fiberglass is "FR4". This solid core gives the PCB its rigidity and thickness. There are also flexible PCBs
built on flexible high-temperature plastic (Kapton or the equivalent).

You will find many different thickness PCBs; the most common thickness for SparkFun products is
1.6mm (0.063"). Some of our products- LilyPad boards and Arudino Pro Micro boards- use a 0.8mm thick
board.

Cheaper PCBs and perf boards (shown above) will be made with other materials such as epoxies or
phenolics which lack the durability of FR4 but are much less expensive. You will know you are working
with this type of PCB when you solder to it - they have a very distictive bad smell. These types of
substrates are also typically found in low-end consumer electronics. Phenolics have a low thermal
decomposition temperature which causes them to delaminate, smoke and char when the soldering iron
is held too long on the board.

Copper

The next layer is a thin copper foil, which is laminated to the board with heat and adhesive. On common,
double sided PCBs, copper is applied to both sides of the substrate. In lower cost electronic gadgets the
PCB may have copper on only one side. When we refer to a double sided or 2-layer board we are
referring to the number of copper layers (2) in our lasagna. This can be as few as 1 layer or as many as
16 layers or more.
PCB with copper exposed, no solder mask or silkscreen.

The copper thickness can vary and is specified by weight, in ounces per square foot. The vast majority of
PCBs have 1 ounce of copper per square foot but some PCBs that handle very high power may use 2 or 3
ounce copper. Each ounce per square translates to about 35 micrometers or 1.4 thousandths of an inch
of thickness of copper.

Soldermask

The layer on top of the copper foil is called the soldermask layer. This layer gives the PCB its green (or, at
SparkFun, red) color. It is overlaid onto the copper layer to insulate the copper traces from accidental
contact with other metal, solder, or conductive bits. This layer helps the user to solder to the correct
places and prevent solder jumpers.

In the example below, the green solder mask is applied to the majority of the PCB, covering up the small
traces but leaving the silver rings and SMD pads exposed so they can be soldered to.
Soldermask is most commonly green in color but nearly any color is possible. We use red for almost all
the SparkFun boards, white for the IOIO board, and purple for the LilyPad boards.

Silkscreen

The white silkscreen layer is applied on top of the soldermask layer. The silkscreen adds letters,
numbers, and symbols to the PCB that allow for easier assembly and indicators for humans to better
understand the board. We often use silkscreen labels to indicate what the function of each pin or LED.
Silkscreen is most commonly white but any ink color can be used. Black, gray, red, and even yellow
silkscreen colors are widely available; it is, however, uncommon to see more than one color on a single
board.

Terminology

Now that you've got an idea of what a PCB structure is, let's define some terms that you may hear when
dealing with PCBs:

 Annular ring - the ring of copper around a plated through hole in a PCB.

Examples of annular rings.

 DRC - design rule check. 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.
  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.

Not so accurate, but functional drill hits.

 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.

 Mouse bites - an alternative to v-score for separating boards from panels. A number of drill hits
are clustered close together, creating a weak spot where the board can be broken easily after
the fact. See the SparkFun Protosnap boards for a good example.

Mouse bites on the LilyPad ProtoSnap allow the PCB to be snapped apart easily.

 Pad - a portion of exposed metal on the surface of a board to which a component is soldered.
PTH (plated through-hole) pads on the left, SMD (surface mount device) pads on the right.

 Panel - a larger circuit board composed of many smaller boards which will be broken apart
before use. Automated circuit board handling equipment frequently has trouble with smaller
boards, and by aggregating several boards together at once, the process can be sped up
significantly.

 Paste stencil - a thin, metal (or sometimes plastic) stencil which lies over the board, allowing
solder paste to be deposited in specific areas during assembly.

ReplaceMeOpen

ReplaceMeClose

Abe does a quick demonstration of how to line up a paste stencil and apply solder paste.

 Pick-and-place - the machine or process by which components are placed on a circuit board.

ReplaceMeOpen

ReplaceMeClose

Bob shows us the SparkFun MyData Pick and Place machine. It's pretty awesome.

 Plane - a continuous block of copper on a circuit board, define by borders rather than by a path.
Also commonly called a "pour".
Various portions of the PCB that have no traces but has a ground pour instead.

 Plated through hole - a hole on a board which has an annular ring and which is plated all the
way through the board. May be a connection point for a through hole component, a via to pass
a signal through, or a mounting hole.

A PTH resistor inserted into the FabFM PCB, ready to be soldered. The legs of the resistor go through the
holes. The plated holes can have traces connected to them on the front of the PCB and the rear of the
PCB.

 Pogo pin - spring-loaded contact used to make a temporary connection for test or programming
purposes.
The popular pogo pin with pointed tip. We use tons of these on our test beds.

 Reflow - melting the solder to create joints between pads and component leads.

 Silkscreen - the letters, number, symbols, and imagery on a circuit board. Usually only one color
is available, and resolution is usually fairly low.

Silkscreen identifying this LED as the power LED.

 Slot - any hole in a board which is not round. Slots may or may not be plated. Slots sometimes
add to add cost to the board because they require extra cut-out time.
Complex slots cut into the ProtoSnap - Pro Mini. There are also many mouse bites shown. Note: the
corners of the slots cannot be made completely square because they are cut with a circular routing bit.

 Solder paste - small balls of solder suspended in a gel medium which, with the aid of a paste
stencil, are applied to the surface mount pads on a PCB before the components are placed.
During reflow, the solder in the paste melts, creating electrical and mechanical joints between
the pads and the component.

Solder paste on a PCB shortly before the components are placed. Be sure to read about *paste
stencil above as well.*

 Solder pot - a pot used to quickly hand solder boards with through hole components. Usually
contains a small amount of molten solder into which the board is quickly dipped, leaving solder
joints on all exposed pads.
  Soldermask - a layer of protective material laid over the metal to prevent short circuits,
corrosion, and other problems. Frequently green, although other colors (SparkFun red, Arduino
blue, or Apple black) are possible. Occasionally referred to as "resist".

Solder mask covers up the signal traces but leaves the pads to solder to.

 Solder jumper - a small, blob of solder connecting two adjacent pins on a component on a
circuit board. Depending on the design, a solder jumper can be used to connect two pads or pins
together. It can also cause unwanted shorts.

 Surface mount - construction method which allows components to be simply set on a board, not
requiring that leads pass through holes in the board. This is the dominant method of assembly in
use today, and allows boards to be populated quickly and easily.

 Thermal - a small trace used to connect a pad to a plane. If a pad is not thermally relieved, it
becomes difficult to get the pad to a high enough temperature to create a good solder joint. An
improperly thermally relieved pad will feel "sticky" when you attempt to solder to it, and will
take an abnormally long time to reflow.

On the left, a solder pad with two small traces (thermals) connecting the pin to the ground plane. On the
right, a via with no thermals connecting it completely to the ground plane.

 Thieving - hatching, gridlines, or dots of copper left in areas of a board where no plane or traces
exist. Reduces difficulty of etching because less time in the bath is required to remove unneeded
copper.
  Trace - a continuous path of copper on a circuit board.

-> A small trace connecting the Reset pad to elsewhere on the board. A larger, thicker trace connects to
the 5V power pin. <-

 V-score- a partial cut through a board, allowing the board to be easily snapped along a line.

 Via - a hole in a board used to pass a signal from one layer to another. Tented vias are covered
by soldermask to protect them from being soldered to. Vias where connectors and components
are to be attached are often untented (uncovered) so that they can be easily soldered.

Front and back of the same PCB showing a tented via. This via brings the signal from the front side of the
PCB, through the middle of the board, to the back side.

 Wave solder - a method of soldering used on boards with through-hole components where the
board is passed over a standing wave of molten solder, which adheres to exposed pads and
component leads.

Designing Your Own!

How do you go about designing your own PCB? The ins and outs of PCB design are way too in depth to
get into here, but if you really want to get started, here are some pointers:

1. Find a CAD package: there are a lot of low-cost or free options out there on the market for PCB
design. Things to consider when choosing a package:

o Community support: are there a lot of people using the package? The more people using
it, the more likely you are to find ready-made libraries with the parts you need.

o Ease-of-use: if it's painful to use it, you won't.

 o Capability: some programs place limitations on your design- number of layers, number
of components, size of board, etc. Most of them allow you to pay for a license to
upgrade their capability.

o Portability: some free programs do not allow you to export or convert your designs,
locking you in to one supplier only. Maybe that's a fair price to pay for convenience and
price, maybe not.

2. Look at other people's layouts to see what they have done. Open Source Hardware makes this
easier than ever.

3. Practice, practice, practice.

4. Maintain low expectations. Your first board design will have lots of problems. Your 20th board
design will have fewer, but will still have some. You'll never get rid of them all.

5. Schematics are important. Trying to design a board without a good schematic in place first is an
exercise in futility.

Finally, a few words on the utility of designing your own circuit boards. If you plan on making more than
one or two of a given project, the payback on designing a board is pretty good- point-to-point wiring
circuits on a protoboard is a hassle, and they tend to be less robust than purpose-designed boards. It
also allows you to sell your design if it turns out to be popular.

What is IC packaging?
IC (Integrated Circuit) is one of the most important electronic components, due to the complex
functions and uses involved, there are many types of ICs. In order to facilitate the management, IC
chips were defined as various standard packages.

IC packaging indicates the dimension and shape of a chip. Chips with the same electronic
parameters may have different IC packages. IC package types are mainly divided into traditional DIP
dual-in-line and SMD chip package, they are soldered by different methods (Wave soldering &
Reflow soldering).

DIP (Double In-line Package)

The leads are led out from both sides of the body, the materials include plastic and ceramic. DIP
applications include standard logic ICs, memory LSIs, and microcomputer circuits.
The pin pitch of DIP is typically 15.2mm. Some packages with widths of 7.52mm and 10.16mm are
called skinny DIP and slim DIP (narrow-body DIP). However, in most cases, it is not differentiated
and is simply referred to as DIP.
SOP/SOIC/SO (Small Outline Package)

The pins are drawn in an L shape from both sides of the body, the materials include plastic and
ceramic. In addition to being used for memory LSI, SOP is also widely used in circuits such as ASSP
that is not too large. The pin pitch is 1.27mm and the number of pins is from 8 to 44.

SOP derives some more IC packaging types, as follows:

SOJ (Small Out-Line J-Leaded Package): J-lead small outline package
TSOP (Thin Small Outline Package): This IC packaging is thinner than SOP with a pin pitch of
1.27mm
SSOP (Shrink Small Outline Package): Pin pitch is 0.635mm
TSSOP (Thin Shrink Small Outline Package): This IC package type is thinner than SOP with a pitch
of 0.65mm
QSOP (Quarter-size Small Outline Package): Pin pitch is 0.635 mm
VSOP (Very Small Outline Package): It is smaller than QSOP and has a pitch of 0.4, 0.5 or 0.65 mm

QFP (Quad Flat Package)

The leads are led out from four sides in an L-shape, the materials are ceramic, metal and plastic,
among which, plastic packaging accounts for the vast majority.
The pin pitches include 1.0mm, 0.8mm, 0.65mm, 0.5mm, 0.4mm, 0.3mm and other specifications.
The maximum number of pins of 0.65mm package is 304.

Depending on the thickness of the package body, QFP currently has the following variants:
LQFP (Flat Quad Flat Pack): The height of the IC packaging body is 1.4 mm
TQFP (Thin Quad Flat Pack): Height is 1.0mm
PQFP (Plastic Quad Flat Package): PQFP package has a small pitch and a very small pin.
Generally, large-scale or very large-scale integrated circuits use this IC packaging, and the pin count
is generally above 100
CQFP (Ceramic Quare Flat Package): Ceramic version of PQFP
BQFP (Quad Flat Package with Bumper): This package has protrusions (cushions) at the four
corners to prevent bending deformation of the pins during shipping. The pin pitch is 0.635mm, and
the number of pins is from 84 to 196

QFN/LCC (Quad Flat Non-leaded Package)

The four sides of this IC packaging are equipped with electrode contacts. Due to the absence of
leads, the mounting area is smaller than QFP and the height is lower than QFP.
The number of electrode contacts is generally from 14 to 100, the materials are ceramic and plastic.
When there is an LCC mark, it is basically a ceramic QFN, of which the spacing of electrode
contacts is 1.27 mm.
Plastic QFN has different pin pitches of 0.65mm, 0.5mm, and 1.27mm, this package is also known
as PLCC.
BGA (Ball Grid Array Package)

Spherical bumps are formed on the back surface of the printed substrate to replace the lead, and the
LSI chip is mounted on the front surface of the PCB board, and then sealed by a molding resin or a
potting method, the pins can exceed 200.
The package body can be made smaller than QFP and the BGA does not have to worry about pin
deformation problems like QFP.

The BGA package currently has the following variations:

CBGA (Ceramic BGA)
FBGA (Fine BGA)
LBGA (Low-profile BGA)
LFBGA (Low-profile Fine-pitch BGA)
MBGA (Micro Ball Grid Array)
MAPBGA (Moulded Array Process BGA)
PBGA (Plastic BGA)
TBGA (Tape BGA)
TEPBGA (Thermally Enhanced Plastic BGA)
UBGA (Ultra Fine BGA)
...

CSP (Chip Scale Package)

This IC packaging can reach close to 1:1 ratio of chip area to package. The absolute size is only 32
square millimeters, which is about 1/3 of the ordinary BGA, 1/6 of the chip area of TSOP memory.
Compared to the BGA, the CSP package in the same space can increase the storage capacity by
three times.
CSP is just an IC packaging standard, every package type than reach this ratio can be called
CSP. Whether a PCB assembly house is able to deal with the CSP IC packaging or not reflects its
assembly capabilities.

Types of Electronic Devices

Electronic devices can be divided into two major kinds: Passive and Active devices
based on their functionality.

Passive devices
Generally, resistors, capacitors, inductors, are specified as passive devices.

Resistors
The resistor is a passive electrical component whose function is to introduce resistance
to the flow of electric current in an electrical circuit to limit the current. The magnitude of
the opposition to the flow of current is called the resistance of the resistor. A larger
resistance value indicates a greater opposition to current flow. The resistance is
measured in ohms (Ω), and its equation is as follows.

R=V/I
The voltage (V), current (I), and resistance (R) are related by Ohm’s law. i.e. V = IR.
The higher the resistance R, the lower is the current I for a given voltage V across it. It
is a linear device.

Resistors dissipate electrical energy given by P=I² R Watts or Joules/sec.

 Resistor

Resistors are made using different materials such as carbon film, metal film, etc.
However, we will concentrate on the most common varieties and their attributes.

Resistors’ values vary from milliohms to Mega ohms and the tolerance of typical
resistors varies from 1% to 5%. However, for precision resistor tolerance varies below
1% from 0.1% to 0.001% and hence they are more expensive and are used in analog
circuits where precise/reference voltage is needed. Commonly used Resistor are
available with maximum power rating of 1/8(0.125W), 1/4W (0.25W), 1/2W (0.5W), 1W,
5W. Based on the values and power ratings, SMD resistors are made in different sizes
codes 1210, 1206, 0805, 0603, 0402, 0201. This also includes R-packs resistor network
used for pull up /pull down for circuits interfaces.

Different types of resistors by Size and Form

 Through-hole resistors
 Surface-mount resistors SMD/SMT.
Different types of resistors by Application
 Common resistor: used in current limiter, setting biases, voltage dividers, pull up, filtering,
termination resistors, load resistors, etc.
 Precision resistor for voltage feedback circuits, voltage references.
 Current sense resistors
 Power resistors
Resistor selection parameters
 While selecting any resistor in the circuit, the designer needs to consider the following
parameters based on the application and real-estate available on the printed circuit
board.

 Resistance value(R),
 Power (Wattages) dissipated across it,
 Tolerance (+/- %)
 Size based on available space on PCB.
Resistor Manufacturers: AVX, Rohm, Kemet, Vishay, Samsung, Panasonic TDK,
Murata, etc.

Capacitor
The Capacitor is a passive electrical component, whose function is to store electrical
energy and deliver it to the circuit when needed. The capacity of a capacitor to store
electrical charge is known as the capacitance of that capacitor. It is denoted by (C). The
unit of capacitance is Farad (F) and can range from, micro Farad (µF) 1x 10 -6 F, Kilo
pico Farad (KpF), or nano Farad (nF) 1x 10 -9 F to pico Farad (pF) 1x 10 -12 F. Typical
values range from 1pF to 1000uF.
The various uses of capacitors are:

 It blocks the flow of DC voltage and permits the flow of AC hence used for coupling of the
circuits.
 It bypasses the unwanted signal frequencies to ground.
 It is used for phase shifting and for creating time delays.
 It is also used for filtration, especially in removing ripples from the rectified waveform.
 It is used to get the tuned frequency.
 It is used as a motor starter.
Capacitor equation is given as follows;

C=Q/V
Where Q denotes charge and V denotes voltage across the capacitor and C denotes
the Capacitance.

Since current i=dq/dt i.e. rate of change of charge,

Hence, I = C dV/dt
 Capacitor Symbols

Therefore, if the voltage across a capacitor is constant, there will be no current flow
through the capacitor; and current will only flow across the capacitor if the voltage
across it changing with time for example an AC voltage. That is why a capacitor blocks
DC signals and allows only AC signals to pass through it when used in the series of the
path of the signal.

The energy stored in a capacitor C which has been charged to voltage V is given by

E= 1/2 CV²; where V is in Volts and C in Capacitance

Though the ideal capacitor doesn’t offer resistance and inductance, however in a real
capacitor it has a small amount of Effective Series resistance due to capacitor plates,
dielectric material, and terminal leads. Higher ESR increases noise across the
capacitor, decreasing filtering effectiveness hence ESR needs to be of smaller value.

A capacitor consists of two parallel plates(conductors) separated by a non-conductive

region such as dielectric form a Capacitor.

C= ε A/d
Where A is an area of the plate, d is spacing between two plates and ε is dielectric
permittivity. The dielectric media can be of air, paper, ceramic, plastic, Mica, glass,
etc.

Different types of capacitors

Capacitors fall into two categories – Polarized and non-polarized.
 Polarized capacitors can be given positive voltage in only one direction and placed on
board in only one direction. Polarized capacitors are Electrolytic and Tantalum
capacitors
Non-polarized is the ceramic capacitor, Polyester capacitor, Paper capacitor which
does not have polarity and can be placed in any direction.

Types of
capacitors

Capacitor selection parameters

While selecting a capacitor in any circuit users need to take care of the following
parameters apart from the application/usage.

 Capacitance value
 Maximum Operating voltage of the capacitor.
 Tolerance
 Breakdown voltage
 Frequency range
 Equivalent Series Resistance, (ESR)
 Size
Manufacturer: AVX, Kemet, Vishay, Samsung, Panasonic TDK, Murata, etc.
Inductors
The Inductors (also called as a coil or choke) is a passive two-terminal electrical
component that stores magnetic energy when an electric current is passed through it.
It’s an insulated wire wound into a coil around a core of some material (air, iron,
powdered iron, or ferrite material) in a spiral form.

The inductor is denoted by inductance ‘L’ and the measuring unit is Henry (H).
Inductors have values that typically range from 1 µH to 2000 mH.

Inductor Symbols

When the time-varying current flows through an inductor, the magnetic field is created
which induces an electromotive force (e.m.f.) (voltage) in the inductor. Voltage V, across
an inductor of inductance L, is given by

V = L di/dt
That is, there is a voltage across the inductor only if the current through it is changing;
DC produces no voltage through an inductor. In general, Inductor blocks the AC and
passes the DC.

The energy stored in an inductor with value ‘L’ Henries Is given by;

E = 1/2 Li² Energy E is in Joules, and I is in Ampere.

An ideal inductor has zero resistance and zero capacitance. However, real inductors
have a small value resistance associated with the winding of the coil and whenever
current flows through it, energy is lost in the form of heat.
 Application of inductors
 In buck/boost power regulators.
 In filter circuits in DC power supplies.
 Isolating signals
 In transformer to step up/down the AC voltage level
 In oscillator and tuning circuits
 For generating voltage surges in fluorescent lamp sets.
Types of inductors
Inductors are mainly classified depending on the core material used and operating
frequency. The following are the different types of inductors and available in through-
hole as well as SMD package based on the construction.

 Iron Cored Inductors

 Air Cored Inductors
 Powdered Iron Cored Inductors
 Ferrite Cored Inductors
 Variable Inductors
 Audio Frequency Inductors
 Radio Frequency Inductors
 Inductor Types

Inductor Selection parameters

While selecting an inductor in any circuit user needs to take care of the following
parameter apart from the application/usage.

 Inductance value
 Tolerance
 Maximum Current rating
 Shielded and non-shielded
 Size
 Q ratings
 Frequency range
 The resistance of the inductor
 Type of core used
Manufacturer: Murata, TDK, Bourns Inc., Abracon Electronics, AVX corporation,
Schaffner, Signal Transformer, etc.
 Diodes
The diode is two terminal semiconductor devices that allow an electric current to pass in
one direction while blocking it in the reverse direction. The diode is made up of a
semiconductor device with P-type material and N-type material. Typical material used in
a diode is silicon and germanium. They conduct when a minimum forward voltage (~
0.7V for Silicon) is applied across it and remain off during reverse bias condition.

Diode symbol is represented as below and their physical packages

Diode Types

Applications of diode
 Power conversion (AC to DC)/ Rectification
 Clamping the voltage
 Zener diode as a voltage regulator
 Overvoltage protection
 ESD Protection
 Demodulation of Signals
Type of diodes:
 Rectifier diode
 Switching diode
 Light-emitting diode
 Zener diode
 Schottky diode
 ESD diode
 Tunnel diode
 Varicap diode
 Photodiode
 The laser diode in optical communication
Size of diode packages
Diodes are available in through-hole (DIP) and SMD versions.

E.g. DIP: DO214, SMA, TO- 220 with heatsink SMD 1206, 1210, SOD323, SOT23, TO-
252, D2PAK,

Diode selection parameters

While selecting a diode in any circuit users need to take care of the following
parameters apart from the application/usage.

 Forward bias voltage

 Maximum Forward current
 Average forward current
 Power dissipation
 Reverse Breakdown voltage/Peak Inverse voltage
 Max reverse current
 Operating Junction temperature
 Reverse recovery time
 Size
Manufacturers: Rohm semiconductor, Diodes incorporated, On semi, Vishay.
 Crystals
The quartz crystal is made from a thin piece of quartz wafer. This wafer is made from
Silicon material. The wafer is tightly fitted and controlled between two parallel metalized
surfaces which make an electrical connection. When an external voltage is applied to
the plates, the crystal vibrates with a certain fundamental frequency which creates
alternating waveform which swings between high and low levels. This phenomenon is
known as the piezoelectric effect. Due to this property, they are used in electronic
circuits along with active components to create stable clock input to the processor.

Quartz crystal
oscillator

Crystal application
Used in oscillator circuit to provide a clock input to the processor device

Source of reference signals for RF

Crystal selection parameter

 Load capacitance
 Fundamental frequency
 Frequency tolerance
 Frequency stability
 ESR
 Operating voltage
Manufacturers: NDK, Murata, Epson, ECS, CTS, Kyocera.
Relays
A relay is an electromagnetic switch that opens and closes potential-free contacts. An
electromechanical relay consists of an armature, coil, spring, and contacts. When the
voltage is applied to a coil, it generates a magnetic field. This attracts the armature and
causes a change in the open/closed state of the circuit. It is mainly used to control a
high powered circuit using a low power signal.

There are mainly two types of relays based on constructions – Electromechanical(EMR)

and solid-state(SSR) relays.

A solid-state relay has a photodiode at its input side and a switching device such as
transistor/FET at its output side. When a specific voltage is applied at its input,
Photodiode conducts and triggers the base of the transistor to cause the switching. Due
to its fast switching, miniaturized form factor, low voltage requirement, and eliminating
the mechanical arching, electrical noise, and contact bounce, it’s widely used in
applications compared to mechanical relay.
 Types of Relay

Different types of relay form

Relays are categorized based on the poles and throws such as SPDT, SPST, DPST,
DPDT.

Application
 Controlling the high power circuit with isolated low power. E.g. Controlling 230V a.c. circuits with
a +5V signal.
 Switching voltage ON/OFF
 Electrical MCB
 Driving Diac/Triac circuits
Selection parameter for Relay:
 Output load type – AC/DC
 Input coil voltage for a mechanical relay
 Photodiode voltage for SSR
 Output switching voltage
 Output current
 On-State Resistance
 Number of clicks/switching
 Number of poles and contacts
 Type of output contacts NC/NO
 Packages

Active devices
The basic electronic components that depend on an external power source for their
operation are called active components. They can amplify signals and/or process
signals. Some of the active components are Transistor, integrated circuits ICs.

Transistor
The Transistor is a non-linear semiconductor three-terminal device. The transistor is
considered to be one of the most important devices in the field of electronics. The
transistor has transformed many aspects of man’s life. There are two main functions of
transistors, to amplify input signals and to acts as solid-state switches. The transistor
acts as a switch when operated either in saturation or cut-off region. Whereas it
amplifies signals when used in the active region. It offers very high input resistance and
very low output resistance.

Transistors are categorized into Bipolar Junction Transistor and Field effect transistor
based on their construction.

Type of Transistor:
 BJT: NPN and PNP,
 FET: JFET, P-MOSFET,N-MOSFET
Transistor symbol is represented as below
 Transistor Symbol

The most popular and commonly used transistors are BC547, 2N2222. Given below are
a few common transistor packages:

Transistor Packages

MOSFET
 The MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-effect transistor) transistor is a
semiconductor device that is different than Bipolar Junction transistor in terms of
construction though the applications remain the same as switching and amplifying. It
has four terminals such as Drain, Gate, Source, and Body. The body is shorted with a
Source terminal. Gate is insulated from the channel near an extremely thin layer of
metal oxide. Due to which it offers very high resistance compared to BJT.

By controlling the gate voltage (VGS +ve/-ve) width of a channel along which charge
carriers flow (electrons or holes) from source to drain can be controlled. The P-Channel
MOSFET has a P-Channel region between the source and drain and for N-channel
MOSFET has an N-Channel region.

Advantages of MOSFET over BJT

 Very high input resistance

 Low on-state resistance
 Low power loss
 High frequency of operations
 Transistor
Operation

Application of Transistors(BJT/FET)
 Amplification of analog signals.
 Used as switching devices in SMPS, microcontrollers, etc.
 Oscillators
 Over/under voltage protection
 modulation circuits & demodulation of signals.
 Power control in invertors and chargers (high current power transistors)
Types of Transistor packages
In terms of Packaging BJT and MOSFET, Transistors are available in through-hole(DIP)
and SMD versions. e.g. DIP: TO-92, TO- 220 and SMD: SOT23, SOT223, TO-252,
D2PAK.

Transistor selection parameters

While selecting a transistor in any circuit user need to take care of following parameters

 Maximum collector current (Ic)

 Max Collector voltage (Vce)
 VBE voltage
 Saturation Vce(sat) voltage
 Current Gain, hfe/ß
 Input resistance
 Output resistance
 Reverse Breakdown voltage
 Max reverse current.
 Power dissipation
 Operating Junction temperature
 Size
 Switching time/frequency
Manufacturers: Analog devices, Rohm semiconductor, Diodes incorporated, On semi,
On semiconductor, Texas Instrument, Panasonic, Infineon, Honeywell.

Integrated circuits
An Integrated Circuit (IC) is an electronic circuit built on a semiconductor wafer, usually
made of silicon. On this wafer, there are millions of miniaturized transistors, resistors,
and capacitors, which are connected by metal traces. The ICs are powered by an
external power supply for their operations. ICs perform specific functions such as data
processing and signal processing. The entire physical size of the IC wafer is extremely
small compared to that of discrete circuits hence it is called a microchip or simply chips.
Because of their small size, ICs have low power consumption.

Types of IC’s
ICs are categorized as Digital, Analog, and mixed-signal ICs based on their circuit
functionality.

Digital ICs
Digital ICs can be divided into further two categories for the sake of simplicity:

 Simple ICs Example: Timer, Counter, Register, Switches, Digital logic gates, Adder, etc.
 Complex ICs Example: Microprocessor, Memories, Switching ICs, Ethernet MAC/PHY.
A Microprocessor/Microcontroller is an Integrated circuit, which can process the digital
data. For example, temperature sensor data can be read by a microprocessor and using
its internal logic to perform control functions such as switching an air-conditioner ON or
OFF. The ability to program a microprocessor gives it the flexibility to be used in a wide
range of applications. Some of the applications are consumer electronics: Microwave,
Washing Machine, TV, Industrial applications: Motor control, Process control,
Communication applications: Wireless communication, Telephony, Satellite
communication.

A microprocessor is a complex IC having an inbuilt central processing unit (CPU)

consisting of an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), registers, buffer memory, clock. The
processor does not have inbuilt memory and needs to Interface RAM and ROM
externally. Applications: Computers, Laptops, Servers, basically for high-end
processing.

A microcontroller is an Integrated circuit that has CPU, inbuilt memory, General Purpose
IO’s, Communication Interface such as SPI, I2C, UART, ADC, DAC, PWM. Depending
on the size of memory and interface microcontrollers are targeted for specific
applications. Applications: Embedded devices such as washing machine, weighing
scale, CNC machine, etc.

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) controllers are a type of processor which are used in
high computing applications such as image processing, Speech processing, video
compression, etc.

Analog ICs
Operational Amplifiers, Differential amplifier, Instrumentation amplifier, RF devices,
ADCs, DACs.

Interfacing ICs – RS232 driver, Ethernet, CAN bus drivers, buffers, and level
converters.
Power ICs – Voltage regulators such Linear regulators, LDOs, switching regulators
Field Programmable Gate Array – FPGA, Mixed-signal FPGA
IC Packages
IC’s are available in different packages & Pin counts such as DIP and SMD. Below are
some of the popular and widely used packages.

Package Package name and Pin count

 Small outline package SOIC-8,12,14,16, 24 TSSOP

Through-hole package DIP-8,12,14,16,24,

Ball Grid Array BGA 44, 48… 1000, etc.

Flat package QFN , DFM 44 etc.

Typical selection parameters

While selecting an IC in any circuit user need to consider about following parameters
apart from the application/usage.

Digital ICs
 Operating Voltage (Vcc): +2.5V, +3.3V, +1.8V, +5V, +12V/-12V
 Maximum operating Frequency
 Switching time and maximum data rates
 IO voltage level (TTL5V, CMOS), max tolerance, VIH, VIL, VOH, VOL
 IO setup time, hold time, data valid time
 Type of IO: Digital or Analog pin
 Open collector or Totem pole output.
 Total number of IOs required for application
 Type of communication interfaces such as SPI or I2C and speed.
 Power dissipation.
 Commercial 0° C to 60° C, Mil grade -55° C to 125° C, Industrial -40° C to 85° C
 Size
Analog ICs
 Operating Voltage (Vcc): +2.5V, +3.3V, +1.8V, +5V, +12V/-12V
 Ref voltages
 Maximum and minimum output voltage
 Offset voltages and current
 CMRR, PSRR
 Input signal magnitude range
 Type of digital communication interface and speed
 Power dissipation.
 Commercial 0° C to 60° C, Mil grade -55° C to 125° C, Industrial -40° C to 85° C
 Size
 SMT device sizes
The component sizes of the selected SMT components are important while
manufacturing the electronic product. The assembler should have the capability to
assemble the small size components on the PCBs. The passive components such as
resistors, capacitors, and inductors which have two leads are found in standard sizes as
shown in the table below. The SMT component sizes are given in inches as well as
metric systems. Most commonly the sizes are in inches such as 0402, 0603,0805 1210,
etc.

The table below gives the packages of SMT two lead components and their sizes.

COMMON PASSIVE SMT PACKAGE CODE

SMD PACKAGE TYPE
DIMENSIONS DIMENSIONS
IPC Standard

MM
INCHES
Metric Standard

2920 7.4 x 5.1(7451) 0.29 x 0.20

2725 6.9 x 6.3(6936) 0.27 x 0.25

2512 6.3 x 3.2(6332) 0.25 x 0.125

2010 5.0 x 2.5(5025) 0.20 x 0.10

1825 4.5 x 6.4(4564) 0.18 x 0.25

1812 4.5 x 3.2(4532) 0.18 x 0.125

1806 4.5 x 1.5(4516) 0.18 x 0.06

1210 3.2 x 2.5(3225) 0.125 x 0.10

1206 3.0 x 1.5(3216) 0.12 x 0.06

1008 2.5 x 2.0(2520) 0.10 x 0.08

805 2.0 x 1.2(2012) 0.08 x 0.05

603 1.6 x 10( (1608) 0.06 x 0.03

402 1.0 x 0.5(1005) 0.04 x 0.02

201 0.6 x 0.3(0603) 0.02 x 0.01

 Basic Electronic Component part
numbers & Datasheets
Basic electronic components are identified with their respective Manufacturer Part
numbers (MPN). They are also identified by Distributor/Vendor Part Number (VPN).

Each basic electronic component has its datasheet which explains its performance,
features, and specifications. For example, for 100 Ohms resistor:

Part Numbers

Component Distributors
Electronic Component distributors are a key resource for supply chain management.
They are a single-window source of components from where a designer can buy
components directly rather than buying from an individual manufacturer. Distributors
stock components from different manufacturers and provide a simple and efficient web
portal interface for selecting and purchasing components.

Most widely known component distributor in the world are as follows;

 Digikey https://www.digikey.com/
 Mouser https://www.mouser.com/
 Arrow https://www.arrow.com/
 Avnet https://www.avnet.com/
 Future Electronics https://www.futureelectronics.com/
IPC Assembly Standards Used in the Manufacturing of Your PCB
One of the most widely used industry standards in the manufacturing of printed circuit boards is IPC-A-
610—Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies. This standard covers how electronic assemblies are to be
handled, what the acceptable methods are for hardware installation on the assemblies, what constitutes
acceptable soldering results, and many other aspects of manufacturing surface mount and through-hole
technology circuit boards. Another standard, IPC J-STD-001G—Requirements for Soldered Electrical and
Electronic Assemblies, details how to manufacture a PCB to meet the acceptability requirements of IPC-
A-610.

Here are some of the other IPC assembly standards your CM should be using in the manufacturing of
your printed circuit boards:

 IPC-A-600—Acceptability of Printed Boards. This standard is used primarily for the incoming
inspection of bare boards from a PCB fabricator.

 IPC/WHMA-A-620C—Requirements and Acceptance for Cables and Wire Harness

Assemblies. This is used by your CM for the manufacturing of cables used in conjunction with
your PCB assemblies.

 IPC-A-630—Acceptability Standard for Manufacture, Inspection, and Testing of Electronic

Enclosures. This standard is used when your CM assembles and inspects box builds.

 IPC 7711/7721C—Rework, Modification, and Repair of Electronic Assemblies. To repair and

rework PCBAs to IPC standards, your CM will use the information from this document.

There are many other IPC specifications that apply to the assembly of printed circuit boards, but these
are the primary ones that should be used by your CM to ensure success on your boards.