More than 25 years of experience qualifies Jason Dunlap, owner and expert PCB designer to analyze your printed circuit board project, in order to discover any possible changes that could save you money.
Jason began his career in electronics in an R&D environment in the early 1970s. During those years, he worked on innovative products at globally recognized companies, such as RCA, Link Group, Coherent Radiation, Syntex Labs and others. He became fascinated with printed circuit board design and was designing PC boards before computerized software was invented. Jason is now considered by some, one of the best printed circuit board designers in Silicon Valley.
He was a contender for the coveted Top Gun prize at the 2002 PCB Design Conference West, and has since designed some of the most complicated printed circuit board layouts conceivable. His skills were commissioned by industry giant Agilent Technologies. Jason was tasked to layout several state-of-the-art RF, microwave, and RF-mixed signal designs. Some of those designs have laid the foundation for Department of Defense contracts, and other military applications.
Let us help you improve your current PCB designs, and lower your costs, by reviewing your designs today. Advanced Designs will deliver a professional written report. In that report, we will outline steps to take in order to improve upon the PCB design, as well as, what it will take to implement those changes.
DFM is a common term used today that refers to common problems encountered in the assembly and test of printed circuit boards. DFM, designed for manufacturing, means attention is paid to the inherent risks and problems associated with automated production of printed circuit boards. Two major processes contribute to the issues of DFM. First is the fabrication of the blank PCB, where high layer counts, fine pitch components, and very small trace widths, and clearances contribute to an array of functional problems.
Today’s tight tolerances cause fabrication failures, and drop-out. This forces printed circuit board manufacturers to fabricate several extra panels in order to get the required quantities ordered. If you’re going into production, you want to have a design that can be fabricated with minimum yield losses. This means attention to a myriad of details is necessary.
We will review your PCB design thoroughly and deliver a report outlining changes that can be made to improve DFM, as well as, the functionality of the design. Besides looking at the typical cost-saving issues, we will also consider if redesign of ground and power planes can improve performance and/or reduce layer counts. Attention to clock and other controlled impedance nets is also given, and a determination is made on whether rerouting can improve performance or reduce costs. Use of vias, multiple vias for power, and coaxial vias is also examined. Spreading components to reduce routing density, cross-talk and other issues are often a primary cost and performance bonus.
