The Importance of a Good Circuit Layout

228

03:09:42

A good circuit layout is extremely important if you want anyone else to be able to understand it, any decent engineer can see what a circuit does just by the layout avoiding the need for in depth analysis.
In this example you can see a good layout on the left which is instantly recognized as a differential pair amplifier with current mirror, on the right is the same circuit but with a very sloppy layout that most people would ignore rather than attempt to analyse, some general layout rules are as follows:
Put positive voltages at the top, negative or ground at bottom.
Signals should flow left to right.
Avoid making your circuit layout too cramped.
Use standard layouts so that function is clear.
Don't leave unconnected components.
Minimize wire crossings.
Feel free to suggest more in the comments.

So next time you design a circuit put some thought into the layout, particularly if you're seeking advice.

published 11 years ago

hurz

11 years ago

Absolut YES!

thebugger

11 years ago

Sometimes some of these rules don't apply. Like when using pnp transistora the negative is at the top. For high frequency applications the more cramped the better due to parasitic effects from long wires etc. The others I agree on. Also its good to place the components in such way that their value can be easily seen. Nice tips though.

infamousjeff

11 years ago

is more than two grounds OK or unavoidable? I'm from the software world and certainly recognize good advice here from I assume professional (certainly not the goof I am. and is that mine on the right rofl)

Mamish

11 years ago

EC doesn't care about long wires though :) It's the prototyper's job to arrange components the best way, and the designer's to make the circuit easy to understand for the prototyper.

Chryseus

11 years ago

@infamousjeff Multiple circuit grounds are acceptable in many cases, however in the real world you need to take care when connecting multiple sources or test equipment since these often include an earth ground connection which can result in shorts, Dave Jones of The EEVBlog has done a good video on this.

ETJAKEOC

11 years ago

Or you can be me and say "Added security to my design, jumble it up!" Lnao

ETJAKEOC

11 years ago

Lmao*

rbrtkurtz

11 years ago

lol The "sloppy" circuit is still way more coherent than a lot of stuff you see around.

thebugger

11 years ago

Sometimes its not recommended to have commom ground connections like in amplifiers and such because the different blocks of the circuit may interfere with others due to imperfect ground. Recently I had such problems with my amplifier. There was always a hum at the output and I was sure it was not due to the simple power supply circuit. I seperated all of the grpund points and connected it to the outlet ground and it worked charmingly. Also some devices like not well designed switching power supplies manage to disrupt the mains due to bad filtering so watch out to not ground them next to a precise electronic devices. Other than that its acceptable in most cases to use it,

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