PCB Design for Control System
Durable control systems for the gas & oil industry
The Tech
We were asked for specialist advice developing a control system for the Oil and Gas industry.
The system would need to be able to work within a limited space in a challenging environment.
And it required matched impedances but, more importantly, ten identical channels containing multiple high current classes.
Our Brief
We would need to create ten identical channels, which included nested sub-blocks with multiple high current net classes.
Due to the number of channels, each block had to be compact so that the maximum panel size for manufacture wasn't exceeded.
It would be important to liaise with manufacturers to ensure manufacturability, ensure correct layer stack for differential pairs and determine track widths to satisfy high current signals.
Our Approach
We started off creating a plan to place and route the parent and child blocks, and to make sure current rules and maximum board sizes were met.
We decided to replicate each channel as each channel consisted of four interrelated blocks. And to ensure right first time fit into the design enclosure, we undertook 3D modelling and analysis.
We derived PCB manufacturing rules based on production quantities with the PCB manufacturer. Using these, we created IPC7351A compliant footprints for high density packaging, allowing for global manufacturing capability.
The Results
The PCB fit first time and met all necessary manufacturing requirements."This was the first time we have developed a processor PCB with high speed constraints. Quantum guided us through the process from capturing design rules and working with our PCB supplier to create the optimum layerstack. The design worked first time with a high manufacturing yield."
Director