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pcb: Definition and Recommended Links

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A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, or traces, etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. Alternative names are printed wiring board (PWB),and etched wiring board. A PCB populated with electronic components is a printed circuit assembly (PCA), also known as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA).

PCBs are rugged, inexpensive, and can be highly reliable. They require much more layout effort and higher initial cost than either wire-wrapped or point-to-point constructed circuits, but are much cheaper and faster for high-volume production. Much of the electronics industry's PCB design, assembly, and quality control needs are set by standards that are published by the IPC organization.

Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board)

other great electronics sites:ee toolbox site

• • pcb
    • A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, or traces, etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. Alternative names are printed wiring board (PWB),and etched wiring board. A PCB populated with electronic components is a printed circuit assembly (PCA), also known as a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA).

      PCBs are rugged, inexpensive, and can be highly reliable. They require much more layout effort and higher initial cost than either wire-wrapped or point-to-point constructed circuits, but are much cheaper and faster for high-volume production. Much of the electronics industry's PCB design, assembly, and quality control needs are set by standards that are published by the IPC organization.

      Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board)

      (Note: The Electronic Engineers Toolbox provides an alternative set of featured links for this word at http://www.cera2.com/pcb.htm)

      Featured Links:

      PCB Design Conference

      PCB Design Conferences is devoted exclusively to PCB design issues. Topics include: High Speed * EMC * PCB Design Techniques * Design For Manufacture * Design Engineering * Data Transfer * PCB Materials * Manufacturing Technology * Packaging Technology * Career Development * PCB Routers * 2D Field Solvers * New PCB Materials High Speed Design For Manufacture.
      http://www.pcbshows.com/

      Altium Demo Center - Altium Designer EDA Demo

      Altium Designer provides electronic designers and engineers with a single,unified application that incorporates all the technologies and capabilities necessary for complete electronic product development. Altium Designer integrates board- and FPGA-level system design, embedded software development, and PCB layout, editing and manufacturing within a single design environment. Altium's DEMOcenter now gives you the opportunity to walk...
      http://www.altium.com/Evaluate/DEMOcenter/

      FreePCB

      FreePCB is a free, open-source printed circuit board layout editor for Microsoft Windows, released under the GNU General Public License. It was designed to be easy to learn and easy to use, yet capable of professional-quality work. It does not have an autorouter (yet). Some of its features are:
      http://www.freepcb.com/

      DesignCon

      DesignCon is the premier solutions-based Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and Semiconductor industry event held annually in Silicon Valley. The event features over 80 technical sessions covering hot product case studies, design methodologies and new product technologies. The technical exhibition consists of over 130 leading EDA tool providers, semiconductor manufacturers, system design houses and IP Providers.
      http://www.designcon.com/

      Free Evaluation Software for CADSTAR 12.0 from Zuken

      The latest version of CADSTAR Express, the evaluation software from Zuken, is now available. For designers wanting to try out the latest version of the powerful PCB design solution and really get a feel for how easy to use the software is, they can download the Express version free. All the functionality of CADSTAR 12.0 is available; the only limitation is th
      http://www.zuken.com/news/2010/01-cadstarexpress-12.aspx

      Free-for-Life Tool Cracks PCB Debug Challenge

      With the breakthrough product family, JTAG Live.TM, debugging boards too crowded for traditional probing becomes a whole lot easier. JTAG Live is ideal for electronics engineers and technicians to use in checking PCBs for basic continuity and correct operation. The JTAG Live family consists of three products, Buzz, Clip, and Script, each targeted at different aspects of the debugging process. Buzz provides the ability to quickly check...
      http://www.jtag.com

      PCB Design Resources

      Here you will find guidelines for designing PCB, links to software downloads, trace calculators and other info, tools and web resources.
      http://www.smps.us/pcb-design.html

      Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture

      PCD and M will provide an unmatched circulation reach and comprehensive editorial content to professionals in the design and fabrication markets. This is a flagship magazine if you are in the PCB industry.
      http://pcdandm.com/cms/

      PCB Design Tutorial

      You've designed your circuit, perhaps even bread boarded a working prototype, and now it's time to turn it into a nice Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design. For some designers, the PCB design will be a natural and easy extension of the design process. But for many others the process of designing and laying out a PCB can be a very daunting task. There are even very experienced circuit designers who know very little about PCB design, and as...
      http://www.alternatezone.com/electronics/files/PCBDesignTutorialRevA.pdf

      Magma Announces BoardView: Extends Chip-Based Navigation to Circuit- and Board-Level Debug…

      Magma(R) Design Automation (Nasdaq:LAVA), a provider of chip design software, today announced BoardView(TM), a new software that extends CAD navigation and circuit debug from integrated circuits (ICs) to printed circuit boards (PCBs) and multichip modules (MCMs). BoardView is the only commercially available tool to integrate IC and PCB circuit debug with online signal trace and CAD navigation. With BoardView, fab teams can rapidly trace...
      http://investor.magma-da.com

      Explanation: these links are provided as part of our EE glossary project, which seeks to identify the most prominent keywords in embedded systems, embedded software, realtime and rtos, dsp (digital signal processing), system-on-a-chip, microprocessors and microcontrollers, and other constituent elements for embedded systems. While we seek to keep most of the links up-to-date, the user is refered to other primary electronic-based search sites such as: cera2.com, embedded.com, or EDN Magazine. If you have any suggestions of links or definitions, please email!

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