Orthogonal PCB Routing for Beginners
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- Orthogonal Routing is one of the most basic routing styles you can employ in your PCB. But it's best practices are often overlooked. Today, Tech consultant Zach Peterson dives into orthogonal routing, focusing on what it is, how it works, and how to do it in Altium Designer.
0:00 Intro
0:49 Routing Example
4:02 What is Orthogonal Routing?
11:06 Orthogonal Routing in Altium Designer
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I have been using this method for well over a decade and never knew the name of it. Thanks!
Excellent!
Same, when you start routing crossovers in a dense area this method becomes self evident as the best solution sometimes. It stems from the need to organize crossover groupings for io.
Same here 😁
My first PCB was a Z80 computer on a 2-layer 100x100mm board, all through-hole components, which was complex as a beginner but it showed the benefits of orthogonal routing. First attempt (not orthogonal) I quickly ran out of routing options before even getting half the traces in. Second attempt (orthogonal) still got messy at the end but I finished it. Big difference.
I've noticed the technique is often discussed in terms of through-hole ICs that have their pins lined up on two sides, but you can def do it with SMDs and to some extent with BGAs, but it might get a little messy.
Very informative, thanks
Hmmm, certainly orthogonal routing is an important tool, but I feel a few of points in this video undersell it.
7:01 through 11:00 focuses on crosstalk between top and bottom traces that cross orthogonally. This might be an argument for a 4 layer board that interposes one or two ground plan inner layers. However on a 2-layer board, if the traces have to cross, then perpendicular is better than alternatives, as that minimizes the capacitance between the top and bottom trace. For what it's worth, an 10 mil (0.25mm) trace crossing a similar trace perpendicular, has an area 0.063mmsq, and with 1.6mm FR4 that results in a capacitance of about 0.0015 pF. That seems insignificant.
12:25 This is an example where there is no reason for orthogonal routing and vias, because the pin order on the CPU is in the exact same order as the through-hole connector. However...
15:12 OK! Now we have a good rationale for orthogonal routing. And it could demonstrate that orthogonal routing works just like a row-and-column crossbar switch. In this case, the MCU is connected to the columns, and the connector to the rows, and you just stick a via at the intersections that implement the connections you want. No concern that there might be some pin ordering that can't be solved.
17:18 "If you're dealing with something that's highly standardized you might be in some trouble." Well not really -- that's kind of the point to orthogonal routing -- it can solve any device A to device B routing, assuming you have enough area to place the vias. In the example, P1 could have _any_ pin assignment and you can still route it with ortho routing.
18:57 "You can start to see that there really isn't any kind of rhyme or reason to the placement of these vias." Except that the positioning of the vias is driven exactly by what intersection of row trace and column trace implements the desired connection. That's kind of the key feature of ortho routing that makes it work.
Regardless, it's helpful to present this PCB routing strategy for those who may not have known about it.
Спасибо ))
Hi Zach, Just one question, is any difference on the crosstalk response if the nets are crossing at 90 degrees or different angle?
Actually yes, assuming there is no ground between them. The difference in crosstalk comes from the fact that the parallel nets can have long coupling lengths so they can receive much more crosstalk. When they are at 90 degrees there is still a bit of crosstalk, but it's much smaller until the signal edge rate gets very fast. But at that point you might be dealing with differential nets anyways and then the story changes somewhat.
What if, we have the components on the same layer? Do we need to do orthogonal routing?
we are always trying to use the minimum number of vias in the PCB
So is it really helpful to switch the trace layer ?
Sometimes it helps to route things on the back side layer, even if the components are on the same layer This is because it can open up more room on the layer with the components. The reasons for doing it like this can vary so I don't want to overgeneralize and say that you should always do orthogonal routing in every design.
Hello Zach, nice video as usual :)
Just one small question: Is it a common practice to route the trace perpendicular to the via or through-hole pad? For example, at 12:50
I have come across a bunch of discussions on the Internet about this topic and it's a never ending story out there :)
It would be nice to hear the opinion of an expert :)
I've put dozens of boards through DFM reviews and have never had a manufacturer tell me that routing into a via at a different angle will be a manufacturing problem. I try to do it because it looks more professional. The only time I have had this come up is in relation to producing Class 3/3a compliant boards, and in that case they say to put a teardrop to increase reliability. If the angle coming into the pad is very shallow then it might create an acid trap, but that would be something a manufacturer can judge as far as over-etching is concerned.
It's sad that I can't use your software. I refuse to rely on cloud based tools.
Not sure what you mean? Altium has cloud features but it is not “cloud based”. It is very much a native application.