WebAmP R.D. Feature: PCB Area Estimation

PCB area is a crucial design aspect in a switched-mode power supply (SMPS) design. The larger the PCB area, the greater the cost. Providing customers with an estimated PCB area would save cost and time.

AnDAPT addresses this issue through WebAmP R.D. (Reference Design), a software tool that enables customers to get off-the-shelf PMIC solutions for popular SoCs for fast time-to-production.

Figure 1 shows one of our development boards, AmP8XEB1. This ready-to-use evaluation board demonstrates power management solutions for Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ (ZU+) MPSoC family FPGA devices. This can be programmed to modify the design with the help of WebAmP R.D. Every time a new design is created to be programmed to the board, the corresponding PCB area and bill of materials (BOM) are re-generated giving the customer great insights into their final design. Let’s deep dive into the details of PCB area estimation and auto-BOM features.

PCB area estimation accounts for each component’s area and additional overhead (default is 25% of the components’ total area) for routing. The area of each component is computed by multiplying the x and y dimensions. The major factors considered while carrying out estimation are trace width, clearance between the components, clearance between the traces, etc.

From Figure 2, we can see that it is possible to select different PCB layout densities/overhead, such as 50% and 75%. The concept of layout density can be explained as follows: with only components and keep out, layout density is considered to be 100%. Let us say that X is the board area for 100% layout density. The corresponding board areas for 50% and 75% layout densities are 2X and 1.33X, respectively. Usually, 75% layout density is considered optimal.

Figure 1: Evaluation board for Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ (ZU+) MPSoC family FPGA devices.

Figure 2: PCB area estimation with WebAmp R.D for a given use case.

Furthermore, the PCB area estimation is coupled with the auto-BOM generation, which is another important feature of WebAmP R.D. An auto-generated Bill of Materials (BOM) can save time and resources. The BOM generated by AnDAPT WebAmP software provides the following essential details:

1. Part description
2. Part number
3. Quantity
4. Attributes

Figure 3 shows the auto-generated BOM. Apart from giving PCB area estimation, the software also provides other useful information for customers; including the part number, size, etc.

Figure 3: Auto-generated BOM.

In summary, the PCB estimation feature of the WebAmP R.D. enables the customer to reduce the cost and size of the board without much effort. Additionally, the auto-generated BOM saves time, optimizes resources, and reduces the possibility of mistakes.

For more information, visit us at www.andapt.com

Please contact us for any questions, comments or feedback.

Authors:

• Chandra Shetty
• Ajit Narwal
• Giovanni Garcea

Further Reading:

• Powering SoCs and FPGAs with AnDAPT WebAmP R.D.
• AnDAPT News