Anablog

I got a note from the ebullient Amber Roberts over at Lane PR regarding some significant improvement that Sunstone has made to its free PCB design tool, PCB123. The press release reports that PCB123 version 3.3 enhancements include:

• PCB 123 v2 users can now convert any layout design files into PCB v3.3
• Full customization via the new PCB 123 Software Development Kit
• Dynamic bill of materials (BOM) generated and updated as the user designs
• Real-Time quotes for board fabrication and parts.
• Order both boards and parts direct from the new and improved PCB123 interface
• More fabrication options and services

I visited Nolan Johnson, the CAD/EDA marketing manager of Sunstone Circuits when I was up in Portland a few months ago. He really gets the needs of PCB designers, perhaps because he understands their frustrations with the entire CAD/CAM design process. That’s why he developed the Sunstone Ecosystem. It involves design engineers, software such as PCB123 and National Instrument’s MultiSim, libraries of parts from NXP and Digi-Key, as well as assembly at Screaming Circuits.

Nolan introduced me to the software architect of PCB123, Keith Ackerman. Hmmmm, Ackerman, Ackerman—that name sounded familiar. I had always been curious as to why the old Orcad Layout package, the one that Cadence just obsoleted, was so good and so loved by PCB designers. Orcad’s first layout package was a disaster—they understood schematic entry but not board layout. Any experienced engineer knows board layout is what is important. A pretty schematic might get you a pat on the forehead and a cookie from the little boss, but a botched circuit board layout will get you fired by the big boss. So it turned out that after Orcad failed at their own attempt at doing PCB layout they went and bought Massteck, a PCB layout company in Massachusetts. That outfit was started by Al Ackerman. Yeah, Keith’s dad. And get this, just like my buddy Wayne Yamaguchi said— you could almost feel that the software engineers that did the Orcad/Massteck router sat next to real PCB layout people. Sure enough, they did. In fact several of the Massteck software people were PCB designers. Same goes for Keith. He is not old enough to go back to the light pen and Calma days, or Racal-Redac, but he did board layout, because his dad started his business as a PCB design service bureau. Since then Keith has worked at many of the PCB tool companies. He speaks well of his days at PADS and I think he said he was overseas, in Japan, for a while, working for some EDA companies there. I wrote about some of Keith’s dad’s most excellent software engineers in this interview.

So Keith knows his software because he knows board layout. That is why Sunstone and PCB123 are making such strides in getting you a working stuffed board. Nolan told me that the CEO of Sunstone is fully supportive of them making strategic partnerships with distributors like Digi-Key and others, as well as National Instruments and Screaming Circuits, all because they know that what you really need is a completed board stuffed and with all the hooks needed to test the thing to make sure it works the way you intend.

Now, PCB123 is free, in the sense that you can use it and order boards from Sunstone with it. If you want the Gerber files, so you can send them anywhere, even a competitor, then Sunstone asks for a nominal fee—I think it is 35 bucks, to give you the Gerbers. But keep in mind that with driven passionate software gurus like Akerman at PCB123, the CAD tool is not some stripped down toy, it really is a good package, and you can check it out without spending a dime.

Now one of Sunstone’s competitors, Advanced Circuits over in Colorado, has an on-line design rule check (DRC) service that you can use with a set of Gerbers, It is pretty neat and free, and has caught some errors in my files that saved me a board spin. What Nolan over at Sunstone told me their philosophy was to catch the errors while you are deigning the circuit, not when you are done and have the made the Gerbers. So PCB123 has all the Sunstone fab rules built in so if you try to run too close a line spacing or use too small a via, the tool will flag you and keep you from making an un-manufacturable board. In a really class act, they don’t just do this for their PCB123 tool, they have DRC plug-ins for Eagle, Altium, MultiSim, and UltiBoard, so that if you are using those tools, you can have the same benefit, the real-time DRC check will prevent you from designing in a mistake long before you have to generate Gerbers.

Then there is another major player in the prototype PCB arena, ProtoExpress, who I have used for over a decade since they are local in Silicon Valley. I think their attitude is that they don’t have to worry about design rules since they can make anything. Last time I checked, that included 1 mil spacing (that’s not a typo-- one mil.) laser-drilled microvias, blind and buried vias and 25-ounce copper. An no, you Brainiacs, you can’t have 1 mil spacing and 25 ounce copper at the same time, but ProtoExpress has really made doing extreme tech boards commonplace. One nice thing about them is that they have a contract-manufacturing partner in China that is guaranteed to be able to reproduce any technology that ProtoExpress uses here in Silicon Valley. So once you get your prototypes figured out with ProtoExpress, they can send the files to China and you can get cheap-high-volume manufacturing that is guaranteed to work as well as the prototype did.

All three of these prototype PCB vendors have relationships with assembly houses such as Screaming Circuits. Sunstone has assured me that you can send them the design files and BOM generated with their tool and they can get the parts for you while the board is being made, kit it up, and send it over to Screaming Circuits for assembly, all in as short a time as you are willing to pay for. Prototype projects that used to take weeks and months a few years ago can now be in your hands in 5 days at a reasonable cost and in even less time if you have the funds for 24-hour turns.

If you are interested in modern prototyping techniques, check out my article from last year.