DipTrace PCB Layout Evaluation
The freeware edition of DipTrace only allows you to have two signal layers. That would be the top and bottom layers. You can add power or ground planes freely, however.
DipTrace is very affordable, if you need to design PCBs with more internal layers.
The following article will describe some nuances of designing four+ layer boards and dense (BGA) layouts.
You really need to follow the tutorial first with the simple example designs first before attempting more complicated boards.
Let's begin.
In the tutorial, you are instructed to go into the Shape Router Setup and set the Top Layer to "OFF". When you start more complicated boards, remember that this option can turn on or off traces on one of the layers. Make sure to set it to Vertical if you want traces to be auto-routed on that layer.
The autorouter does not place components under other components automatically. Sometimes, unpopulated pads are placed under components in case the original component is not installed. In this case, just place the unpopulated pads under the component there manually.
If you add more layers to your PCB layout, be sure to create blind vias if your vendor supports them. Blind vias have to be added manually from all the different possible layer to layer combinations.
It is possible to mess up with some of the options, and cause the autorouter to fail without placing any traces. On some of the dialogs, there are no options to "Reset all settings to default". If you encounter such a situation, in which the router does not do anything, then check the trace width, spacing, and via size settings in the following dialogs:
- Route>AutoRouter Setup...
- Route>Route Setup...
Make sure that the sizes were not set to 0, in which case the autorouter will fail without any error messages, or completion progress bar moving.
Before paying to have your board made, or before finishing your routing, you need to contact the PCB vendor, and find out the following information:
- Target board size
- How many layers cost how much
- Whether they do blind vias
- What is the minimum trace width
- What is the minimum via size
It is also important to size traces accordingly to type (signal, power) and amount of current draw. TODO
TODO FINISH Let us evaluate the program by laying out two BGA devices from Lattice Semiconductor.
