PCBs, copper pours, ground planes, and you
lcamtuf.substack.com · 1,288 words · saved by 1 readers
A closer look at a fashion trend in printed circuit board design.
In the early 1980s, a typical printed circuit board inside an 8-bit home computer looked roughly like this: A detail of the Amstrad CPC 464 main board. By the early 2010s, the same tech would be packaged the following way: A close-up of Arduino Uno R3, from a product promo shot. Other than increased miniaturization, the most striking change is the use of copper pours — that is, computer-generated zones that occupy the empty space between individual traces on a PCB. Why did we start doing this? One hand-wavy answer is that in high-speed electronics, the practice can improve signal…
related reading
- Everything I know about good system designseangoedecke.com
- Fundamentals — Pretty Wired Buildsbuilds.prettywiredlabs.com
- Common-Mode Chokesremoteqth.com
- Layman's Guide to IC Reverse Engineeringsiliconzoo.org
- Primer: core concepts in electronic circuitslcamtuf.substack.com
- Chip design from the bottom up – Reiner Popeyoutube.com
- The Death Of Industrial Design And The Era Of Dull Electronics | Hackadayhackaday.com
- Analog Chip Design is an Art. Can AI Help? - by Jon Yasianometry.com
- The Anti-Slop Aesthetichyphen.art
- Inductive coupling - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- What is a Smith Chart?arenaphysica.com
- Modern Microprocessors - A 90-Minute Guide!lighterra.com