MC13213 PCB Design

[flyingasics]

    Here is my first PCB design using Eagle. I used the footprint for the MC13213 someone else had made on the forums, but made the rest of the footprints myself. Just wanted to see if anyone with some experience could look at it.

NODE_SRB_1.jpg

Message Edited by t.dowe on 2009-10-19 10:41 AM

[peg]

Hi flyingasics,

Just a few comments that may or may not be relevant:
Are you trying to single side this?
There seems to be a few more easy optimisations that would further eliminate traces on the blue side.
The via beside pin 1 of the BDM connector makes it look you are going for single side with links.
If you are not going to actually attach any traces to the test point pins in the middle of the chip it would be best to leave the pads off as well as many people have experienced shorts here that are difficult to diagnose and are easy to occur especially when using less than best soldering/placement techniques.

[flyingasics]

    Using Eagle Lite I am limited to 2 Layers, so I think I am trying to "single side it", sorry first time I have done this so I am not familiar with all the terms yet.

I am not intending to attach traces to the test pins under the chip (65-71). So I should just remove them from the package?

Do I have to attach any pins to the underside of the chip? Aren't the large pads on the MC13213 for ground?

Another question I thought of is do I need to add pullup resistors to the GPIO pins that I do not use?

Thanks.

[peg]

Hi,

By "single side" I mean one (1) side of copper on the PCB.
You will notice you have 95% of the tracks/traces/fills on the red side.
I can see several oportunities to push some of the blue ones to the red side.
All of the "through-hole" components already only have a trace on the red side.
This means that if the patterns for these devices are flipped over you can install them from the blue side of the board.
This means you can save on the cost of the PCB.
If there are some locations where you just can't get around using a track onm the blue side you just use a wire link or 0-ohm resistor.

Another thing I forgot before:
Is the 2 pin component near the bottom left corner the power connector to the board?
If it is you should have a more direct (lower impedance) path from it to your ground plane fill, not the circuitous path that you have now.

[flyingasics]

    I will look into trying to get it all on one side.

    Yes, the 2 pin connector is power, I will attach the ground pin directly to the ground plane         next to it.

     So, do I need any connections to the ground pads on the underside of the ship.

[peg]

---

flyingasics wrote:
  

     So, do I need any connections to the ground pads on the underside of the ship.

---

Sorry, forgot this one last time.
Yes! You need to connect the big pads under the chip to ground.

[Rodo55]

Sorry, I don’t want to hijack this thread but I don’t see anywhere else to ask this question.

Flyinggasics said he used Eagle PCB software to make his PCB and he used a footprint designed by someone else on the forums. By the way nice job on your PCB.

It looks like Eagle hasn’t been updated since 2006 so I guess that may be why it doesn’t have the newer components in it’s library?

So my question is, does anyone have a recommendation for a free or inexpensive PCB design program that works well and may have the newer components in it? Maybe includes auto routing too?

Is there a listing in the forum for newer components like the MC9S08QE8 devices and their footprints? Or, does everyone just make their own?

If this is the wrong place to ask this question please send me to the right place.

Thanks, Rodo

[celsoken]

Dear Rodo55,

I've been using Eagle for a couple of years after I've tried some PCB software vendors. Most of the low-cost ones are not stable, some just hang up,  you can't count on them.

Eagle is more stable than extremely expensive software and the parts creation is quite easy. Talking about microcontrollers, they are coming so fast that you cannot wait for the libraries, I got used to create them by demand...

I hope it helps. Cheers,

Celso

[flyingasics]

    I agree with celsoken, It was very easy to get started using the program. I went from not knowing a thing about PCB design to making my own components and laying out the board in about a weeks time. This is a school project, so I wasn't even spending all day on this either.

    Our school even had the full version of Orcad layout and I choose to use Eagle.

Nathan

[Rodo55]

Thanks everyone,

Eagle it is then. I downloaded it now I'll see if I can make my own components within a week.

I just thought that since I can't find any updates for Eagle since 2006 it was outdated and there was something better on the market. Does anyone know if there were more recent updates than 2006?

I heard FreePCB was good to and it was updated more recently so I thought I'd get feedback on that one but I guess not.

I'm trying Eagle as I write. Thanks Again,

Rodo