The logical response to “what do you do if you can’t have reference designators” is put them on the PC board. The truth is, sometimes you can’t have reference designators on your board. Perhaps because it’s too densely populated and there isn’t room, or maybe for aesthetic reasons you’ve chosen to leave them off. With…

Most printed circuit boards (PCBs) are individually routed, which means they’re not panelized. This doesn’t mean that sometimes, sending them to a PCB assembler in a panel isn’t a good idea (or even required). Generally, assemblers don’t require panels (sometimes called a pallet) but instances do occur when they’re utilized. If the individual PC board,…

The QFN (quad flat pack, no leads) package can no longer be considered exotic. That was the case about a decade ago, but not anymore. In fact, with the wafer scale BGA, it’s one of the more common packages for new chip designs. Not all QFNs come with an exposed metal pad underneath but most…