CLIEncoders · Services
PCB design and development services
Layout is where an electrically correct design becomes a physically buildable one. Done well it is invisible; done badly it produces boards that pass every schematic review and fail on the line.
Layout is an engineering decision, not a drafting task
Autorouters and cheap layout shops both optimise for the same thing: connecting every net. That is the easy half. The half that decides whether your board works is the part no netlist captures — return-current paths, plane splits, where the switching node sits relative to the analog front-end, and whether the crystal has a quiet corner to live in.
We treat layout as design continuation rather than production art. If the stack-up forces a compromise, you hear about it while it is still cheap to change the schematic.
What we do
Multi-layer stack-up definition with impedance targets where the design needs them, placement driven by signal and thermal reality rather than board outline convenience, routing with attention to return paths and coupling, and power distribution planned as a system rather than filled in at the end.
Then the unglamorous work that determines whether manufacturing goes smoothly: DFM and DFA review against your chosen fabricator's real capabilities, panelisation and fiducials, assembly drawings, pick-and-place and paste files, and a fabrication note set specific enough that the factory does not need to guess or email.
Prototype to volume
First articles get a bring-up procedure and test points designed in, not soldered on afterwards. Where volume justifies it we design the test jig alongside the board, so functional test at the contract manufacturer is a fixture rather than a technician with a multimeter.
Design-for-cost work happens here too, and it is usually where the largest savings live: consolidating part numbers, relaxing tolerances that were tight for no reason, and dropping a layer where the routing genuinely allows it.
Questions
What people ask before starting
How many layers will my board need?
That falls out of the design rather than being chosen up front — pin density, whether you have high-speed interfaces, how much current the power stage carries, and whether you need continuous reference planes. Anyone who quotes a layer count before seeing your schematic is guessing. What we can say is that going one layer up is frequently cheaper overall than the routing gymnastics and signal-integrity risk of squeezing into fewer.
Can you work with my existing manufacturer?
Yes, and we would rather you kept them. We run DFM against your fabricator's actual published capabilities and output in whatever format their process expects. If you do not have one yet we can advise on selection, but we take no commission from any fabricator — a conflict we would rather not have.
Do you do high-speed and controlled-impedance layout?
Yes — differential pairs, length matching, and controlled impedance with the stack-up defined to hit the target rather than hoped at. We will be direct about where our experience ends: if your design needs multi-gigabit SerDes with full 3D field solving, we will say so rather than learn on your project.
What if the first boards do not work?
We plan for it, because first articles frequently have something. Bring-up support is part of the engagement, not a change order. If the fault traces to a layout error we made, the respin is on us.
Related
Where this usually connects
Tell us what you are building
One technical call is usually enough to tell you whether this is straightforward, genuinely hard, or the wrong approach entirely. We would rather say so early than quote for the wrong thing.
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