You’re likely to deal with integrated circuits in electronics design. Occasionally, you may face the herculean task of working with a microprocessor. It’s a mistake to assume that designing with a microprocessor is similar to typical ICs.
If you skip a couple of best practices in PCB design there’s still a chance that you can create a successful design if you’re dealing with typical ICs like a differential transceiver or logic gates. Usually, these passive ICs are quite robust in terms of power supply and speed.
However, repeat the same mistakes in a design with a microprocessor and you’re likely to face hordes of issues in the prototype. Microprocessors are known to be power-hungry devices and usually operate in the range of hundreds of Hertz or Gigahertz.
It should go without saying that a microprocessor is sensitive to the voltage delivered to it. Ripples or a sudden drop in voltage can greatly affect the stability of the microprocessor. EMI is also a concern as the microprocessor connects with memory via high-speed data buses. The high-speed data exchange can be a source of EMI, which can affect adjacent sensitive components.
You can’t afford the slightest mistakes when designing with a microprocessor and using the right PCB design and analysis software definitely helps.
