SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DESIGNING A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD
A method is described in which a functional region on a printed circuit board (PCB) is defined, a regional circuit design to be inserted into the functional region on the PCB is selected, and the regional circuit design is pasted into the functional region.
1 . A method for designing a printed circuit board (PCB), comprising:
defining a functional region on a PCB, wherein circuit traces are mapped to predetermined locations at the edge of the functional region;
selecting a regional circuit design from a plurality of design choices to be inserted into the functional region on the PCB; and
pasting the regional circuit design into the functional region to create a PCB design, wherein the regional circuit design comprises circuit traces that are mapped to the predetermined locations.
2 . The method of claim 1 , comprising aligning the predetermined locations to accommodate regional circuit designs of various bit widths.
3 . The method of claim 1 , comprising adding circuit traces to the functional region with fewer circuit traces to allow effective interfacing with a regional circuit design having more circuit traces.
4 . The method of claim 1 , comprising reserving space in the functional region to accommodate the maximum bit width of a regional circuit design.
5 . The method of claim 1 , comprising implementing a warning module to signal occurrences related to PCB design failures.
6 . A computing system, comprising
a storage module to provide instructions to design a printed circuit board (PCB); and
a processor to execute the instructions provided by the storage module, wherein the instructions direct the processor to:
define a functional region on a PCB, wherein circuit traces are mapped to predetermined locations at the edge of the functional region;
select a regional circuit design from a plurality of design choices to be inserted into the functional region on the PCB; and
paste the regional circuit design into the functional region to create a PCB design, wherein the regional circuit design comprises circuit traces that are mapped to the predetermined locations.
7 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined locations accommodate regional circuit designs of various bit widths.
8 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the functional region includes reserve spacing to accommodate the maximum bit width of a regional circuit.
9 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein a selection of the regional circuit design determines the width of bit traces for the PCB.
10 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the number of circuit traces may be increased or decreased based on the number of circuit traces of the regional circuit design.
11 . The computing system of claim 6 , wherein the edges of the PCB board are non-uniform in areas located outside of the functional region.
12 . The computing system of claim 6 , comprising a plurality of functional regions, wherein less than all of the functional regions are populated on the PCB.
13 . A customized printed circuit board (PCB), comprising
a functional region on a PCB comprising circuit traces mapped to predetermined locations at the edge of the functional region; and
a regional circuit design, wherein the region circuit design is inserted into the functional region, and wherein circuit traces of the regional circuit design are mapped to the predetermined locations.
14 . The customized PCB of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined locations accommodate changing bit widths associated with varied regional circuit designs.
15 . The customized PCB of claim 13 , wherein the functional region includes reserve spacing to accommodate the maximum bit width of a regional circuit design.