The efficient laying-out of traces on a PCB is a complex skill, and requires much patience. This task has been made vastly easier with the advent of readily available PCB layout software, but it is sti The efficient laying out of traces on a PCB is a complex skill, and requires much patience. This task has been made vastly easier with the advent of readily available PCB layout software, but it is still challenging. Usually an electronics or electrical engineer designs the circuit, and a layout specialist designs the PCB. PCB design is a specialized skill. There are numerous techniques and standards used to design a PCB that is easy to manufacture and yet small and inexpensive. Some circuit designs are fabricated on tiny silicon wafers and others consist of various components connected by cables. However, the circuits that are often the center of an EMC engineer's attention are those that are laid out on cardboard or fiberglass epoxy boards. Printed circuit boards similar to the one illustrated in Figure 1 can be found in nearly all electronic systems. Circuit components with metal pins are connected by copper traces. Surface mount technology (SMT) components are glued to the top and/or bottom of a board. Pin-in-hole components are held to the board by their pins, which extend through the board and are soldered to the traces on the opposite side.
