High-Density PCBs just got easier with Smart Vias

HDI Challenges

Even for the most experienced engineers, high density interconnect designs remain difficult. Some typical challenges are:

• Using space efficiently while respecting manufacturing constraints,
• Avoiding misalignment, which could lead to poor connectivity, or even complete circuit failure,
• Avoiding congestion, which could lead to crosstalk and signal degradation.

Traditional EDA tools depend heavily on manual input for via placement. This makes density management primarily a function of hand-eye coordination. After placement, when you need to modify part of the design, you’ll quickly find yourself playing an unsolicited game of three-dimensional chess. Often, it’s easiest to simply wipe out the traces and vias, start over, and hope you won’t have to make another change to that part of your board.

After carefully laying everything out, the next big effort is to define and work through manufacturability, reliability, and cost considerations. In practice, this mountain of manual labor adds up. Designers are often forced to either compromise their design, risk overlooking mistakes, or delay their project.

Introducing Smart Vias

Smart Vias in Flux is an intelligent feature that automates the selection, placement, and configuration of vias during the PCB design process. This automation reduces the manual effort involved in via placement and significantly lowers the risk of misalignment and other common errors associated with traditional via management

If you’re routing a trace and need to connect across multiple layers, Flux will place a Smart Via that automatically populates with the best suited combination of vias (micro, blind, buried, or through-hole), in a stacked or staggered configuration, respecting your project settings. For example, you might only want to use microvias on outer layers and use through-hole vias for everything else. With Smart Vias, you can just start routing. When you switch from Top to Mid-Layer 1, a Smart Via will get you there. You can change your mind and go to Bottom and the Smart Via will dynamically reconfigure itself to support that connectivity.

Smart Vias are powered by Flux’s innovative Layout Rules. Rules allow you to set your preferences from a central place in the Stackup. They also allow for control of individual Smart Vias right down to the details, like the direction or spacing of a stagger. The result is a feature gets out of your way when you want and also lets you sweat the small stuff.

To make it even easier to get started, simply clone or fork any of these templates.

• PCBWay: 4-layer and 6-layer HDI stackup template
• VictoryPCB: 4-layer and 6-layer HDI stackup template
• Seeed Studio: 4-layer stackup template

Making HDI a Breeze

Overall, Smart Vias addresses many of the challenges inherent in high density interconnect design and offers notable benefits to the designer.

• Automated Via Management: Automates via selection and placement, saving designers significant time and effort by eliminating the need for tedious manual configurations.
• Error Reduction: Reduces the likelihood of design errors, such as misalignment or improper via selection, leading to fewer design revisions and faster time-to-market.
• Optimized Via Density: Ensures optimal via density, minimizing crosstalk and maintaining signal integrity.
• Thermal Integration: Proactively integrates with thermal management tools, preventing vias from contributing to overheating, thereby enhancing the durability and longevity of the final product.
• Enhanced Reliability: Increases the overall reliability and performance of the PCB, giving users confidence in the quality and robustness of their designs.
• Efficient Design Process: It streamlines the entire design process, enabling users to achieve more accurate and efficient results.

Get Started with Flux

We think this is a huge improvement over existing workflows and we’re excited for you to use it. Interested in experiencing the new Smart Via feature? Get started with a template today!