nRF9160 PCB land pattern

RE: nRF9160 PCB land pattern

Kaja — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 09:45:45 GMT

Hi Juha,

more to ensure correct placement of the Zip. Check with your manufacture house, maybe they they have some input in regards to the distance between the pads.

Best regards,
Kaja

RE: nRF9160 PCB land pattern

JuhaK — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 10:14:31 GMT

Hi Kaja,

Thank you for the reply! Do you mean by ensuring proper connection that solder joints would be unreliable or easy to break if the PCB pad size would equal the module pad size? Have you tried to use equal PCB pad size?

We don't see any issues in routing from equal size PCB pads. Anyway it's good that you haven't seen soldering issues in your proposed land pattern.

Hardware Design Guidelines link doesn't work for me. Instead I checked https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/pdf/nwp_037.pdf but couldn't find comments related to PCB pad sizes.

Still, we have some area pressure to use smaller PCB pads in case there is no evidence on issues with them.

Br, JuhaK

RE: nRF9160 PCB land pattern

Kaja — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 08:16:08 GMT

Hi Juha,

the point is to ensure proper connection and make it easier to route. No, it has not been an issue, you can have a look at our Hardware Design Guidelines

Best regards,
Kaja

RE: nRF9160 PCB land pattern

JuhaK — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 15:27:06 GMT

Thanks Kaja!

What is the reason to extend the pads on the PCB, as our PCB space is quite limited? Futhermore, our surface mount assembly (SMA) specialists foresee issues due to different solder joint/mask areas for same size LGA pads (edge and inner pads) when paste may not spread in the same way on these two set sets of solder joints? Have you seen any issues related to this in your SMA?

Br,

JuhaK

RE: nRF9160 PCB land pattern

Kaja — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 10:55:16 GMT

Hi Juha,

use the footprint form the DK on your PCB the one in the PS is the mechanical specifications of the Zip. You can also use the mechanical drawing and extend the pad's.

Best regards,
Kaja