Thermal spoke connections in PCB Design - Real Business Scenario

Scenario Mode

👤 Your Role: You are a PCB design engineer working on improving thermal management.

📋 Request: Your manager wants a report showing how thermal spoke connections affect heat dissipation across different PCB layers and pad sizes.

📊 Data: You have thermal resistance measurements for various spoke counts, spoke widths, pad sizes, and PCB layers.

🎯 Deliverable: Create a dashboard showing average thermal resistance by spoke count and pad size, with filters for PCB layers.

Sample Data

Layer	Pad Size (mm)	Spoke Count	Spoke Width (mm)	Thermal Resistance (°C/W)
Top	1.0	4	0.3	15.2
Top	1.0	6	0.3	13.8
Top	1.5	4	0.4	12.5
Top	1.5	6	0.4	11.0
Inner	1.0	4	0.3	16.5
Inner	1.0	6	0.3	14.7
Inner	1.5	4	0.4	13.2
Inner	1.5	6	0.4	12.0
Bottom	1.0	4	0.3	15.8
Bottom	1.0	6	0.3	14.1
Bottom	1.5	4	0.4	12.8
Bottom	1.5	6	0.4	11.5

1

Step 1: Load the sample data into your BI tool.

Import the table with columns: Layer, Pad Size (mm), Spoke Count, Spoke Width (mm), Thermal Resistance (°C/W).

Expected Result

Data table with 12 rows loaded correctly.

2

Step 2: Create a measure to calculate average thermal resistance by Spoke Count and Pad Size.

Average Thermal Resistance = AVERAGE('Table'[Thermal Resistance (°C/W)])

Expected Result

Measure calculates average thermal resistance for selected groups.

3

Step 3: Build a matrix visualization with Rows = Spoke Count, Columns = Pad Size (mm), Values = Average Thermal Resistance measure.

Configure matrix visual with specified rows, columns, and values.

Expected Result

Matrix shows average thermal resistance for each spoke count and pad size combination.

4

Step 4: Add a slicer filter for Layer to allow filtering by PCB layer (Top, Inner, Bottom).

Add slicer visual with Layer column.

Expected Result

User can filter the matrix by selecting one or more layers.

5

Step 5: Format the matrix for readability: use color scale from red (high resistance) to green (low resistance).

Apply conditional formatting on Average Thermal Resistance values.

Expected Result

Matrix cells colored to highlight lower thermal resistance values.

Final Result

Thermal Resistance Matrix (°C/W)

Pad Size (mm) ->  1.0     1.5
Spoke Count
4               15.8    12.8
6               14.2    11.5

[Layer Filter: Top | Inner | Bottom]

Color scale: Red (high) to Green (low)

✓Increasing spoke count reduces thermal resistance, improving heat dissipation.

✓Larger pad sizes also reduce thermal resistance.

✓Top layer generally has lower thermal resistance than inner layers.

✓Thermal spoke connections significantly impact PCB thermal performance.

Bonus Challenge

Create a line chart showing thermal resistance trend by spoke count for each pad size, with layer filter.

Show Hint

Use spoke count on X-axis, average thermal resistance on Y-axis, and pad size as legend.