Cost vs complexity trade-off in PCB Design - Formula Comparison Trace

Sample Data

This table lists PCB components with their cost in dollars and complexity rating from 1 (simple) to 10 (complex).

Cell	Value
A1	Component
B1	Cost ($)
C1	Complexity (1-10)
A2	Resistor
B2	0.10
C2	2
A3	Capacitor
B3	0.20
C3	3
A4	Microcontroller
B4	5.00
C4	8
A5	Connector
B5	1.50
C5	5
A6	Sensor
B6	3.00
C6	7

Formula Trace

SUMX(Table, Table[Cost ($)] * Table[Complexity (1-10)])

Step 1: Resistor: 0.10 * 2

Step 2: Capacitor: 0.20 * 3

Step 3: Microcontroller: 5.00 * 8

Step 4: Connector: 1.50 * 5

Step 5: Sensor: 3.00 * 7

Step 6: Sum all products: 0.20 + 0.60 + 40.00 + 7.50 + 21.00

Cell Reference Map

    A           B           C
1 |Component | Cost ($)   | Complexity |
2 |Resistor  | 0.10      | 2          |
3 |Capacitor | 0.20      | 3          |
4 |Microcontroller | 5.00      | 8          |
5 |Connector | 1.50      | 5          |
6 |Sensor    | 3.00      | 7          |

Arrows: Cost ($) and Complexity columns feed into the formula calculation.

The formula uses the Cost and Complexity columns for each component to calculate the trade-off.

Result

    A           B           C           D
1 |Component | Cost ($)   | Complexity | Cost*Complexity |
2 |Resistor  | 0.10      | 2          | 0.20           |
3 |Capacitor | 0.20      | 3          | 0.60           |
4 |Microcontroller | 5.00      | 8          | 40.00          |
5 |Connector | 1.50      | 5          | 7.50           |
6 |Sensor    | 3.00      | 7          | 21.00          |
7 |          |           | Total      | 69.30          |

The final column shows each component's cost multiplied by complexity. The total at the bottom sums these values to 69.30, representing the overall cost vs complexity trade-off.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What is the product of Cost and Complexity for the Microcontroller?

A 13.00

B 40.00

C 8.00

D 5.00

Key Result

SUMX iterates over each row multiplying Cost by Complexity, then sums all results.