Test point placement in PCB Design - Cell-by-Cell Formula Trace

Sample Data

This data shows nets on a PCB with their pin counts. We want to calculate how many test points to place per net.

Cell	Value
A1	Net Name
B1	Pin Count
C1	Test Points Needed
A2	GND
B2	10
C2
A3	VCC
B3	5
C3
A4	DATA
B4	8
C4

Formula Trace

=IF(B2>6, 2, 1)

Step 1: B2 > 6

Step 2: TRUE

Step 3: IF(TRUE, 2, 1)

Cell Reference Map

    A       B       C
1 |Net Name|Pin Count|Test Points Needed|
2 |  GND   |   10   |                 |
3 |  VCC   |    5   |                 |
4 |  DATA  |    8   |                 |

The formula references cell B2 which contains the pin count for the GND net.

Result

    A       B       C
1 |Net Name|Pin Count|Test Points Needed|
2 |  GND   |   10   |        2        |
3 |  VCC   |    5   |        1        |
4 |  DATA  |    8   |        2        |

The formula results are placed in column C indicating test points needed for each net.

Sheet Trace Quiz - 3 Questions

What does the formula check first?

A If pin count equals 2

B If pin count is greater than 6

C If test points needed is 1

D If net name is GND

Key Result

IF(pin_count > threshold, high_test_points, low_test_points)