When to use more than two layers in PCB Design - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - When to use more than two layers

Goal

Understand when it is best to use more than two layers in PCB design to improve performance and reliability.

Sample Data: PCB Design Scenarios

Scenario	Signal Complexity	Board Size (cm²)	Frequency (MHz)	Power Consumption (W)	Recommended Layers
Simple sensor board	Low	10	1	0.5	2
Microcontroller with peripherals	Medium	20	16	1.2	4
High-speed communication board	High	30	100	3.5	6
Power management board	Medium	25	10	5.0	4
Complex FPGA board	Very High	40	200	8.0	8
Basic LED controller	Low	8	2	0.3	2
Wireless communication module	High	15	150	2.0	6

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Average Recommended Layers
  Formula: Average of 'Recommended Layers' column
  Result: 4.57 layers
• Bar Chart: Recommended Layers by Signal Complexity
  Groups scenarios by 'Signal Complexity' and shows average recommended layers.
  Data points:
  - Low: 2 layers
  - Medium: 4 layers
  - High: 6 layers
  - Very High: 8 layers
• Scatter Plot: Frequency vs. Recommended Layers
  X-axis: Frequency (MHz)
  Y-axis: Recommended Layers
  Shows positive correlation: higher frequency needs more layers.
• Table: Detailed Scenario Data
  Shows all columns from sample data for reference.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+-------------------------+
| Average Layers (KPI) | Bar Chart: Layers by    |
|                      | Signal Complexity       |
+----------------------+-------------------------+
|                      Scatter Plot: Frequency vs. Layers          |
|                              (Wide area below top row)           |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|                         Detailed Scenario Data Table            |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

Filter by Signal Complexity or Frequency range. When a filter is applied:

• Bar chart updates to show average layers for selected complexities.
• Scatter plot shows only points within frequency range and selected complexities.
• KPI card recalculates average recommended layers for filtered data.
• Data table shows only filtered scenarios.

Self Check

If you add a filter to show only scenarios with Frequency above 50 MHz, which components update and how?

• KPI card: Average layers recalculates for filtered scenarios (High and Very High frequency).
• Bar chart: Shows average layers for signal complexities in filtered data (High and Very High).
• Scatter plot: Displays only points with frequency > 50 MHz.
• Data table: Shows only scenarios with frequency above 50 MHz.

Key Result

Dashboard shows when to use more than two PCB layers based on signal complexity, frequency, and power consumption.