Abstract
Capacitors are key components in modern electronic devices. Such devices may include a high number of capacitors, e.g., more than 500 capacitors. Multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) can cause noise and structural vibration when AC voltage is applied. Such audible noise can cause the device's microphone to be noisy. An important reason for such noise is the arbitrary orientation at which different MLCCs are placed on a printed circuit board (PCB) of the device. When orientations MLCCs are different and arbitrary, interactions between induced electric fields and uncontrolled induced vibrations on the entire PCB can lead to noise and/or deformation of components. This disclosure describes techniques to determine the orientations of MLCCs on the printed circuit board of a device to reduce noise generated by the device. Per the techniques, the PCB is divided into multiple zones and modules within each zone are identified. MLCCs within each zone are placed with the same orientation, either horizontal or vertical, to extent feasible. A simulation is performed to determine the device's acoustic response and the layout is updated until satisfactory performance is achieved.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Ding, Shengyin and Cheng, Raymond, "PCB Zoning and Capacitor Orientation Selection to Reduce Vibration and Noise", Technical Disclosure Commons, (May 17, 2024)
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/7024