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PCB Layout Review.
Return paths, signal integrity, and DFM — checked by a senior engineer.

A systematic review of your PCB layout covering return current paths, impedance control, EMI risk, decoupling placement, thermal management, and design-for-manufacture. Sent back as an annotated report with specific, actionable fixes.

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Accepts: Gerbers · Altium · KiCad · ODB++ · PDF
What we review

The six areas that cause the most layout-related failures.

01

Return current paths

Ground plane splits, via placement under high-frequency components, and discontinuous return paths are the leading cause of EMI failures. We map your ground structure and flag every interruption.

High impact
02

Impedance control

USB, HDMI, DDR, RF traces — all require controlled impedance. We verify your trace widths and stackup against the target impedance, and flag any deviations that will cause reflections or data errors.

High impact
03

Decoupling placement

Decoupling placed on the wrong side of a via, bulk caps too far from their target, or wrong value selection for the frequency — all render decoupling ineffective. We check distance, orientation, and value.

Medium–high
04

Thermal management

Thermal reliefs on power pads, via arrays under QFN packages, trace width vs current capacity, and component placement for airflow. We flag components at risk of exceeding junction temperature under load.

Medium–high
05

EMI / EMC risk

Loop areas, switching node routing, crystal placement, guard rings, and chassis ground connections. We identify the top EMI radiators and give specific layout changes to reduce emission risk before you hit the chamber.

Medium
06

DFM compliance

Minimum annular rings, paste solder coverage, silkscreen clearances, board edge clearances, and assembly tolerance review. We check against standard PCB fab and assembly house tolerances.

DFM
Deliverable

A report that tells you exactly what to move — and why.

Layout findings reference specific components, nets, and coordinates. Not "check your decoupling" — but "C34 is placed 4.2mm from U8 pin 12 via a 0.2mm via. Move it to within 0.8mm, no via between cap and pin."

  • Severity-rated findings (critical / high / medium / low)
  • Specific component reference, net, and location for each issue
  • Before / after description of the recommended fix
  • Annotated Gerber screenshots where relevant
  • DFM summary with pass/fail per category
  • Optional: annotated design files returned with comments
Critical
Ground plane split under U4 (SMPS)

The copper pour cut for the mounting hole creates a slot in the ground plane directly under the switching regulator. Return currents are forced to route around the cut, creating a large loop and an EMI antenna.

→ Fix: Move mounting hole 3mm north or add a stitching via row at 0.5mm pitch across the slot to restore the return path.
High
USB D+/D– trace width mismatch

D+ is routed at 0.15mm (90Ω nominal), D– at 0.2mm (75Ω nominal) for this stackup. The mismatch will cause differential skew and will likely fail USB HS eye diagram testing.

→ Fix: Re-route both traces at 0.155mm for 90Ω differential on this 4-layer stackup (H=0.2mm, Er=4.2). Maintain pair coupling to ≤0.1mm gap.

Accepted formats.

Send us whatever your EDA tool exports. Gerbers are fine, native files are better — we can open most formats directly.

Gerber RS-274X ODB++ Altium (.PcbDoc) KiCad (.kicad_pcb) Eagle (.brd) OrCAD (.brd) 3D PDF / STEP EasyEDA export

Send us your layout. We will take a look.

Describe your project and we will get back to you within one business day with a fixed quote. No commitment needed. Reach us directly at info@pcb-review.com

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