Hi,
in the new board I'm working now, I have to different DC converters, one step-down (buck) and one step-up (boost), also other analog components, moreover some digital components.
PCB is a 4-layer one distributed as:
- L1: Power traces & some signal traces.
- L2: GND.
- L3: Signal traces.
- L4: GND, and one power trace surrounding the PCB (to avoid split the GND plane as much as possible).
From manufacturers the best option is to split the ground planes for analog and power, joining them at one single point.
So, at Captue (schematics) I have used two different symbols in order to differentiate both ground planes.
The issue comes when at PCB Editor, I try to place the different ground shapes. There is only one GND signal, not two (GND & GND_SIGNAL).
Could anyone show the best way to place both planes at PCB Editor?
The option I was thinking about is to split ground planes on L1 as shown at picture below:
3D Bottom Layer (Green L1 Etch)
It would be suitable enough? Or does power planes need to be re-dimension to include all power traces length?
KR!