I am a newbie in this field though I have a background in electronics engineering but with experience in the telco industry as a networks engineer..I am currently developing an asset tracking and temperature sensing tag and will stick to your guidance.Hopefully if it succeeds I will share with you my story.This is the guidance have been looking for .
What does Pick and place files and assembly documents mean in PCB DESIGN? Does it not mean fabricating the pcb hardware? Ps reply .my pcb designer is giving me only the software of pcb.
Pick and place files are like the coordinates and orientation of how each component will be placed on your PCB via an automated machine. So basically the manufacturer needs this info to make sure the automated machine places the components right. You can easily generate this from EDAs and you must also send them the components you want them to fabricate on the pcb
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerber_format Also, each manufacturer has it's own requierements and limitation. Those are listed on the respective websites. Check those BEFORE making the PCB design since failure to follow those WILL result in bad PCBs being manufactured. Regarding exposure - it's a trust issue. Some chineese factories actually offer you to openly put you design on their site for some discount. But, really, how secret/complicated IS your design? Could it be replicated by just looking at the manufactured PCB (If you're asking this question then, for your project, the answer is "yes")? In that case, you won't really care about the manufacturer.
Unless you really trying to create a PCB for specific ASICs (e.g. carrier PCB for the processor like AMD or Intel) or your PCB design is specifically intended for highly classified projects for government, I think that your PCB design will not worth too much to expose. There are several ways of protecting it if you insisted on doing it, of course: 1. Use the "Industrial Design Copyright" law. You can send your PCB design to your local Intellectual Property governing body and have it protected under Industrial Design IP protection before you send it to your PCB maker. While this doesn't stop people to copy your PCB, at least you have all the legal rights to pursue and either stop them or make them pay for the design. However, it also means that unless you 100% certain that your design is working correctly before sending it to your PCB maker, you will have to redo you IP protection multiple times, which is expensive. 2. Split your PCB into multiple small modules, each being processed by different supplier. Therefore, even if one supplier leaked your design, not much of it can be used by your competitor since they don't have all the modules to combine as fully functioning system. Downside is that your production cost is going to go up and extra logistical issues trying to manage multiple suppliers. Additionally, all additional connectors and jumpers to connect between modules add extra fail points that make your system less reliable. 3. If absolute IP protection is your utmost goal, the only viable way is to build your own production chain. That means you must make your own PCB in house, from etching, cutting, drilling, all until the final PCB comes out. It is expensive, but if you really care and you need to protect your IP at all costs, with high enough volume it is worth it. Besides even if you protect it using one of the 3 options above, how can you protect your competitor from secretly buy your product and reverse engineer it? You can cover or seal your PCB in opaque epoxy that covers every part of PCB, but then you cannot fix it later and with slightly extra effort, they can X-ray the PCB and still copy your design that way.
