Design Considerations

Issues to consider during the Design Phase that may affect ESD Robustness and Susceptibility:

• New Component Revisions and Pinouts
  Do these increase overall system susceptibility from previous versions?
• New PCB process constraints
  Will fewer layers force more critical signals to exposed layers?
• New enclosure constraints
  Will shielding cost-reductions or new gasket materials cause problems?

A great deal of advanced CAD/FEA simulation technology advances can provide answers here, but sometimes hard data on the real thing can provide a better answer, or perhaps provide a validation of simulation results.

A library of ESD Susceptibility maps for previous known-good systems can be an invaluable review tool to understand what works, what doesn't, and what problems are nearing the edge of reliability.

Incidentally, benchmarking the susceptibility maps of competing systems can help justify cost-reductions or robustness improvements.