ATMega328 PCB design questions

Hello, is it OK if VCC-AVCC pins are connected "below" the chip (highlighted trace)? (I'm not intended to use separate analog supply)

Another question is about the decoupling capacitors (C3-C4). Is it OK that they connect to ground through the pad of the uC? Or they need a separate via connection to the ground plane?

Thanks in advance.

Suggest you increase the width of the Vcc trace to 35-50mil.

Your Vcc trace between the two pads is okay.

The pin 1 on the capacitors should go to GND with a via just to the right of the pad.

Add ~100uF cap (as a reservoir capacitor) on your Vcc trace near the location where power is connected to the PCB.

1 Like

Suggest you increase the width of the Vcc trace to 35-50mil.

This Vcc (branch) trace goes only to the uC. Wouldn't a 35mil trace unnecessarily wide for like max. 20mA?

The pin 1 on the capacitors should go to GND with a via just to the right of the pad.

Ok, thanks.

Add ~100uF cap (as a reservoir capacitor) on your Vcc trace near the location where power is connected to the PCB.

There is already a 10uF (value was suggested by the regulator datasheet) which is not shown on the clipping.

We are not talking about current.

We are talking about inductance.

1 Like

Inductance comes into the picture if Vcc supply current has/could have high frequency components?

I'm trying to add a 6 pin ISP programming header also. It is just as the picture details, right?

MISO, MOSI, SCK are connected logically, ~RESET is connected in between the uC reset pin and the pull-up resistor?

Your schematic says Y1 is a crystal, if so does it not need capacitors to GND on both sides ?

If you are using ADC of the MCU, then why not using LC filter for the AVcc supply to supress the switching ripples on the Vcc (digital) line?

It is a 4 pin crystal resonator with built-in capacitors, only GND connection is needed if I got it rigtht from the datasheet. kép

@GolamMostafa: accuracy/noise is not that important for that one measurement. I used a Pro Mini board without problems before I started this separate PCB. (Pro Mini has VCC-AVCC directly connected)

1 Like

No capacitors shown.

According to the attached datasheet that is a crystal and it will need external capacitors. All my resonators are 3 pin devices.

You are probably right. I add 22pF capacitors between 1-GND and 3-GND. Thanks for pointing it out.

2x22pF?

Yes, I mean 22pF between 1-GND and another 22pF between 3-GND.

1 Like

Mind that there two GND pads/pins; both have to used.
crysCapa

I doubt it. They probably only connect to the case for shielding purposes...

As suggested in the datasheet by "‧Extremely good for reducing EMI effect.".

I shot a series of videos designing a board based on the Nano. Take a look at these, they might help.

Thanks, pretty fresh stuff. :slight_smile: I wired the ISP header the same, so I think I got it right (and also checked on Uno schematic since then).

This will be a battery powered board and the time which the uC will be out of sleep is independent from the processing power, so I switched to 8 MHz to reduce current consumption. 8 MHz Crystal Resonator is a 2 pin component at the PCB prototype maker so I rearranged the layout (and also rotated the uC), this is what it looks like now: