This thread has been locked.
If you have a related question, please click the "Ask a related question" button in the top right corner. The newly created question will be automatically linked to this question.
Hello,
I would be grateful if someone could give me a clarification to figure 8 in SLAA322B.
http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slaa322b/slaa322b.pdf
In the right PCB layout: Is red copper top and blue copper bottom?
If blue is a "GND island isolated by a gap from the rest of the GND" should that GND island be connected to the rest of the GND just at AVSS1 (MSP430F5359)?
At the moment I just have a ground plane on copper bottom which also covers the crystal area (no gap isolating the ground plane under the crystal). Is that a problem? Wouldn't a isolated ground plane produce a lot of EMI?
Best Regards
Kalle Ohlsson
Hi Kalle,
Yes, the red indicated top copper and the blue indicates bottom copper.
Having an isolated ground plane underneath the crystal is a typical "best practice" in design. I won't say that it is required, but if you have the capability in your layout to isolate the crystal, it would be beneficial to do so. It comes down to what kind of accuracy and precision do you need from the oscillator. Isolating the ground plane helps to prevents ground currents from propagating underneath the crystal. Lots of things come in to play, like the quality and size of the crystal as well as the layout.
With regard to EMI, the plane is only "isolated" in the sense that it is connected to the rest of the ground plane at one point. The goal here is to simply have it behave as a shield, and not as a power plane that flows ground currents. Having the isolated plane helps you with RF susceptibility; having a ground plane in general (underneath the crystal) helps you with RF emissions.
Are you designing a two layer board, or something larger? You will also want to ensure that you do not run any digital signals or power signals underneath the crystal either.
Here is another similar post that you may find interesting:
http://e2e.ti.com/support/microcontrollers/msp430/f/166/t/118247.aspx
Regards,
Walter
Hi Walter,
Thank you very much for your answer. We are using a 2 layer pcb and have no traces under the crystal.
Regards
Kalle
Hello! I am designing a PCB with two layers with a ground plane in each. The MSP430G2553 and 32KHz crystal are on the top layer. I have two options and I do not know which one is the best.
Thanks and best regards.
Fran Martin.
Sorry, my English level is very low. I have two grown planes, one in the top layer and one in the bottom layer. I think I'd better show you some photos of how I designed the 32KHz crystal PCB area.
This is the top layer:
This is the bottom layer:
These are the 3D vision of the top layer and bottom respectively:
Is this design correct?
Thank you and greetings.
There should be no additional copper in the top plane. (Such long shapes can act like an antenna.)
And you have DVSS at pin 20 right next to the XIN/XOUT pins; this is the place where you should connect the ground plane to the rest of the ground.
**Attention** This is a public forum