Hi, I've been using the CC3220S-LAUNCHXL for a couple of personal projects and wondered if I could get some input from those experienced into laying out a custom board.
As I don't have access to Altium, using the published circuit + gerbers, I redid the project in Kicad with one difference - I've split the emulation/programming circuitry into a separate board which connects to the main (app) board using headers on one board and a socket on the other, like in the attached. My thought is I can use a single emulation/programming board for multiple app boards. I've also designed a "breakout" power supply for the app board which works nicely with the development CC3220S-LAUNCHXL I'm using.
Before I start spending to fabricate this I thought I'd ask if anybody with experience doing something similar has any input into the following:
1. Is this even a sensible thing to do? Is there a better way to design/layout boards without all the extra bits programming/emulation bits on it?
2. Any suggestions for inexpensive manufacturers? My previous attempts have all been much simpler boards. I've used a couple of Chinese/European manufacturers before (JLCPCB, Aisler etc.) but am unsure whether they can do this without errors and with all the right parts. Since the services are all online, it's hard to know ...
3. I'm happy to share the layout (copy of the TI design in Kicad - nothing original) iff there's anybody interested to have a look and perhaps catch any errors and/or suggest ways to improve it for manufacturing.
