I generally use the area of all the components versus the usable area on the
board to determine density.
It's not very scientific, but it gives me an idea of what I'm dealing with.
I try to add in enough area to compensate for fanning out of IC packages.

        ----------
        From:  McGlaughlin, Jeffrey A [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:  Friday, March 02, 2001 12:44 PM
        To:  [log in to unmask]
        Subject:  [DC] Board Density Factor

        I was recently ask to explain the board density factor calculated by
our
        layout package.  It gave a factor of 0.1 sq. in./14-pin DIP. I
translated
        that to be 140 pins per square inch so that it made more sense in
the two
        sided surface mount arena, but was left wondering if there was a
better way
        of figuring board density.  What are you using and why?


        Jeffrey A. McGlaughlin, C.I.D.
        Sr. PCB Designer
        Battelle Memorial Institute
        Columbus Ohio
        [log in to unmask]


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
        DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using
LISTSERV 1.8d
        To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following
text in
        the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil.
        To set a vacation stop for delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET
DesignerCouncil NOMAIL
        Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources &
Databases > E-mail Archives
        Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for
additional
        information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or
847-509-9700 ext.5315

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil.
To set a vacation stop for delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET DesignerCouncil NOMAIL
Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives
Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional
information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------