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