Electronic drawing standards question

Aug 03, 2005 12 Replies

I've been looking at a lot of schematics over the last week and it looks like there is no agreed set of symbols that would constitute a standard. Or, some companies just choose to do things their way. So I was wondering if there is a stet of standards for symbols (and other aspects of electronic drafting) and how I can get a copy?



Thanks, Dave


That's the great thing about standards: So many from which to choose.

formatting link
. ..

AKA "The logical solution" IMO.

formatting link
. ..

Another solution: Adopt one you think has esteem.

formatting link
formatting link

IEEE Std 315, "IEEE Standard Graphic Symbols for Electrical and Electronics Diagrams"

formatting link

IEEE Standard Graphic Symbols suck!

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

formatting link
| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

The great committee solution, almost as useful as the EDIF "standard" ;-)

...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

They are a classic example of a solution searching in vain for a problem.

-Chuck

My observation is that CAD companies try to make it all but impossible to transfer data between different tools.

...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Except that EDIF could have been great if the committee had been competent. As it is, there are so many variations, that all follow the standard, that the interoperability they envisioned is all but impossible.

-Chuck

You bet!

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |

formatting link
| 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Jim Thompson wrote: : My observation is that CAD companies try to make it all but impossible : to transfer data between different tools.

Did I just hear somebody make an argument for open-source EDA?

Stuart

I like the competition (and cross-pollination?) that is beginning:

formatting link

The *porting* thing is pretty cool too:

formatting link
formatting link
*-*--Unix-like-*+runs-on-*-OSX+author:Ales-Hvezda

The Logic Functions "standard" was what I was thinking of... really gross... totally non-intuitive!

...Jim Thompson

| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

Are we talking about the same thing? IEEE 315 (-1975, and the 315A-1986 supplement) is the one with all the basic symbols; resistors (rectangle and zigzag are both allowed), capacitors, inductors, BJTs, FETs, vacuum tubes, etc.

In my experience most drawings follow this, but many get the details wrong for less common components such as thermal fuses, transducers, ganged switches, etc. It is handy to be able to look up the correct symbol for things one does not use often.

IEEE 315 also has a list of preferred reference designators, which is a handy thing to standardise on to maintain consistency between BOMs, purchasing systems and CAD systems.

On the other hand "IEEE Graphic Symbols for Logic Functions" is more controversial, and less widely used.

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required