PCB-RE: A Niche Skillset

A novice starting out to learn PCB reverse engineering usually begins with a multimeter and the simple notion that it's all about finding the interconnection points between components on the circuit board. In truth, it's not entirely correct. If it were that simple, electronic engineers the world over would be doing it.

Like the game of Go, the basic rules of PCB reverse engineering is easy to pick up, but mastering the skill requires time and certain know-how, if you want to shorten the learning curve and avoid costly mistakes and pitfalls. That's the reason I set out to write the sequel book PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques. To some measure, I was prompted by readers to give this niche topic a more complete treatment; also, I was driven by the desire to enhance my own learning journey by leveraging from the expertise of engineers who are willing to share their knowledge in their own peculiar field and experience using equipment and approaches I might or might not have heard of.

Here is the table of content for this book:

While it is by no means complete (which book can claim that?), it's nonetheless thorough in the fields of interest presented. As one reader aptly commented: 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It has many chapters on all sorts of techniques to reverse engineer printed circuit boards, with the intent of either replacing them with identical boards that no longer exist or determining the schematic for debugging a faulty circuit.

So take it from the likes of renown individuals and companies like Joe Grand (aka Kingpin), John McMaster, Bill Loving and Jeff Rupert (and their remarkable team from ScanCAD International, Inc.), Bob Elder (Teel Technologies), Fraser Castle (a seasoned engineer in multiple disciplines), Dr. Sergei Skorobogatov (University of Cambridge), etc. It is my firm belief that:

The best experiences of our engineering careers and endeavors can become a lasting legacy for future generations of engineers.

If the Art of PCB Reverse Engineering is the de facto reference for PCB-RE, this book is definitely the companion supplement to it!

Diagnosing PCB Failures

One of the questions I often get asked during my tenure as a test and repair engineer in my former company was: what's the most difficult thing about PCB repair. My reply: intermittent faults and erratic failures. I'm sure those in the PCB repair industry would readily agree with me on this. And it's not getting any easier anytime, given the increasing complexity of today's PCBs in terms of their designs and functionalities.

That's one reason I embarked on writing PCB Diagnostics, a book that attempts to address not only this thorny challenge faced by the PCB repair community, but to promote a greater awareness on the available tools and techniques to help them get the job done. For readers who want to know what is discussed in this book, here's the table of content:

Beyond the basics, I've included some rather esoteric approaches and methodologies, along with real-world examples and interesting case studies, to give readers a taste of how repairs are carried out using benchtop equipment and testers that they only heard or dreamed of, but have never gotten the chance to work on.

Some of the processes are laid out in detailed steps while others are covered only in enough depth, either due to the nature of the technique that is self-explanatory, or the scope of work involved which would overrun the book length. This is especially true of automated testing which I would love to devote specific coverage on a book series basis (see Conceptual for an idea of what I mean).

It's still too early to say how well PCB Diagnostics will be received by the repair community, but I hope that those who have bought it would leave their reviews on Amazon so I know if it has served the intended purpose when I started out to write it. Thanks!