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How to route this USB-C connector

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Jonathon_Doran:
I have this USB-C connector which I wish to use in a project.  I had a great deal of trouble finding a part and a footprint, but finally found this on JLCPCB (# C668624).

I have attached a close-up of the footprint below, as I started to route.  But then I see the differential signals are staggered.  I like puzzles as much as the next person, but this has me stumped.

As a differential pair, I want to keep the trace lengths the same.  But I believe I have to connect the B6/A6 and B7/A7 pads together.  One attempt is shown below (USB-1).  This is going to leave my lines a different length unless I do something funny.

So I figured I would just ask the community for advice.  Am I going about this entirely wrong?

I hope that I don't ask too many questions here, but this is my second board that I'm laying out and I'm still very much a beginner at this.

Edit:  I meant to also ask about another issue with this connector.  The minute I try to draw a trace from VBUS I get an error that it violates DRC.  The footprint has merged some pins (A12/B1 ground), (A9,B4 VBUS) and these are highlighted when it refuses to draw the trace.  What I am supposed to do here?

Jonathon_Doran:
I believe I have solved the second issue.  The footprint that I obtained had drawn the pad as a polygon and not a pad.

I remade the symbol and the footprint so that there was a "A1/B12" pin and pad, and the same with "A9/B4" "A4/B9" and "A12/B1".  I also made the appropriate power flags on the symbol.  This passes ERC, and I can route out of the big pads now.

I still have the issue with how to route those D+/D- lines.  I might even have to drop them to the bottom layer using vias...

ataradov:
For USB HS those things don't matter at all. Don't worry about length matching to a mm. What you did is what 100% of designs using this connector do and it works fine. And this is the most common and generic connector out there.

And for USB FS/LS it so does not matter that it is hard to describe. You can use coat hangers for wires and USB FS will work fine.

SiliconWizard:

--- Quote from: ataradov on July 07, 2024, 12:29:58 am ---For USB HS those things don't matter at all. Don't worry about length matching to a mm. What you did is what 100% of designs using this connector do and it works fine. And this is the most common and generic connector out there.

And for USB FS/LS it so does not matter that it is hard to describe. You can use coat hangers for wires and USB FS will work fine.

--- End quote ---

Yep, this is exactly how I route those connectors and yes for USB FS and HS, this is absolutely fine.

Jonathon_Doran:
Thanks to both of you.  How do I get the trace out of that mess?  Are you saying yes to the idea of using a via and dropping it to the bottom?  Or were you just commenting on the connecting of the pairs on the top (as shown in the screen capture)?

Based on the comment about being able to use coat hangers, I'm going with "use the vias".

This leaves me a little sad as I see folks routing those pairs out of USB-3.1 connectors with no trouble.

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