PCB Cloning & Reverse Engineering

Accurate, secure, and reliable replication of your legacy, obsolete, or undocumented printed circuit boards.

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What is PCB Reverse Engineering?

PCB cloning (or reverse engineering) is the process of analyzing an existing bare or assembled printed circuit board to recreate its original design files, schematics, and Bill of Materials (BOM).

At AEAR, we utilize advanced scanning technology and experienced electronic engineers to extract exact 1:1 Gerber data from physical boards. This service is essential for companies dealing with lost manufacturing files, discontinued components, or the need to upgrade legacy machinery without reinventing the wheel.

  • Exact 1:1 Board Replication
  • Schematic Diagram Extraction
  • Complete BOM Generation
Engineer inspecting a circuit board for reverse engineering

Why Clone a PCB?

Lost Design Files

Original developers or vendors may be unavailable, leaving you with physical boards but no Gerber data to manufacture more. We recover those files.

Obsolete Components

Legacy electronics often use discontinued chips. We reverse engineer the board to update the design for modern, available equivalent components.

System Upgrades

Analyze an existing, working design to understand its architecture, allowing you to add new features or integrate it into a newer system.

Cost Optimization

By recreating the design files, you can freely tender your manufacturing to AEAR or others, breaking free from expensive single-source supplier lock-ins.

Our Reverse Engineering Process

1. Scanning & De-layering

We carefully remove components and scan each layer of the bare board to capture trace paths.

2. Schematic Recreation

Our software and engineers translate the physical scans into precise electrical schematics.

3. Gerber & BOM Generation

We generate manufacturing-ready Gerber files and compile a modern Bill of Materials.

4. Prototyping & Test

We fabricate and assemble a prototype to guarantee the clone matches original functionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, PCB reverse engineering is generally legal for the purposes of interoperability, repairing obsolete systems, or understanding unprotected designs, provided no patents or direct copyrights are infringed.

Absolutely. By meticulously scanning and analyzing the physical board layer-by-layer, our engineers can extract precise trace paths and regenerate 1:1 manufacturing-ready Gerber files.

The timeline depends heavily on the complexity and layer count of the board. Simple 1-2 layer boards can often be reverse-engineered in a few days, while highly complex multi-layer boards may take a few weeks.

Cloning Specifications

We have the technology to clone highly complex boards, including:

  • Up to 32 Layer Boards
  • Blind & Buried Vias
  • Rigid, Flex, and Rigid-Flex
  • High-Frequency & RF Boards
  • BGA & Fine Pitch Components
  • Complete Encrypted IC Decoding

Need a Board Cloned?

Send us photos of the front and back of your board for an initial evaluation.