I-Connect007 Editor’s Choice: Five Must-Reads for the Week

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

We’re cruising through July, and I’m already starting to think about all the trade shows happening this fall. I’m busy making travel plans for THECA in Thailand in August, PCB West in September, and SEMICON West and SMTAI in October. My advice? Enjoy every sun-soaked moment you get wherever you are, because this too shall pass. Airport delays here we come.

In this week’s top five must-reads, I chose articles that go from big business questions (to diversify or not), to important technical issues such as DFM errors made in creating HDI designs using ELIC and design for test, to a discussion around some of the power and thermal considerations in advanced packaging, and the fact that they are now, firmly, performance enablers, not after-the-fact elements to be managed in fabrication. All good reads, I hope you enjoy them.

Happy Friday, and have a great weekend!

DFM Mistakes Designers Make When Moving to ELIC
Published July 20

Anaya Vardya, CEO of American Standard, continues the every layer interconnect (ELIC) discussion we began in the June issue of I-Connect007 Magazine by looking at this ever-popular design/fab approach to HDI. He highlights some of the errors that designers may build into such designs and recounts via stacking rules that do not transfer to ELIC builds, cautioning that solder mask cannot be treated as a finishing detail. He also talks about designing this type of HDI for scale, not just for the initial buildability, in addition to covering five other potential “gotcha” areas that designers must be mindful of up front. If you are in the design world, and have not yet had a chance to read this article, this is definitely a must-read.

Beyond the Board: Diversification as Strategy
Published July 22

“Are the days of simply building boards and shipping them out the door coming to an end?” Perhaps this was a dramatic way to kick off my interview with Ray Cottrell of Flexible Circuit Technology (FCT), but then again, is it? Ray came to FCT specifically to expand their business on the EMS and services side, and he has done just that. His take on diversification and what companies need to be considering and implementing the survive and thrive is insightful and informative.

From Prototype to Product: Why E-Textile Standards Matter
Published July 22

When you hear the word “textiles,” you probably don’t think of electronics, yet those worlds have collided in spectacular fashion as the wearable electronics market explodes and demand for new products continues to climb. Chris Jorgensen is the senior director, next-generation standards, for the Global Electronics Association, in charge of its deep standards portfolio, which includes IPC-8911, 8921, 8952, and 8971, all addressing different aspects of electronics manufacturing in the world of textiles. As Chris says, “The opportunity is enormous.” Check it out!

Power and Thermal Constraints in AI Accelerator Packages
Published July 20

In the advanced packaging side of electronics manufacturing, new packaging expert Chetan Patil discusses “Power and Thermal Constraints in AI Accelerator Packaging” in his second article for the Advanced Electronics Packaging Digest. The interplay between power demands and thermal management is not only a significant and ongoing discussion in our industry, but in the semiconductor and AI infrastructure industries as well. Chetan recounts the largely incremental nature of power and thermal performance until recently, and the changing nature of system architecture and packaging from merely an “electrical and mechanical interface” to that of “performance enabler.” He takes the reader through the transition from compute central to power and thermal scaling, the reasons behind the shift, and the constraints design and manufacturing are presented with this evolution.

Meet the Author Podcast: Bert Horner on Design for Test
Published July 22

If you haven’t met Bert Horner, you are missing out! His new book on DFT and this discussion on test and inspection is so important, and yet sometimes, it feels as if people just seem to put their heads down and carry on when it comes to test. Maybe they don’t think they can effect any change without huge CapEx investments, or they are afraid the task will be too daunting and with limited return. But, as Bert says, you can save time if you approach this correctly: “Time is money.” You owe it to yourselves to learn more about what this slice of tech expertise can offer you, and you certainly owe it to yourself to listen to this Meet the Author podcast with Bert.