Printed Circuit Design & Fab - February 2008 - (Page 39)

THE SURVEY AT A GLANCE What is your primary job function? PWB design/layout PWB fab/PCB assembly/test engineer/manager Sales/marketing CEO/COO/President/GM QA/QC Other 33.3% 32.1% 12.8% 7.7% 6.4% 7.7% How many trade shows have you attended in the past 12 months? 0 23.1% 1 46.2% 2 16.7% 3 or more 14.1% If you attended a trade show in the past 12 months, what was your primary reason for attending? Attend technical conference 56.9% See new products 23.6% Networking 12.5% Other 6.9% On a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being not important and 7 being extremely important, how important a factor in your decision to attend is the: Location of the trade show? 6-7 42.3% 3-5 48.6% 1-2 8.9% Cost? 6-7 47.4% 3-5 42.3% 1-2 10.2% Time away from work? 7-7 23.1% 5-5 60.2% 1-2 16.6% Technical program? 6-7 64.1% 3-5 29.5% 1-2 6.4% Exhibitors? 6-7 34.6% 3-5 52.6% 1-2 12.8% Show producer? 6-7 5.1% 3-5 50% 1-2 44.9% BGA Bulletin, continued from p. 48 caught in this cycle, the best way out is to abandon through-vias and start using blind and buried-vias or high density interconnect (HDI) with applied dielectrics and microvias. BGA pin counts greater than 2,000 at a 1-mm pitch is a tipping point, especially if you have multiple ICs on a single board, as you might see in a network or emulation card. The layer count and via aspect ratio problems with laminated FR-4 boards will be even more complex. When using blind and buried vias or HDI microvias, effective fanout patterns can be used to increase route density from 24% to 36% with a corresponding layer reduction. FIGURE 1 illustrates this, showing increased route density on the first inner layer of a design when using blind and buried vias. Off-Matrix Ball Pads The Intel Memory Controller Hub (MCH) BGA package, which can have up to 1,300 pins, is worthy of special mention. FIGURE 2 shows how the pins are positioned off the standard matrix, making the routing difficult. Depending on your design rules, this may require routing with any-angle traces. This is a new package from Intel and gives us a view into the future – BGA routing isn’t going to get easier anytime soon. Fortunately, PCB design software continues to be enhanced to keep pace with the evolving packaging methods. Given the choice, would you prefer: Traveling a long distance to a large trade show at which the majority of leading suppliers exhibit? Traveling a short distance to a small trade show at which a handful of leading suppliers exhibit? 53.8% 46.2% The Near Future In order to increase functionality and continue to miniaturize, higher pin count will be incorporated into smaller packages. I predict that within the next three years we will see an ASIC or FPGA package at 0.8-mm pitch with greater than 2,000 pins, and within five years, the use of this kind of package will be common. This will be a paradigm shift for PCB design because this type of device will require the use of HDI. Upcoming BGA Bulletin articles will demonstrate how to apply HDI and fanout patterns while fulfilling your performance and manufacturing requirements. PCD&F CHARLES PFEIL is a product marketing director for Mentor Graphics, Systems Design Division; charles_pfeil@mentor.com. PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB 39 Regarding the number of industry trade shows held in North America each year, are there: Just the right amount? Too few? Too many? 38.5% 30.8% 30.8% Does North America need a major trade industry show to be held every year? Yes 76.9% No 23.1% What factors would make you more likely to attend a North American trade show?* Technical conference 74.4% Location 61.5% Presence of a large number of leading exhibitors 60.3% Presence of my key suppliers 47.4% Hospitality suites/evening activities 15.4% Fear that I would “miss something” special 5.1% *Multiple responses accepted. FEBRUARY 2008

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Printed Circuit Design & Fab - February 2008 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI Tip Jar Interconnect Strategies IC/PCB Co-Design Modeling Design Tools Optical Interconnect Trade Shows Laminate Materials Off the Shelf Marketplace Ad Index BGA Bulletin

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - February 2008

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