Via Technology: Blind, buried, HDI-via, micro-via, stacked- via...
The increasingly high I/O count of complex ICs, components with a pitch of 0.30mm or less (e.g.
uBGAs) and ever increasing edge rates has necessitated the introduction of new interconnecting technologies to successfully complete designs.
As a result of these developing technologies, more boards in the future will suffer from high connection densities, finer lines and smaller holes. To gain more real-estate for placement and routing the implementation of micro-via technology is a necessity being incorporated into blind and buried via designs.
Micro-vias can also be successfully utilised where via-in-pad technology allows multiple vias to be inserted into component lands to reduce the inductive effect of through- hole- vias (micro-vias have 1/10 the inductance and capacitance) as well as providing for the direct connection of pads to an adjacent plane for heat-sinking purposes.
This technology can also allow the physical separation of different logic types on the same the board. By utilising micro-vias it is possible to separate a RF circuit on one side of a board from a digital circuit on the other.
The correct implementation of microvias, stacked micro-vias and / or blind vias can resolve interconnection issues and open more design options. Our design experience combined with that of our manufacturing partners will enable you to adopt these new technologies and design methodologies with confidence.
Flex & Flex-rigid
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There are many reasons why you may be considering implementing flex or flex-rigid
laminates.
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What are the advantages?
- Reliability - by replacing a wiring harness with tracking, wiring errors can be eliminated
- Reduced weight - the flat thin nature of flex material, means reduced weight over traditional interconnection methods.
- Space requirements - the flexibility of the types of board allow them to be bent or twisted to fit into tight space constraints.
- Consistent electrical characteristics - as the manufacture of Flex boards is a repeatable process the electrical characteristics, resistance, capacitance and crosstalk are also consistent.
Flex-rigid boards are, as the name suggests, a combination of flex and rigid board technologies in which the flex part would normally contain tracking and the rigid part the component mounting areas.
What ever your reasons for looking into this technology we have the experience of designing flex & flex-rigid boards for different applications and environments and can advise you on how best to introduce this technology to your products.
Again, our manufacturing partners can provide the necessary technical and manufacturing backup to our design service to ensure a smooth process through to finished boards.
If you feel your systems could benefit from flexi technology, please call us to discuss your requirements.
Controlled-Impedance Designs
The majority of the designs we produce have controlled-impedance routing on them. We have spent a lot of time and effort ensuring that our systems produce impedance calculations that correlate closely with fabricators results. We do not believe in the "close-enough" approach - we attempt to design your nominal impedance as accurately as possible so that the full tolerance quota is available for the manufacturer. The benefits of this approach is less wastage in manufacture (thus lower cost) and more portability of the design across multiple fabricators.
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