James C. Blankenhorn is President and founder of SMT Plus, a surface mount technology [SMT] training and publishing firm. He is a speaker at conferences worldwide and has authored over twenty books on SMT design, packaging, and processing. He has worked in areas related to electronic assembly of SMT products since 1983. Prior to his involvement with SMT, Mr. Blankenhorn designed and marketed semiconductors for Motorola, TI, and Honeywell. He has held management and sales positions in startup companies specializing in IC packaging, test, and burn-in. Mr. Blankenhorn is an active member of the Surface Mount Technology Association [SMTA], a co-founder of the SMTA in 1984, and a recipient of the 1996 Founders Award for Distinguished Service. Twice, he served as technical chairman for the SMTA, Silicon Valley Chapter.

"SMT High Density Design and DFM" provides excellent background for engineers involved in product development and production. Design and board layout engineers should read it before they get their key to their computer software. Design review participants should use it as an element of the company's DFM guidelines. Manufacturing and quality engineers should be read before leaving their desk on the first day at work, right after reading Goldratt's "The Goal", recognizing that both provide engineers valuable guidance.

While there is plenty of useful information in this book, there also is room for improvement and for inclusions. First, it's surprising that Mr. Blankenhorn could publish this edition on high-density design and DFM without the slightest mention of area array devices [i.e., CBGA, PBGA, uBGA, etc.], since so much open debate about design and production issues [i.e., escapes, via location, via fill, solder mask, stencil design, process flow, etc.] revolves around these components. Second, he should consider using one of the fine technical editors in Silicon Valley prior to publishing his next edition. Finally, while the book focuses on design for assembly and test, some would expect to see it discuss broader life cycle "Design For X" issues [i.e., cost, procurement, service, environment, cost of test, etc.].

Contents of "SMT High Density Design and DFM" are:

Chapter 1 - "Introduction" orients the reader with the up-front material of goals, purpose, and scope of the book; categories of assemblies; terms and abbreviations; dimension notation; reference documents; and design flow.

Chapter 2 - "Design Project Objectives" consists of a description of the various assembly types according to the type of components and number of sides with components and check lists for project initialization, project documentation, mechanical and component specifications, test, fabrication, and design goal.

Chapter 3 - "Basic Rules of Design for Manufacturing" presents mechanical restrictions on the board imposed by efficient assembly, complexity of the product, and required assembly process; tooling holes; fiducial specifications; panels & depaneling; stencils and screens; parts optimization; and tape and reels. Here, Mr. Blankenhorn should reconsider his scoring specification to define the web size rather than the depth of the V-cuts, because of variations in board thickness during fabrication and wear in the scoring blade.

Chapter 4 - "CAE Requirements" gives an overview of library standards, test requirements for SMT, SMT packages, down-loading to CAD systems, and schematic symbols to CAD symbols.

Chapter 5 - "Rules for Land Patterns" is where Mr. Blankenhorn shines. Here, he discusses land shapes for a wide variety of SMT components [i.e., passives, SOIC, QFP, etc.] in terms of product class, reflow soldering, wave soldering, and RF circuits. Mr. Blankenhorn covers the details of pad designs in a different product.

Chapter 6 - "CAD Systems" is the analog of Chapter 4. Similarly, it covers new parts, non-standard parts, orientation, silk screens, test points, fan-out options, aperture tables, and Gerber Files. Here a discussion of the newer CAD formats [i.e., ODB++, GENCAM, GENCAD, GEDA, etc.] and a comparison of them to Gerber RS274X would be useful.

Chapter 7 - "Design for Test" addresses schematic and the design requirements of bare board test and in-circuit test; bar codes; edge connectors; hand testing; and test headers.

Chapter 8 - "Component Placement and Orientation" recommends placement grids; orientation guidelines; component spacing suggestions for low, standard, and high density designs; wave solder process guidelines; and specific solutions for sockets, through hole components, and RF designs.

Chapter 9 - "Placement Checklist" provides the punch lists for new parts, manufacturing, test, QA/QC, thermal, mechanicals, and an overall checklist.

Chapter 10 - "Design Routing Rules" addresses traces, lands, impedance, vias or holes, high density design rules, fine pitch components, copper thieving, high speed signals, and EMI

Chapter 11 - "Routing Check List" gives a checkpoint to assure the design meets circuit design, fabrication, and assembly goals of the project.

Chapter 12 - "Documentation" lists documentation requirements for manufacturing, test, and PCB fabrication.