Technical Articles From Advanced Assembly, LLC.

Surface-mount PCB components are smaller than their lead-based counterparts and provide a radically higher component density. They are available in a variety of shapes and sizes designated by a series of standardized codes curated by the electronics industry. Of these PCB components, the 0201-sized are the smallest, measuring 0.024 x 0.012 in. (0.6 x 0.3 mm) – that's 70% smaller than the previous 0402 level! The 0201 components are designed to improve reliability in space-constrained applications such as portable electronics like smartphones, tablets, robotics and digital cameras, but require delicate handling during the assembly process. Given the miniaturized dimensions of an 0201 package, it is crucial that the mounting process abide by a series of guidelines regarding the design of the PCB mounting pads and solderable metallization, PCB circuit trace width, solder paste selection, package placement and overages, solder paste reflow, solder stencil screening, and final inspection. It's advisable that one review this information when procuring the services of a PCB assembler....

Good Schematics Lead to GOOD LAYOUTS

Apr 08, 2015 | Advanced Assembly

An electronic schematic describes the electrical connectivity of a piece of equipment or an entire system. It is made up of symbols that represent individual components and contains electrical and mechanical information and their related connectivity, along with other important data. Information contained within the schematic is packaged into a printed circuit board (PCB) where the mechanical footprint is placed onto the board and connectivity information is graphically displayed. The more accurate the information contained in the schematic is and the clearer it is presented, the more it contributes to a robust printed circuit board....

Basics of Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs)

Feb 05, 2015 | Advanced Assembly

Ball grid arrays are the boon and bane of engineers and printed circuit board designers the world over. Their unparalleled pin density and low lead inductance are essential in today's high pin count, high frequency integrated circuits. However, that same pin density and unique interface create a challenge unique unto themselves. These challenges need to be faced head on since the ball grid array (BGA) is prevalent in modern PCBs. While there are entire textbooks that cover the topic of BGAs, their use and fanout techniques, the quick overview provided here offers an engineer a good starting point for improving BGA designs....