Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture articles from December 2006

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture archives from December 2006

Value propositions.(OUR LINE)
December 1, 2006... ONE of the things I have learned over the past few months is that being the editor for a leading publication in the PCB design and fabrication space provides me with some unique opportunities to gather and disseminate information. With PCD&M's...

ISM: slow growth for manufacturing industry.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... TEMPE, AZ -- Economic activity for the manufacturing industry grew in October for the 41st consecutive month, reported the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws). But the manufacturing sector fell to its lowest level of growth since June...

Mobile device shipments on track for 1b.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... LONDON -- More than 245 million mobile devices shipped in the third quarter and the market is on target to reach one billion devices shipped by year end, according to ABI Research (abiresearch.com). The Gang of Five--Nokia (36%), Motorola...

VoIP a driver for telecom.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Voice over Internet Protocol has become a key driver for telecom equipment suppliers, according to iSuppli Corp. (isuppli.com). Worldwide VoIP equipment revenue will rise to $11.9 billion in 2010, a compound annual growth rate...

Report: Active RFID market on rise.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... CAMBRIDGE, UK -- Active RFID is said to be growing, with several applications worth more than $100 million in place, and is responsible for more than 20% of all spent on RFID. Leading the way: The U.S. military, which placed the largest RFID...

Excess chip inventory lingers.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Excess chip stockpiles are not going away, based on early third-quarter results, research firm iSuppli (isuppli.com) said in October, saying inventory remained flat at second-quarter levels of $3.9 billion. Inventory levels at...

Military speaking.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... MILITARY SPEAKING Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % CHANGE JULY AUG. (r) SEPT. * YTD Computers/electronics ...

Industry market snapshot.(MARKET WATCH)
December 1, 2006... INDUSTRY MARKET SNAPSHOT Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. MAY JUNE JULY AUG. SEPT. Semiconductor equipment (1) 1.11 1.14 1.06 1.00 1.00 Semiconductors (2) ...

Gartner closes EDA analysts Group.(SO LONG, FAREWELL)
December 1, 2006... SANTA CRUZ, CA -- On Oct. 31 Gartner Dataquest shut down the EDA Design and Engineering Group. This group represented the only market research firm for the EDA industry. The Design and Engineering Group covered EDA, electronic system level...

Solectron to spin off manufacturing services unit.(THEN THERE WERE TWO)
December 1, 2006... MIPITAS, CA -- India's Solectron Centum Electronics Ltd., a subsidiary of U.S.-based Solectron Corp., said it is spinning off its electronic manufacturing services (EMS) unit to give it better focus. The company said its shareholders would get...

First seminal report on global PCB production released.(DATA DEBUT)
December 1, 2006... BANNOCKBURN, IL -- The World Electronic Circuits Council (WECC), a global partnership of major electronic circuits industry trade associations, has released the publication of its first collaborative statistical report, "WECC Global PCB...

Forbes ranks Ansoft among 200 Best Small Companies.(AROUND THE WORLD)
December 1, 2006... PITTSBURGH -- Ansoft Corp. has been ranked 82nd on Forbes magazine's annual list of the 200 Best Small Companies. "Our list of the 200 Best Small Companies ferrets out the most robust, fundamentally disciplined public outfits with sales...

iNEMI Task Group to address SnPb BGAs Availability.(WHAT DO YOU NEED?)
December 1, 2006... HERNDON, VA -- The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI), an industry-led consortium, has organized a SnPb BGA Availability Task Group to address the needs of OEMs currently taking the RoHS lead exemption, or whose products...

Sept. 2006 book-to-bill ratios down.(Take a Dip)
December 1, 2006... BANNOCKBURN, IL -- The Association Connecting Electronics Industries (IPC) has announced today the findings from its monthly PCB Statistical Program. The North American rigid PCB industry book-to-bill ratio for September 2006 decreased to...

Isola Group.(FACES)
December 1, 2006... Isola Group, S.a.r.I. appointed Eric Seip to the position of vice president end officer, Global Supply Chain. Chris Benincasa will be leaving Isola by the end of 2006. Seip has nearly 20 years of industry experience, having held various...

Exception PCB.(FACES)
December 1, 2006... Exception PCB named Roger Smith as environmental officer. He has taken charge of the day-to-day management of Exception's ISO 14001, generally regarded as the most stringent environmental standard for engineering businesses. Smith previously...

Hunter Technology Corp.(FACES)
December 1, 2006... Hunter Technology Corp. appointed David Parola to handle its New England territory. Parola has worked with Hadco, Sanmina and, most recently, Pronto Circuits. Hunter also signed John Skulavik to represent the company in Southern California. An...

Park Electrochemical Corp.(FACES)
December 1, 2006... Park Electrochemical Corp. named James Zerby as chief financial officer. Zerby had been vice president and controller of the company since July. Before that, he was CFO of Photocircuits Corp. Be replaces Jim Kelly, vice president, taxes and...

PartMiner Information Services Inc., a solutions provider for electronic components.(IT'S A DEAL)
December 1, 2006... PartMiner Information Services Inc., a solutions provider for electronic components, has entered into a reseller agreement for its CAPSTM products with K2 Engineering Services Inc., a designer of PCBs and part library services.

Enthone Inc. acquired 100% ownership of Shenzhen Hua-Mei Electroplating Technology Co. Ltd. and Hua-Mei (Tianjin) Electroplating Technology Co. Ltd., P.R.C.(IT'S A DEAL)
December 1, 2006... Enthone Inc. acquired 100% ownership of Shenzhen Hua-Mei Electroplating Technology Co. Ltd. and Hua-Mei (Tianjin) Electroplating Technology Co. Ltd., P.R.C. Enthone held a 51% ownership of each entity prior to the sale that was completed...

A merger between Benchmark Electronics and Pemstar Inc. has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors for both companies.(IT'S A DEAL)
December 1, 2006... A merger between Benchmark Electronics and Pemstar Inc. has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors for both companies. The transaction is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2007, subject to the timing of completion...

According to Router Solutions Inc.'s (RSI) Web site, the company has been acquired by Mentor Graphics Corp. effective August 1, 2006.(IT'S A DEAL)
December 1, 2006... According to Router Solutions Inc.'s (RSI) Web site, the company has been acquired by Mentor Graphics Corp. effective August 1, 2006. RSI will reportedly become part of the Systems Design Division within Mentor while maintaining its Newport...

TTM Technologies Inc. has completed the acquisition of the Tyco Printed Circuit Group business unit from Tyco International Ltd.(IT'S A DEAL)
December 1, 2006... TTM Technologies Inc. has completed the acquisition of the Tyco Printed Circuit Group business unit from Tyco International Ltd. According to a news release, the purchase price of $226 million was financed with a $200 million, 6-year terra loan...

Events.(HAPPENINGS)(Calendar)
December 1, 2006... EVENTS DECEMBER 4 Design for Manufacture Colonial Circuits, Fredericksburg, VA Contact: www.ipc.org 5-6 IPC/JEDEC International Conference on Lead-Free Electronic Components and Assemblies ...

Don't strategize, trust: get back to the basics of working relationships in order to improve the industry.(ROI)
December 1, 2006... AT A RECENT IPC technical meeting the return of "measles" on PCBs was discussed and debated by many. I thought that this once serious condition affecting lamination was long behind us. Some attending this meeting were not active in the industry...

PBGA package lead modeling using TDR and IConnect: accurate modeling of package inner structures aids high-speed system-level simulations.(INTERCONNECT STRATEGIES)
December 1, 2006... MODELING HAS BEEN demonstrated to save time and improve efficiency in the design process. The modeling of plastic ball grid array (PBGA) package leads using TDR measurements in conjunction with IConnect software can provide valuable information...

Free Gerber viewers: helping or hurting our industry? One expert's opinion on the misuse of free Gerber viewers.(CAM WORKS)
December 1, 2006... RECENTLY I HAD some discussions with a former PCB fabrication client who is now in the assembly world. As we reminisced about the "golden days" of PCB fabrication, we came to the subject of whether free Gerber viewers help or hurt our industry....

HDI technology moves info mainstream design; knowing when it makes sense to incorporate HDI into your designs will improve PCB performance, increase product reliability and meet established cost targets.(HDI DESIGN)
December 1, 2006... As electronics continue to become denser, the drive to produce more handheld applications is obvious. However, portability is just one of many drivers for miniaturization. Fine-pitch packages and increasing pin counts of packages are the most...

Simulation tools speed the design of embedded capacitance layers; the use of simulation tools can improve the design process for embedded capacitor technology in high-speed and power distribution system designs where noise resonance reduction is critical.(Cover story)
December 1, 2006... The number of applications using embedded capacitor technology in PCBs is increasing. Some of these applications are high-speed digital systems and modules for hand held devices. For high-speed applications, design of power distribution system...

Laminate material selection for RoHS assembly, part 2: successful lead-free assembly matches critical laminate properties with specific design constraints.(BASE MATERIALS)
December 1, 2006... The right base material is determined by PCB attributes and an understanding of the assembly process. Collaboration between the designer, fabricator and assembly location is needed to ensure optimization of performance and cost. Last month...

Short-wire test fixtures: shrink targets while maintaining integrity: more test points and shrinking real estate drive improvements in test tools.(IMPROVING IN-CIRCUIT TEST)
December 1, 2006... Design engineers are adding new features to PCBs and increasing speed while reducing size and cost. The result is more test points and shrinking real estate, which means that the size of test points must be reduced. Meanwhile test engineers...

Design software.(off the SHELF)
December 1, 2006... HyperLynx 7.7 is said to include productivity and technology enhancements targeted at high-speed bus technologies, as well as SERDES interconnect standards for connecting serial drivers and receivers. Reported enhancements include the...

Vacuum table system.(off the SHELF)
December 1, 2006... The Quick Vac Table is a vacuum table system for quick circuit prototyping systems. The technology allows the quick circuit to hold material down flatter by creating an even plane of suction and eliminating the need for backing material,...

Design software.(off the SHELF)
December 1, 2006... CR-5000 Lightning Version 9 includes advances in system to board level design, analysis and verification. Via modeling has the option of complex modeling, including resistance, capacitance and inductance, with automatic extraction from PCB...

PCB documentation.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
December 1, 2006... BluePrint for PCBs Version 1.5 is said to include many updates/functionality enhancements including full integration to Mentor's Boardstation and Expedition, Zukerfs Visula and CADStar PCB layout tools. Other reported enhancements include...

Component analyzer.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
December 1, 2006... The NITON XLt 797X portable analyzer is reported to quickly identify and analyze individual electronic components for RoHS compliance. It is said to incorporate miniature x-ray tube technology that enables users to isolate and analyze solder...

Design software.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
December 1, 2006... Advanced Design System (ADS) 2006A integrates Eagleware technology, reportedly increasing designers' speed and efficiency. Capabilities include: WhatIF, an intermediate frequency (IF) planning tool for RF system architects, Spectrasys, a...

Simulation tool.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
December 1, 2006... The ICAP/4 8.x.11 Build 2817 SPICE-simulation tool suite for analog, mixed-signal and mixed-system design is said to be enhanced across the SpiceNet design entry system, IsSpice4 simulation output file, automated electrical measurements readout...

Film tape.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
December 1, 2006... 3M 1218 is UL recognized for use at temperatures up to 130[degrees]C (formerly known as Class H) and has an acrylic pressure-sensitive adhesive. It can be used as insulation on coils, transformers, capacitors and wire harnesses, and also as a...

RF/microwave material.(OTHERS OF NOTE)
December 1, 2006... The Nelco N8000Q quartz fabric reinforced cyanate ester substrate is designed to provide electrical and mechanical properties for demanding RF/microwave applications, such as radomes. NS000Q reportedly enables customers to combine structural...

"So, what do you do?": describing what we do every day as PCB designers and engineers is not an easy task. Here are 12 surefire answers to use to beat the glazed eyeball stares this holiday season.(NO MYTHS ALLOWED)
December 1, 2006... THE HOLIDAY SEASON is upon us, bringing obligatory family gatherings and community parties. Enter the dreaded moment you will undoubtedly face: While standing by the eggnog bowl, you turn your back for just an instant and your spouse has...