Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture articles from July 2004

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture archives from July 2004

Format switch an economic matter.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2004... JEFF MILLER [Letters, May 2004] states, "Many issues every vendor faces when working from Gerber and separate netlists can be tremendously streamlined by using a format like ODB++, GenCAM or Offspring. The industry has been talking about it for...

M2M growth to outpace cell phones.(Market Watch)
July 1, 2004... OYSTER BAY, NY -- Cellular radios for machine-to-machine will grow 40% annually through 2010, according to ABI Research (abiresearch.com). Siemens, the current market leader, sells roughly one M2M module for every three handsets, and could ship...

Q1 PC shipments up 16.5%.(Market Watch)
July 1, 2004... FRAMINGHAM, MA -- First-quarter PC shipments totaled 41.2 million units, up 16.5% year-on-year, according to IDC (idc.com). Dell recaptured the No. 1 position worldwide, with an 18.6% share, topping H-E "A number of factors, including an aging...

Industry market snapshot.(Market Watch)
July 1, 2004... INDUSTRY MARKET SNAPSHOT Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. JAN. FEB. MARCH APRIL Semiconductor equipment (1) 1.19 1.15 1.10 1.14 Semiconductors (2) ...

Computer spike.(Market Watch)
July 1, 2004... COMPUTER SPIKE Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). CHANGE FEB. MARCH APRIL * YTD Computers and...

Poll: 2004 a good year for manufacturing.(Market Watch)
July 1, 2004... TEMPE, AZ -- The manufacturing recovery ramped for the 12th straight month in May amid rising order backlogs and stronger pricing. New orders and production slowed, but employment was up again, said the Institute for Supply Management (ism.ws)...

New tools 'see' both sides of CAD equation; MCAD meets ECAD.(Design)
July 1, 2004... Visualization software, once the domain of mechanical engineers, continues to move into the electrical space. Time was, such tools were used for simple text markups. The latest versions are sophisticated programs in which designers can create...

Nemi plan scratches Sn whiskers.(Design)
July 1, 2004... HERNDON, VA -- A draft on testing requirements and acceptance criteria for evaluating devices with tin finishes in high-reliability applications has been released by the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (nemi.org). Nemi's plan,...

Sigrity enters high-speed IC market; no more respins.(Design)
July 1, 2004... SANTA CLARA, CA -- Saying chip designers have to analyze more than just the IC, Sigrity announced the beta release of a tool that checks power grid integrity from chip to package to board. Due out as PCD&M goes to press, XcitePI handles all...

Soldermask revealed.(Design)
July 1, 2004... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Taiyo America president Dave Rund (left) explains soldermask manufacturing to Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV) (center) during an April plant visit.

Zuken reveals future CAD enhancements.(Design)
July 1, 2004... BOSTON -- Quick: What's the fastest growing division at Zuken? Though the Japanese-based company is known for its stellar routing technology, the answer is Zuken's e-PLM unit, which includes parts and BoM management and Web-based collaboration,...

The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs.
July 1, 2004... The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs by Clive "Max" Maxfield Publisher: Newnes/Elsevier 542 pages I WOULD GUESS that Clive "Max" Maxfield has been an electronics enthusiast for a very long time. He seems to enjoy the history of the...

Industry pushes for currency fixes; IPC, USPCA go to DC.(Manufacturing)
July 1, 2004... WASHINGTON, DC -- PCB industry representatives lined up and took their best shots at convincing federal officials that U.S. policy toward China's manipulation of its currency must change if deep-seeded economic problems are to be remedied. ...

Ups and downs: global PCB production.(Manufacturing)
July 1, 2004... UPS AND DOWNS Global PCB Production 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Japan 9.1 9.6 10.3 10.9 10.2 China 4.5 5.6 6.9 8.3 9.1 N. America 5.4 5.3 ...

Under surveillance.
July 1, 2004... Under surveillance. Endicott Interconnect Technologies (endicottinterconnect.com) completed its annual ISO 14001 environmental audit. Also, a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health evaluation in April found employee exposures to...

SAS, Neltec 'integrate.'.
July 1, 2004... SAS, Neltec 'integrate.' Park Nelco's subsidiary in Mirebeau, France, SAS, has been integrated into the company's Neltec group and renamed Neltec Europe SAS. "[T]here is an important future for high technology digital and RF/microwave materials...

Name change.
July 1, 2004... Firan Technology Group (firantechnology.com), formerly known as Circuit World Corp., has officially changed its corporate name. "The purpose or the name change is to create one clear name and brand that can be developed over time," said...

Military millions.
July 1, 2004... Parlex Corp. (parlex.com) will supply Raytheon Co. (raytheon.com) with more than $2 million worth of multilayer rigid-flex assemblies for military ID and thermal imaging systems over the next 12 months.

PCB shift.
July 1, 2004... Yu Fo Electronic Corp. increased the monthly capacity of its Hueizhou factory to 1 million ft.2, from 60,000 [ft..sup.2.] This year, sales from the Hueizhou plant will double, to $26.82 million, offsetting a 10% drop in sales at its Taiwan...

Ya, we can.
July 1, 2004... Ya Hsin Industrial will begin assembling handsets. The PCB maker also plans to expand its flex capacity to 6 million [ft..sup.2] per month in three years.

IPC on the move.
July 1, 2004... IPC will move its headquarters to Bannockburn, IL, in October.

Static cling.
July 1, 2004... The 2004 EOS/ESD Symposium takes place Sept. 19-23, near Dallas. More than 50 papers on testing, failure analysis, materials, ESD control and other topics will be presented.

Paper trail.
July 1, 2004... The EIPC seeks papers on electronics manufacturing for EPC2004, its semiannual conference held Oct. 5-7 in Cologne, Germany. Contact: eipc.org.

Tool reps.
July 1, 2004... Labcenter Electronics Ltd. (labcenter.co.uk) will market ConnectEDA's (connecteda.com) autorouter worldwide.

IPS buys Lone Star: Texas hold 'em.(Manufacturing)
July 1, 2004... DALLAS -- A Dallas-based holding company, Integrated Performance Systems Inc., this month will acquire Lone Star Circuits, a privately owned PCB manufacturer, for cash and stock. Financing for the deal was "under discussion," IPS chairman...

Will America ride lead-free tide? TMRC recap.(Manufacturing)
July 1, 2004... BALTIMORE -- If electronics equipment orders are a barometer for PCBs--and most evidence suggests they are--then we are already in a boom period. Yet today's recovery could be short-circuited by over-ordering and lackadaisical attitudes toward...

Events.(Happenings)(Calendar)
July 1, 2004... EVENTS JULY 20 Embedded Passives Seminar Series Orlando. Contact: mentor.com 20-21 SMTA Symposium on Harsh Environment Electronics Dearborn, MI. Contact: smta.org 21 Embedded Passives...

Dimensions Consulting Inc. (dci-us.com) adopted Cadence Design System's Allegro tools.(It's A Deal)
July 1, 2004... Dimensions Consulting Inc. (dci-us.com) adopted Cadence Design System's (cadence.com) Allegro tools for PCB design.

Lloyd Doyle (lloyd-doyle.com) installed Redline and Phasor AOT machines.(It's A Deal)
July 1, 2004... Lloyd Doyle (lloyd-doyle.com) installed Redline and Phasor AOT machines at Calumet Electronics Corp. (cec-up.com).

Valor Computerized Systems (valor.com) received an order for its Trilogy 5000 assembly engineering platform from Inventec (inventec.com).(It's A Deal)
July 1, 2004... Valor Computerized Systems (valor.com) received an order for its Trilogy 5000 assembly engineering platform from Inventec (inventec.com). Also, eDFX Services Inc. selected the Trilogy 5000 pre-production engineering platform, and was named...

AIM (aimsolder.com) named Circuit Technology Inc. (CTI) as its representative in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, and iTech (i-tech-inc.com) in North and South Carolina and Virginia.(It's A Deal)
July 1, 2004... AIM (aimsolder.com) named Circuit Technology Inc. (CTI) as its representative in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, and iTech (i-tech-inc.com) in North and South Carolina and Virginia. Aim also named Assembly Electronics Ltd. as...

Cadence Design Systems.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Cadence Design Systems named Michael J. Fister president and chief executive officer, replacing Ray Bingham, who was elected chairman of the board. Formerly a senior vice president at Intel Corp., Fister was responsible for the design,...

Park Electrochemical.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Park Electrochemical promoted Anthony W. DiGaudio to vice president of quality, responsible for worldwide quality efforts. He was product director. Park also named Mike Ratcliff vice president of quality for Nelco Products.

Polyclad Laminates.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Polyclad Laminates named Scott Trevino OEM marketing manager, responsible for all OEM marketing and services activities on the West Coast. He was previously product marketing director for Bridgewave Communication and technical marketing manager...

Taconic.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Taconic (4taconic.com) named Dr, Albert Angstenberger technical sales manager, Central Europe. He has a Ph.D. in polymer chemistry and is a former R&D and engineering manager at Leitron Printed Circuits.

AIM.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... AIM named Victor Madero technical sales manager for Mexico. He has 10 years experience as an SMT engineer and in solder sales.

Interconnect Devices.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Interconnect Devices named Susan Curry quality planning manager. She has worked for DavoI, TRW and as a consultant.

Rogers Corp.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Rogers Corp. promoted Michael L. Cooper to vice president, Asia, responsible for all manufacturing and staff functions in Suzhou, China, and Rogers' Japanese JV, Rogers Inoac Corp. He was Rogers' vice president and CIO since 1999.

Purex International.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Purex International named Paul Schofield customer support--applications engineer. He has engineering experience with the Royal Navy, GEC Marconi and BAE Systems.

LEDtronics.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... LEDtronics named John Henckel sales representative for Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

March Plasma Systems.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... March Plasma Systems named Terumitsu Tsuji as business manager, Japan and named YujiTakai regional sates manager.

Raymond Sharpe, chief executive of Cookson Electronics, resigned in May, reportedly to take a position with Texas Pacific Group.(Faces)
July 1, 2004... Raymond Sharpe, chief executive of Cookson Electronics, resigned in May, reportedly to take a position with Texas Pacific Group. Cookson Group CEO Stephen Howard will take over the division.

5 habits of successful PCB owners: your focus on, say, the inner workings of IPC, might be costing you money.(Power Selling)
July 1, 2004... WHY DO I need IPC?" PCB shop owners always ask me. "What does it do for me and my company? "Frankly," they continue, "I look at that organization as a necessary evil. I need it for specs, but that's about it. I don't feel that it cares...

PCB Design Conference East: the premier conference and exhibition for PCB engineering, design and manufacture professionals.(2004 Conference Brochure)
July 1, 2004... EDUCATION FOR YOUR MOST PRESSING PCB DESIGN CHALLENGES Including Lead-Free, Embedded Components, High Speed, and PCB Design Fundamentals Conference: October 4-8, 2004 Exhibition: October 5-6, 2004 Radisson Hotel Manchester...

The weakest link: more than a little supplier-customer loyalty is needed to successfully hurdle the lead-free mandate.(ROI)
July 1, 2004... THERE'S BEEN A whole lot of interest in "lead free"--design, fabrication and assembly--over the past few months. In fact, I received more customer inquiries/surveys/edicts as to what could be/should be/will be expected to make sure that only...

The absolute accuracy of 2D field solvers: built product is no baseline for absolute accuracy.(No Myths Allowed)
July 1, 2004... THE MOST IMPORTANT design tool for optimizing the stackup of a circuit board is an accurate 2D field solver. This tool can be used to predict the characteristic impedance, differential impedance and crosstalk for all topologies, including...

Repeatably fabricating copper channels for 10 Gb/s NRZ signaling: a statistical approach for characterizing system performance and variation for 10 Gb/s channel designs.(Design)
July 1, 2004... Thanks to advances in silicon and passive interconnect technologies, which have made achievable 10 Gb/s data transmission in copper, the buzz around 10 Gb/s backplane systems has grown significantly over the past 12 months. Many markets are...

Autorouting completion and quality: an autorouter developer comes clean on completion rates and the role of the designer as artist.(Successful Autorouting)
July 1, 2004... Two things drive changes in autorouter software: technology advancements and the desire for better layout productivity. An autorouter that doesn't keep up with the evolution of component packaging, board fabrication and signal performance is...

Variables of resistor heating: many variables affect resistor heating, but most of them relate to the design and construction of the PCB.(Getting Embedded)
July 1, 2004... LAST MONTH MY coauthor Mike Jouppi covered conductor heating of embedded resistors. This month I explore material, process and design variables that affect resistor heating. These variables can be counted on four fingers: 1) material set, 2)...

The photolab workhorses: artwork protect films are becoming standard as fine lines become the norm.(Better Phototooling)
July 1, 2004... IN RECENT COLUMNS, I have addressed photolab processing techniques and suggested ways to get the most from the artwork. This month we shift our focus to the growing reliance on artwork protect films. Artwork protect film, or APF, is an...

Ups and downs in America: beaten up during the just ended recession, U.S. makers are relying on 50 years of "people skills" to recapture the glory days.(North American: PCB Industry)
July 1, 2004... After two and a half agonizing years, the PCB business "all of a sudden" showed signs of life late last August. First felt in Asia two to three weeks earlier, the recovery has spread everywhere, although Europe is in general still weak by...

Laminate supply issue weaves a tangled tale; it's no yarn: glass shortages have led to constraints--and higher prices--all through the supply chain.(Cover Story)
July 1, 2004... After all the heartburn we've been through the past three years, you'd think we'd be due for a period relatively free of pain. Think again. As demand heats up for circuit boards, supplies of several flavors of laminates have become tight...

IR: a final 'cure'? Pure infrared systems can shorten cycle time drastically, and offer dual use for soldermask and legend curing. A primer on how it works.(Process Improvement)
July 1, 2004... Infrared heat has been used every day for thousands of years. Large amounts of clay tablets and pottery found at archaeological sites indicate that the sun was used to increase the temperature of material in order to provide molds for...

Internet, then interview: don't walk into an interview cold. Take advantage of the Internet to research the company and where you would fit.(Career Care)
July 1, 2004... TO BE SUCCESSFUL in a job search it pays to be prepared. Preparation for an interview includes practicing speaking in front of a mirror and with friends, voice raping, and such measures. But to fully prepare for the interview, you must research...

Japan's competitive edge: how has the island nation managed to maintain the leading share of PCBs? A relentless cost-reduction drive.(The Flex Market)
July 1, 2004... LATELY I HAVE taken to analyzing the data on overseas production by Japanese-owned PCB manufacturers as collected via the Japan Printed Circuit Association. The results were hardly predictable. Only 24 of 186 Japanese PCB manufacturers produced...

Shape-based router.(Off the Shelf)
July 1, 2004... Electra plug-and-play gridless autotouter uses a multi-pass cost-based conflict reduction algorithm and provides immediate feedback on routing progress. Reads Specctra design files (DSN). Follows shape-based rules hierarchy, supports...

Pure SN electroplating.(Off the Shelf)
July 1, 2004... Stannostar 1405 bright, high-speed, pure tin is for lead-free deposits for connectors and other microelectronics. Features a two-component additive package, for bath control and consistent, stable deposit morphology. Has a low-carbon content...

Controlled impedance tester.(Off the Shelf)
July 1, 2004... The CITS800s PCB controlled impedance tester uses time domain reflectometry (TDR) and features enhanced data logging capabilities, crosstalk measurements and enhanced measurement capability on closely coupled differential traces. Comes with 2,...

RTU Cad suite.(Others Of Note)
July 1, 2004... CadStar 7.0 PCB design suite includes CadStar SI Verify, which uses transmission line simulation to analyze reflection and crosstalk and facilitates real interconnect timing and delay analysis, Includes a graphical scenario editor, layer slack...

Thermal dissipative films.(Others Of Note)
July 1, 2004... Thermally conductive TP-1600 films and TP-2400 pads improve thermal dissipation in components and assemblies. Come precured, and do not require special application tools, are reworkable and available in a range of thicknesses. For automotive,...

Microwave base material.(Others Of Note)
July 1, 2004... RF-35 ceramic filled base material has a DK of 3.5 for microwave, RF and high speed digital boards. Is said to have a moisture absorption of 10 lbs./in. for 1 ounce. WHO: Taconic Advanced WEB: 4add.com

Compact plater.(Others Of Note)
July 1, 2004... ComPlate electroplating module performs via filling and reportedly has a maintenance-free stripping system, Equipped for either pulse or direct current, and is for processing acid copper or electrolytic tin. Transports flex material 25 [micro]m...

IC power integrity tool.(Others Of Note)
July 1, 2004... XcitePI analyzes the power grid with distributed EM field propagation effects of the pad WHO: Sigrity Inc. WEB: sigrity.com

SI design tool.(Others Of Note)
July 1, 2004... Designer v 2.0 integrates with Nexxim, for RF/mixed-signal circuit simulation, and Q3D Extractor, for 3D quasi-static parasitic extraction. Features environment scripting and netlist callback, layout speed enhancements of up to lO00x, Ibis...

'Homogenous': definition under fire.(Our Line)
July 1, 2004... THERE are loopholes, and then there are Loopholes. And in Europe, there just might be one in the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive big enough to drive a truck full of lead solder through. The RoHS is the controversial mandate...