Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture articles from March 2005

Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture archives from March 2005

Evolve or die.(Our Line)
March 1, 2005... Evolution has been much in the news lately. Here in metropolitan Atlanta, the controversy centers on whether to teach children about evolution or not. Some members of the Cobb County, GA, school board believe evolution should be taught only...

Winning defense.(Market Watch)
March 1, 2005... WINNING DEFENSE Trends in the U.S. electronics equipment market (shipments only). % CHANGE OCT. NOV. (R) DEC. * YTD ...

Production ends 3-month lag.(Market Watch)
March 1, 2005... TEMPE, AZ -- The manufacturing sector grew in January for the 20th consecutive month, despite a drop in new orders and backlogs. Production reversed a three-month slide, said the Institute for Supply Management (www.ism.ws). Calling the...

PC market up 14% in Q4.(Market Watch)
March 1, 2005... FRAMINGHAM, MA -- The worldwide PC market grew 13.7% in the fourth quarter driven by smaller businesses and holiday consumer demand, according to IDC (idc.com). Shipments rose to 51.5 million units, the seventh consecutive quarter of...

EMS, ODMs to grow 15% AGR through 2009.(Market Watch)
March 1, 2005... ALAMEDA, CA -- Technology Forecasters predict that last year's double-digit growth for the EMS and ODM industry will continue into 2005. The research group forecasts average growth rates over the next five years of 15% for EMS, 20% for ODMs and...

Consumer goods peaking.(Market Watch)
March 1, 2005... ARLINGTON, VA -- Manufacturer-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics will reach a record-high of $125.7 billion in 2005, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (ce.org), an 11% climb year-on-year. Meanwhile, the trade group...

Industry market snapshot.(Market Watch)
March 1, 2005... INDUSTRY MARKET SNAPSHOT Book-to-bills of various components/equipment. SEPT. OCT. NOV. DEC. Semiconductor equipment (1) 0.94 0.96 1.0 0.95 Semiconductors (2) ...

DownStream touts documentation tool.(Blueprint For The Future)
March 1, 2005... BOLTON, MA -- DownStream Technologies (www.downstreamtech.com) will unveil its new documentation tool, BluePrint For Printed Circuit Boards, at PCB West in Santa Clara. "There was never a tool designed just for documentation," said...

National Instruments buys Electronics Workbench.(When Test Meets Simulation)
March 1, 2005... AUSTIN, TX -- Test tool provider National Instruments (www.nationalinstruments.com) has acquired the Toronto, Canada-based EDA company Electronics Workbench (www.electronicsworkbench.com). The companies have worked together for years, and...

Steve "Pork Chop" Toothacre.(Transitions)
March 1, 2005... Steve Toothacre, known to many people as "Pork Chop," died at his home in Poway, CA. The cause of death was undetermined at press time. A veteran PCB designer and harmonica player, Toothacre, 48, was a longtime member of the Porch Dawgs blues...

DKN newsletter accepting news.(Manufacturing)
March 1, 2005... Haverhill, MA -- The interconnect engineering and research company DKN Research (www.dknresearch.com) has opened its weekly newsletter to all interested parties on a no-cost basis. The newsletter, predominantly covering the latest technology...

Sierra Proto rolls out new technologies.(In With The New)
March 1, 2005... SUNNYVALE, CA -- Sierra Proto Express is introducing five new printed circuit board technologies, including a reported high-reliability PCB that can withstand over 2,000 thermal shock cycles. The new lines are the results of an R&D program...

Book-to-bill rises, flex strong.(Up, Down And Up Again)
March 1, 2005... BANNOCKBURN, IL -- The IPC (www.ipc.org) book-to-bill ratio for December 2004 bounced back up to 1.04--its August ratio--after a one-month dip below parity (1.00). The separate book-to-bill ratios in December 2004 were 0.93 for rigid PCBs and...

Flextronics, Nortel finish transfer of Montreal operations.(Manufacturing)
March 1, 2005... SINGAPORE -- Flextronics and Nortel have completed the transfer of manufacturing operations and related assets of Nortel's Systems House in Montreal to Flextronics. "We are thrilled to welcome this world-class workforce with extensive...

Air Products increases some prices.(The Cost Of Doing Business)
March 1, 2005... LEHIGH VALLEY, PA -- Citing the escalating costs of raw materials, packaging and energy, Air Products is increasing the price of certain solvents and epoxy curing agents. The price of select high purity solvents used in the manufacture of...

Events.(Happenings)(Calendar)
March 1, 2005... MARCH 1-2 Micro Tech 2005 Cambridge, UK Contact: www.imaps.org 7-11 PCB DESIGN CONFERENCE WEST Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA Contact: www.pcbwest.com 13-16 IMAPS...

ISA.(Faces)
March 1, 2005... ISA appointed Donald W. Zee the 2005 president. Zee is president of Don Zee Associates, a management consulting firm he founded in 1975 after a decade of user and sales management employment with DuPont and Foxboro. He has served the Orange...

P.D. Circuits Inc.(Faces)
March 1, 2005... P. D. Circuits Inc. appointed Binh Vernet to the new position of quality assurance and technical director. Binh brings over 20 years of manufacturing engineering experience to R D. Circuits. He previously held engineering and quality positions...

Agilent Technology.(Faces)
March 1, 2005... Agilent Technology's board of directors has elected William P Sullivan president and CEO. Sullivan, formerly Agilent's executive vice president and COO, succeeds Edward W. Bamholt, who announced his retirement as chairman, president and CEO of...

Test solutions provider Digitaltest is partnering with Propelec SA to improve its service in Southern Europe.(It's A Deal)
March 1, 2005... Test solutions provider Digitaltest is partnering with Propelec SA to improve its service in Southern Europe. Aimed at serving both existing electronics manufacturing sites in southern Europe as well as existing companies who are moving into...

Racal Instruments Wireless Solutions has changed its name to Aeroflex. The new name completes the company's transition to the Aeroflex brand.(It's A Deal)
March 1, 2005... Racal Instruments Wireless Solutions has changed its name to Aeroflex. The new name completes the company's transition to the Aeroflex brand. Aeroflex purchased the Burnham, England-based Wireless Solutions Group from Racal Instruments Group...

Interconnect Technologies.(It's A Deal)
March 1, 2005... Automatic optical test supplier Lloyd Doyle has secured further business with Interconnect Technologies. Interconnect is a supplier of high-performance backplane interconnect solutions to blue-chip customers in markets such as network and...

Integrated Sensing Systems Inc. won a Small Business Innovation Research contract from the US Army Tank-automotive Armaments Command.(It's A Deal)
March 1, 2005... Integrated Sensing Systems Inc. won a Small Business Innovation Research contract from the US Army Tank-automotive Armaments Command. The six-month "Microlubricity Test System for Fuel Evaluation" project will develop a new sensing system...

Eagleware-Elanix Corp. has changed its name to Eagleware-Elanix Corp.(It's A Deal)
March 1, 2005... Eagleware Corp. has changed its name to Eagleware-Elanix Corp. to reflect Eagleware's recent acquisition, announced Dec. 16, of Elanix Inc.

It's the customer, stupid! Now's the time to get--or stay--customer-centric. But if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.(Power Selling)
March 1, 2005... THE WORLD JUST got faster and more competitive, and shows no sign of letting up. In the US especially, there's a whole lot of marketing going on. For what may be their first time, some companies are taking sales and marketing seriously. They...

Waste not, want not: don't refocus on another niche market just yet. First, eliminate all possible waste in your shop.(ROI)
March 1, 2005... AT TIMES shake my head in disbelief at how some people run their businesses. Often when chatting with others in our industry, I hear how Company X is going to "refocus" on niche markets with higher pricing. Implied is the thought that if the...

Transitioning to lead-free assemblies: convergence on a single lead-free alloy means studying compatibility (backward and forward), and materials and process development.(Countdown To Lead-Free)
March 1, 2005... FIVE YEARS AGO the international microelectronics industry was considering and testing several lead-free alloys that could potentially replace SnPb eutectic for solder reflow and wave solder applications. Today, a narrow range of compositions...

High Reliability Boards (Hi. Rel.).(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Our Hi. Rel. printed circuit corner after 5 minutes board is unsurpassed in its reliability, capable of withstanding many more thermal cycles and higher temperatures than existing boards. This high reliability circuit uses proprietary plating...

High Reliability lead-free boards.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... We've created a superior lead-free, high-temperatu re circuit board by combining our High Reliability Board's (Hi.E.R.) plating process with high TD lead-free laminate (WEEE & RoHS Directive-certified). Tests on FR-4 Hi. Rel. samples...

Fine Line Technology.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... When PCB fabricators build boards featuring 4/4--or even 3/3--lines and spaces, the measurement is inaccurate. The undercut from etching distorts the shape of the track by as much as 2-mils of cross-sectional width. By etching the copper, it...

Heavy copper high power circuits.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Our heavy copper boards range from 4 oz. up to 15 oz. of copper, available in single-sided, double-side, or multilayer. With currents as high as 600 amps, an engineer can now design a PCB that carries large currents and supports a computer...

Bendable flex laminate.(Advertorial)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2005... Our inexpensive bendable flex laminate acts as a limited replacement for flex circuits at a fraction of the cost. This FR-4-based laminate is available in thickness from 0.002" (quite bendable and flexible but with limited robustness) to 0.008"...

In-house artwork verification: you can save time and money by taking control of your design verification, if you know a few tricks.(Design Verification)
March 1, 2005... Although artwork verification has been around for a long time, it is only in recent years that the process of verification has moved into the design department. What was once exclusively a task for the fabricator is increasingly becoming...

Interview with Electronics Workbench: now that Electronics Workbench is part of National Instruments, CEO Bill Wignall explains what makes the Toronto EDA company tick and why it should be your simulation tool provider.(Inner View)
March 1, 2005... The news wasn't exactly a shock to anyone who had been paying close attention: National Instruments acquired Electronics Workbench in February for an as-yet undisclosed sum. National has pledged to let the Toronto firm with about 50 employees...

The future of CAD libraries, Part II: Part of our story about the creation of the land pattern standard IPC-7351. Is this the future of CAD libraries? You decide.(CAD Libraries)
March 1, 2005... In Part I, we discussed some of the standards that should be incorporated into a CAD land pattern library, from a land pattern naming convention and solder joint analysis through land pattern origin and land pattern courtyard. These are...

Strength in a downturn: good show, Tokyo. But flex is still carrying the load.(The Flex Market)
March 1, 2005... THE TRADE SHOW season began with InterNepcon, held at Tokyo International Center (Tokyo Big Sight) Jan. 18-20. In spite of the downward trends of the electronics industry in Asia, the exhibition and conference were bigger than last year's show....

Conductive inks for flex circuits: with higher conductivity and lower resistivity, highly conductive silver inks are propelling new flexible applications, from RFID tags to "smart" clothing.(Flexible Circuits)(Cover Story)
March 1, 2005... From RFID tags and wearable electronic devices to "thinking" carpets and "smart" clothing, a host of innovative applications rely on highly conductive silver inks to create very flexible printed circuits. New formulations attain resistivity...

Who's this issue's expert?(Ask The Experts)
March 1, 2005... Q: I am producing multilayer PWB's for a variety of backplane and mother board applications and have recently been advised of a requirement for boards to be built using lead-free solder. Should I be concerned about Tg, Decomposition temperature...

Soldermask: it's not just green anymore whether it's to identify revision changes or to look trendy in a see-through box, soldermask is taking on a rainbow of colors. But your processes will have to change with the hues.(Coatings)
March 1, 2005... For a seemingly endless time, soldermask has been green and only green. But all that has started to change. If you're wondering why anyone would even bother using a soldermask of a different color, here's one example of a reason for using...

The return of the brainteaser interview: puzzles that challenge your logical thinking are back. Correct answers may not be required.(Career Care)
March 1, 2005... BACK IN THE 1960s and 1970s, the brainteaser was a popular interviewing style. It fell into disuse because it did not tell you much about either the hiring company or the applicants' qualifications for the job. But the brainteaser is making a...

Thermal software.(off the Shelf)
March 1, 2005... The Version 5 integrated suite has Flo/PCB for conceptual thermal design of PCBs, FloTHERM for system-level thermal design, Flo/EMC for EMC simulation, and Flo/STRESS for predicting thermo-mechanical stresses. Allows the systems architect to...

Prototyping system.(off the Shelf)
March 1, 2005... The LPKF ProtoMat series reportedly enables designers to quickly create precise PCB prototypes in-house. Twelve models are available for different budget and design requirements. Consists of a compact tabletop design with instant turnaround....

Laser marking tool.
March 1, 2005... The SOL850 laser marking system lases a compact, machine-readable code directly onto the PCB, thus eliminating labels and ink solution costs. Has a built-in bare board destacker and restacker, and features an innovative positioning system. Said...

Integrated dual inductor.(Others Of Note)
March 1, 2005... The PA0766NLT Power Bead inductor contains two independent inductors integrated into a single core structure and part number with no magnetic coupling between the two inductors, said to reduce the footprint/PCB cost. Can be used in any...

Lead-free solder alloy.(Others Of Note)
March 1, 2005... This proprietary, patent-pending alloy is said to produce a brighter, shinier surface compared to traditional tin/lead and other lead-free solder alloys. Extensive testing on both vertical and horizontal hot air leveling machines has allegedly...

Load switches.(Other Of Note)
March 1, 2005... IntelliMAX integrated low-power load switches targeting portable battery-powered applications is now offered. Is said to have a combination of protection, control and fault monitoring features in a low-profile SC-70 package. Meets critical...

Power amplifiers.(Others Of Note)
March 1, 2005... A new line of low-cost RF power amplifiers was designed for use in cell phones, cordless phones and for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and VolP products and applications. Reportedly incorporates a proprietary all-digital circuit architecture that replaces...

Drill machine.(Others Of Note)
March 1, 2005... Designed with high-precision short-run applications in mind, the Concept 129 CNC Driller is said to enable the fabrication of complex multilayer panels with emphasis on speed and accuracy. Complements a family of single spindle drilling...

Flex laminate.(Other Of Note)
March 1, 2005... Two new lines of 2L-FCCL adhesiveless, all-polyimide (API) flexible circuit materials can be used in cell phone hinge flex, LCD interconnection and other applications. Offerings include Rogers R/flex AP 200 material, a single-clad, cast-on type...

When should I worry about lossy lines? If you've been wondering when lossy lines start to become problematic, read on.(No Myths Allowed)
March 1, 2005... WHY HAS THE topic of lossy transmission lines become so popular in the past few years, and why did we hear so little about this topic before? What's different now? Have the properties of FR-4 changed that much recently? The problem created...