IPC specifications and guidelines have been the standard performance, quality, acceptance, and design basis for PCB designs for approximately two generations. They have proven to be conservative enough that PCBs far exceed their expected lifetimes in a multitude of environments. Requirements are continually adjusted to reflect improvements in materials and process capability that match the increasing component, interconnect, and cost reduction demands.

The walls are coming down between the designers of chips and PCBs. Because of the complexity of electronic systems, IC designers and PCB designers are increasingly finding themselves in need of information from technologists upstream and downstream, from silicon through the system level. Stephen Chavez, senior product marketing manager at Siemens, shares his thoughts on this silicon-to-systems approach and what it means for PCB designers, EDA tool providers, and system-level developers as well.

Often, our primary goal is to maximize product functionality without increasing product size. Developing a multifunction silicon-based semiconductor (system-on-chip) for a specific product application, however, requires a significant investment in both engineering and financial resources. The problem is that many of the newer generations of semiconductor die have actually increased in size, with higher I/O and terminal pitch variations that have become significantly smaller.