Changes in the PCB world with new packaging technologies and the integration of passive components into the PCB

New developments in the semi‐conductor industry lead to higher I/O counts. Packaging is changing to new, smaller packages, like TCPs and CSPs, and the pitch density increases as well. For the fanout of such pages on the PCB, new design rules have to be applied. Blind via holes, sequential build‐up technologies, new ways to form holes, new materials, a lot of questions for the PCB manufacturer. The integration of passive components, such as bypass capacitors and pull up and pull down resistors, into the PCB, go along with the next generation of packaging technology. This adds complexity to the printed circuit boards, leading to a new generation of PCBs that could better be called Integrated Component Boards (ICB). These boards offer a much higher price/area for the PCB manufacturer and at the same time give the OEM better performance with fewer assembly steps and much smaller units.