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EI Develops High-complexity PCB
January 17, 2008 |Estimated reading time: 1 minute
ENDICOTT, N.Y. Endicott Interconnect Technologies Inc. (EI) created a large, high-complexity PCB controller board that functions as the intelligence of a powerful and advanced optical packet switch. The PCB was fabricated for IBM Zurich Research Lab, and required deep blind vias joined with a proprietary EI process technology.
The controller board is for a 64×64 port, high-performance optical switch, a core component in the Optical Shared MemOry Supercomputer Interconnect System (OSMOSIS) research project on next-generation optical-switch technology in high-performance computing systems. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and in cooperation with Corning Inc., IBM's computer scientists developed a method of using optical-switch elements to transfer packet data throughout the system using light. This switch is capable of transmitting 2.5 Terabits of data (equivalent to 20 high-definition movies) per second. IBM researchers implemented this complex architecture for a 64-port optical switch technology demonstrator, achieving line rates of 40 Gbit/sec.
Board construction consisted of 36 layers; 36,053 blind vias; 29,246 connections; and a total trace length of 1.6 miles. It required multiple passes through the plating and drilling processes, highlighting the criticality of registration, noted James Fuller, EI's VP of semiconductor packaging and PCB fabrication. He adds that the hardest element was accommodating 40 back-to-back, two-sided, compliant pin connections.
The board was fabricated as two sub-composites with deep blind vias that, once joined, went only halfway through the full thickness of the board. EI's engineering team provided the necessary depth control for the pin connections by developing a process that filled the vias to preserve the holes during lamination and then mechanically drilled the holes afterward.
Collaborations between engineering, manufacturing, and R&D teams at EI were neccessary to complete the build.
For more information, visit www.zurich.ibm.com and www.eitny.com.