Stack-to-Stack Component Carrier for Dense PCB Interconnects
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in creating a component carrier that is both mechanically robust and electrically reliable, capable of efficiently managing heat dissipation and electrical connectivity, especially as components become more miniaturized and densely packed on printed circuit boards with increasingly complex connections.
Innovation Solution
A component carrier design featuring a stack with varying densities of electrically conductive layer structures, including trace and connection structures, where the connection structures between stacks ensure reliable electrical coupling without the need for redistribution structures, allowing for a compact and reliable connection geometry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If components are miniaturized and densely packed on printed circuit boards, then product functionalities and integration density are improved, but heat dissipation becomes increasingly difficult and mechanical robustness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from planar 2D circuit board layouts to 3D stacked architectures with multiple layers and vertical interconnections. This dimensional change allows components to be distributed across multiple levels, improving heat dissipation by exposing more surface area and enabling thermal management in the vertical dimension while maintaining high integration density.
Solution Approach 2:
The component carrier is divided into multiple stacked layers with distinct functional zones. Each layer can be independently optimized for specific functions (signal routing, power distribution, component mounting), allowing heat generation and dissipation to be managed separately in different segments of the stack, preventing thermal accumulation.
2Productivity
If components are miniaturized with ever smaller spacing between contacts, then integration density is improved, but electrical connectivity and signal integrity become more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs vertical stacking with through-silicon vias and interlayer connectors to establish electrical connections in the third dimension. This approach reduces lateral trace lengths and minimizes signal interference compared to planar routing, maintaining signal integrity even as contact spacing decreases in the 2D plane.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediate connection structures such as redistribution layers and buffer zones between densely packed contacts. These intermediary elements facilitate reliable electrical coupling by providing signal conditioning, impedance matching, and mechanical stress relief, ensuring connectivity reliability despite miniaturization.
3Reliability
If connection structures are used to connect stacks, then electrical connectivity is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-forms connection structures such as plated through-holes and embedded conductors during the substrate manufacturing process before component assembly. This preliminary creation of interconnection pathways eliminates the need for complex post-assembly wiring operations, reducing manufacturing complexity while ensuring reliable electrical connectivity between stacked components.
Data Source
AI summary
A component carrier includes a stack with at least one electrically insulating layer structure and electrically conductive layer structures some of which have a first density of trace structures and a second density of connection structures, and a further stack with at least one further electrically insulating layer structure and further electrically conductive layer structures some of which have a third density of further trace structures and a fourth density of further connection structures. A first component is applied to the stack and a second component is embedded in the further stack. The connection structures are respectively connected to the further connection structures. The first density of trace structures is lower than the third density of further trace structures. The stack and the further stack are connected with each other by the connection structures and by the further connection structures. The first component is connected to the second component.