HDI Value Benefit

HDI Value Benefit

In an article published in CircuiTree called “A Fresh Look at MicroVias”, I mentioned that some companies who are in the process of moving to HDI have taken a through-hole design and converted it to HDI first.  With this approach, Happy Holden has found that a number of projects like this have not resulted in what he would call a “successful” HDI design because many of the same through-hole methods were applied using micro-vias.  When this occurs, the value benefit of converting to HDI is not realized.   The full article can be found here:  http://www.circuitree.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000953428.

By “value benefit” I mean that although an HDI board costs more than an FR4 laminate board with the same number of layers, has the HDI design taken advantage of the ability to increase functional density and decrease the area (size and layer count)?  The primary reason why companies have not converted to HDI is because of cost.  My point is that if micro-vias are used in a way to reduce the layer count and to make the design smaller, then the total cost (considering increased functionality and decreased size) can be justified.  The article presents methods in which micro-vias can be applied to the routing task in a manner that does indeed enable a value benefit with HDI.

What is your experience?  Is there a significant push to increase functionality in the same area?  If so, HDI may be the solution.

Preparing Recommendations

More Blog Posts

Preparing Recommendations