November - December 1999
eMail the Editor
Can U.S. Standards Keep Up with Packaging Technology?
- By Mark Bird Contributing Editor
Many articles have been published discussing new technology and the confusion that comes with introducing it to the world of standardization.In the world of chip-size packages, standardization is extremely important to stimulating the needed infrastructure.
From a packaging viewpoint, the infrastructure may be defined as the shipping tubes, shipping trays, test carriers, test sockets, burn-in sockets, tape/reel, assembly/test services and the raw materials needed to support the new configurations.
Package Configurations
The semiconductor industry has seen that the most cost-effective infrastructure is driven by the standardization of the package configurations.
Vendors attend standards meetings to see the designs and forecast their future requirements. These meetings also allow vendors to figure out where the industry is going, how fast package configurations are changing, and who is supporting the new configurations. They are also the largest gathering of their customer's packaging technologists where ideas and new concepts are discussed.
For the past 25 years, standards have been formulated by the JC-11 mechanical standardization EIA/JEDEC Committee.
JC-11's charter is to generate design guidelines, standardized measuring methods for mechanical features, and standardized mechanical outlines for microelectronic packages and assemblies.
The committee works on older conventional packages, such as PDIPs, as well as the newer high technology packages like CSPs and modules.
JC-11 also standardizes package interface items such as shipping tubes, shipping trays and carriers. Additionally, JC-11 works with other EIA/JEDEC committees to create test sockets, burn-in sockets, tape-and-reel items and packaging test methods. JC-11 also works with other U.S. standards committees such as the IPC on PC board land patterns and SEMI on material issues.
The committee re-engineers itself each year to reduce cycle time and make the standards process easier. This committee is very sensitive to the semiconductor industry and understands that cycle time and accuracy are critical for the short product lives typical of ICs.
The published documents from this committee reside in JEDEC publication 95, available free of charge at www.jedec.org.
Balloting Cycle
Can JC-11 keep up with the new packaging technologies? The JEDEC balloting cycle is one of the shortest in the world for package (registration) standardization.
A member-company sponsor can present a new configuration at one meeting, discuss the results at the next meeting, and publish after a short editorial review.
Because JC-11 meets quarterly, a package configuration or package interface item can be published as a registration on the JEDEC website in as little as three to four months.
If a sponsor wants its registration to become a standard, it needs the additional step of a JEDEC board of directors ballot, which may extend the total cycle time to six to eight months.
If this short cycle time exists and JC-11 has been active for 25 years, and the final specifications are available free, what's the problem? The problem is simply the commitment of the sponsors and their companies to our industry.
If the engineers come to JC-11 with their proposals and participate in the task groups, then the industry will formulate the standardization to drive the infrastructure when it's needed.
While semiconductor companies are talking about standards, they are not providing the needed resources to get the job done.
Until the semiconductor industry commits to the effort, the advances in standardization will be placed on the shoulders of the select few that recognize their importance.
Standards are no different than any thing else: You get what you pay for. If you do not contribute then you do not reap the rewards.
Like the Marines, the standards organizations need a few good men and women with experience and the energy to carry the standards torch into the next century.
Mr. Bird is an Amkor Technology Fellow and the director of technical marketing at Amkor in Chandler, Ariz. He has been a member of the JEDEC JC-11 Committee for more than 20 years. Readers may contact him at mbird@amkor.com or by phone at 480.821.5000.