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110 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2026 T RO U B L E I N YO U R TA N K T here is no question that the electronics industry, especially in circuit board design and fabrication, advanced packaging, and innovation throughout the value chain, has seen a significant transformation, whether it be in materials, system architecture, HDI and ultra HDI, semi- conductors, or chiplets. AI and high- performance computing (HPC) are driving change across several fronts, including material properties, assem- bly techniques (think hybrid bonding), and power management. Innovation has triggered the need for a better understanding of: • Higher power on smaller traces • Signal integrity and magnetic ef- fects at higher frequencies • New processing technologies (dielectric film, semi- and fully additive) • Optical materials • Innovation in cooling techniques The silicon-to-systems approach must not be taken lightly. Essen- tially, winging it to make this all work, because our collective experiences show us the way, reminds me of the song that says, "Party like it's 1999." Well, it's not 1999, or 2023, for that mat- ter. So much has changed in rapid-fire succession as Moore's Law has reached its limits, and chiplets and larger format substrates are becoming the norm. All this, however, comes with its own set of circumstances. Regardless, let's look at things from a rulebook perspective, with- out negating opportunities for innovation. Rulebooks and Design Rules With the increasing complexity of elec- tronic systems, it is more critical than ever to ensure close cooperation among the end user, the designer, the fabricators, and the teams assembling these pack- ages. You see multiple chips mounted onto a silicon interposer, the interposer soldered to a substrate, and the entire package assembled onto a board. All this has to function as the device/system was intended. What does all this mean? First, even with this level of complexity and need for higher performance, you must be able to fabricate these packages with high yield. More than one executive in this industry has said, "It's all about yields." Design for excellence (DFX) requires a set of rules and cooperation between all parties in the project. Since many of these projects involve several companies (one firm handling the board/substrate design, another the interposer, another BY M I C H A E L CA R A N O, PA LO M A R C O L L EG E IN COMPLEX SYSTEMS, DESIGN RULES AREN'T OPTIONAL