October 2015 • The PCB Design Magazine 69
5
Material Witness: using
Scaled Flow Data
The iPC TM-650 Scaled Flow Test (2.4.38) uses
three values to determine pressed thickness and
flow of a given resin system: ho (the theoretical
value of a pressed sample assuming no air entrain-
ment and no flow calculated from the weight of
the test stackup), hf (the actual final thickness
per ply measured by micrometer after the flow
test) and Δh (the difference between ho and hf
expressed in mils of thickness change).
6
Automotive Systems Design:
a Support Engineer's
Perspective
Assume you need to design a multipart complex
product requiring several PCBs to be fitted into a
tight housing. Assume also that you have to bring
product iterations to market as fast as possible, be
it at regular intervals or on demand. Finally, assume
that you will have to do this not only faster, but
also at an increasingly lower cost. This is a trend
that becomes the norm for products in many in-
dustries, not least in automotive electronics.
7
EDA Industry Revenue up
8.5% in q2, But PCB Drops
The eDA Consortium (eDAC) Market Statistics Ser-
vice (MSS) has announced that the eDA industry
revenue increased 8.5 percent for Q2 2015 to $1.9
billion, compared to $1.75 billion in Q2 2014. But
PCB and MCM revenue dropped 13 percent
compared to Q2 2014. The four-quarters moving
average, which compares the most recent four
quarters to the prior four quarters, also increased
by 8.5 percent.
8
Herbstman, Holden and
Kowalewski to Lead
Denmark HDI Workshop
This workshop is for all PCB layout designers who
see the need to achieve 2X to 4X higher board
density, better electrical performance, or even
those who just need to reduce the size or thickness
of a finished board. This class is essential for those
who use hDi, but it is not limited to hDi designers.
So, if you want to learn how to use hDi or just be
better at it, come learn from the best.
9
Kelly Dack and Mark
Thompson unite in
War on Failure
There's been a lot of talk about fighting the war
on failure in the PCB industry. But what strate-
gies should our generals follow to prosecute this
war? What exactly constitutes a failure in the first
place? is this war even winnable? i recently spoke
with longtime designer kelly Dack and CAM sup-
port veteran Mark Thompson of Prototron Circuits
about the best battle plans for beating failure.
J
The Gerber Guide,
Chapter 22
never mirror or flip layers! All layers must be
viewed from the top of the PCB, which means that
the text must be readable on the top layer and
mirrored on the bottom layer. Alas, sometimes,
in a mistaken attempt to be helpful, designers flip
layers because they must anyway be mirrored on
the photoplotter. This could be helpful in a world
where the designer's files are used directly in fabri-
cation, but these data layers are actually input for
the CAM system.
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October 2015 • The PCB Design Magazine 69
