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News

A new report, The Chinese Challenge, Intellectual Property (IP) in China Manufacturing and Markets, will be released by consulting firm Technology Forecasters Inc. (TFI, Alameda, CA) on March, 22. The report will include comprehensive tactics for protecting and defending electronics IP in China.

The Chinese Challenge presents up-to-date and thorough research on crafting a broad, multilayered IP protection plan for electronics products made or sold in China. The report is the result of interviews with engineers and managers from name-brand and contract-manufacturing electronics companies, as well as discussions with industry experts, trade associations and U.S. and Chinese government officials.

One of the major contentions of the report is that protection of electronics IP in China operations is more than a legal problem. The report focuses on production policies to minimize loss of control over IP, supply chain systems to guarantee quality inputs, as well as technical fixes to track products and support product redesign, making copying more difficult. Based on a review of tactics and research, the report offers an Electronics IP Checklist with cost factors, effectiveness and advisability.

This report is authored by TFI associate Clive Jones, economist and managing director of Economic Data Resources, with the assistance of Ting Liu.

According to Jones, "China offers tremendous cost savings, but there can be tradeoffs against future market share. Companies need a range of tactics to check or slow down the diffusion of valuable IP to Chinese competitors."

Two major groups of IP violators exist: smaller groups of counterfeiters and black marketers, and task groups in larger Chinese electronics companies. The latter group currently operates mostly below the radar. The smaller operations are responsible for most of the cases identified to date. They assemble from a combination of sources: authentic or at least grey market, black market, counterfeit and quality rejects. Their efforts are largely directed at simpler electronics products and supplies, although they have tried their hand at assembling systems like computer servers. Jones points out that "threats from larger companies are also very real, as witnessed by the existence of 'departments of reverse engineering' in some of the larger Chinese electronics concerns."

Table 1

Comparing Patents in China and U.S.

China Patents	US Patents
First to file	First to invent
Patents of invention (20 yeas)	Utility patents (20 years)
Industrial design patents (10 years)	Design patents (14 years)
Utility model patents (10 years)	N/A
N/A	Plant (biological) patents (14 years)
Criteria: novelty, inventiveness, practical applicability	Criteria: non-obviousness, innovative
Maintenance fees paid annually	Maintenance fees paid 3.5, 5.5, and 11.5 years after issue
Chinese agent, licensed by the State Intellectual Property Office, required for application	Applicant can file

To order the report, contact TFI's Eric Miscoll: (817) 488-9456; email: emiscoll@techforecasters.com.

www.techforecasters.com

The International Reliability Physics Symposium (IRPS) has announced that Dr. Hans Stork, chief technology officer of Texas Instruments, will be the keynote speaker at IRPS 2004. The 42nd annual symposium for the scientific exploration of microelectronic reliability will take place April 25-29, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix at Civic Plaza, Phoenix, AZ.

Dr. Stork, who was recently named CTO after serving as senior vice president of Silicon Technology Development at TI, will discuss "Reliability Challenges of sub 100nm-CMOS SoC."

Other highlights of the symposium will include technical sessions featuring the largest number of papers submitted and accepted in IRPS history. The two day tutorial series on reliability engineering for upcoming professionals features sessions on Future CMOS, Gate Dilelectrics, Low K/Cu Interconnects, RF/MMIC Reliability, Failure Analysis, General Reliability, Design Practices, ESD, High K Dielectric, NBTI and SER. The conference will also feature a poster session, a half-day Reliability-Year-In-Review seminar and a technically oriented, hands-on exhibit that will allow attendees to test and evaluate state of the art reliability analysis equipment.

The three-day technical program kicks off with Novel Transistor Reliability Findings, followed by sessions on transistors, back-end integration, gate dielectrics (SIO2 and High-K), latchup, products and circuits, memory, interconnects, MEMS, SER/SEU,ESD, back-end dielectrics and failure analysis.

Dr. Stork joined TI in 2001 from Hewlett-Packard, where he served as director of the Internet systems and storage lab at HP Laboratories, and earlier as the director of the ULSI research lab.

Dr. Stork has written or co-authored approximately 90 papers and holds five patents. He was elected IEEE Fellow in 1994 for his contributions to SiGe devices and technology and is also a fellow member of the IEEE Electron Devices Society, where he has served on and chaired a number of committees.

Dr. Stork joined the Sematech board of directors in 2002 after serving for several years on the organization's executive technical advisory board. He also has been a board member of the Semiconductor Research Corp. since 1999 and serves on the Semiconductor Industry Association's (SIA) technology strategy committee. Additionally, he served as a technical advisor to government efforts on high-performance computing benchmarks and the national security issues emerging from Internet computing.

www.irps.org

During the run-up to the change to lead-free solders by July 2006, a number of end users have expressed concerns about the reliability of soldered joints formed by mixtures of tin/lead (SnPb) and lead-free materials. These will arise when lead-free components are soldered using SnPb alloys, something already happening in many production lines, and later when SnPb components are soldered with lead-free alloys. The latter issue may be a significant problem for companies that have had to invest in lifetime purchase of components. Several workers have already published information that suggests that small levels of lead contamination in lead-free joints can significantly reduce joint performance.

Many of those concerned end-users approached National Physical Laboratory (NPL, Teddington, UK) to assist with clarification of any reliability issues during the transition period. A consortium of 16 contributing companies was formed with a work program. The work will cover reliability assessment of lead-free joints to SnPb components; reliability assessment of SnPb joints to lead-free components; evaluation of hot-peel strength of lead-contaminated lead-free joints; and applicability of lead indicator kits for paints for recognition of lead-containing components

The work, lead by Martin Wickham, is underway and results are expected in the next 12 months.

Participating partners include:

Aeroflex International Ltd.
AMS Space UK
BAE SYSTEMS (Operations) Ltd.
Celestica Ltd.
Department of Trade & Industry
Dolby Laboratories Inc.
Eurotherm Ltd.
Goodrich Engine Control Systems
Hansatech Group
National Physical Laboratory
Robert Bosch GmbH
Rolls Royce Naval Marine
TRW Automotive
Thales Missile Electronics Ltd.

For more information please contact Dr. Chris Hunt: +44(0)20 8943 7027; email: chris.hunt@npl.co.uk.

www.npl.co.uk

Concoat Ltd. (Fleet, UK) has engineered a water-based conformal coating addition to its Humiseal range that can protect electronics assemblies at temperature extremes beyond the capabilities of existing resin-based alternatives. The performance characteristics of Humiseal 1H20 stem from a new water-based chemical formulation that was engineered by Concoat and took over a year of research and development to produce.

"1H20 is currently undergoing qualification testing between -65°C and +185°C," said Concoat's technical director, David Greenman. "Because the top end figure is at least 50°C higher than conventional resin materials, this product will be especially relevant to the automotive industry where upper performance limits are ideally rated at 180°C for engine bay electronics."

As water-based coatings, the series is also environment-friendly to meet with the drive in Europe to reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Concoat's chief chemist Phil Kinner, said, "The coating is both safe and easy-to-use, it has a superior 8kV breakdown voltage that is higher than conventional resin, it is extremely flexible and offers excellent chemical and mar resistance, and is repairable. And by being non-hazardous and low odor, it greatly reduces the demands on fume extraction equipment."

Managing director Graham Naisbitt said, "It also meets the growing demand for higher performance conformal coating materials capable of protecting modern printed circuit boards (PCBs) that exploit ever greater packaging densities allied with reduced conductor widths and spacings that are now being used in increasingly hostile operating environments."

1H20 AR7 Par 2 is qualified to MIL-I-46058C and IPC CC-830B. UR3 meets requirements for IPC-CC-830B and UR4 MIL-I and CC-830-B are pending.

www.concoat.co.uk

The Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA, Minneapolis, MN) Medical Electronics Symposium will take place May 19-20 at the Marriott Minneapolis Airport Hotel in Bloomington, MN. It will explore devices, components, packaging and assembly technologies. The conference chairman is Jeff Kennedy, Manufacturers' Services Ltd., and technical sessions include design/reliability, manufacturing techniques and requirements, process and quality control, packaging, sensors/microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and business/regulations.

Also featured during the program will be a Plenary Session, NEMI Medical Sector Roadmap, presented by Terry Dishongh of Intel Corp. A keynote presentation will be given by J. Doug Field, vice president of product development and chief engineer for Segway Co., which is known for the world's first self-balancing, electric powered personal transporter.

A second Plenary Session on Medical Product Outsourcing and Technology Trends will be presented by Keith Robinson, Frost & Sullivan, and a concluding roundtable discussion will focus on trends and challenges associated with bringing new products to market and working with multiple partners in a complex supply chain. The panel will expose barriers to entry of service to the medical sector and the unique challenges associated with supporting the medical products manufacturing process.

www.smta.org/education/symposia/symposia.cfm

The IPC Association (Northbrook, IL) recently commended DEK's (Zurich, Switzerland) technological advances with its new via fill process. Awarded a slot in the Innovative Technology Showcase at the APEX exhibition in Anaheim, CA, DEK's 100% fill technology was described by the judges as groundbreaking.

As part of the new and emerging technologies showcase, the process delivers 100% fill of substrate vias with no voids and minimal surface residue. This Pro-Flow-based process offers solutions to problems such as insufficient fill, voiding, poor throughput and excessive handling of product.

The fully enclosed head is used in conjunction with a dedicated tooling fixture that ensures complete fill of vias in the minimum of print passes (typically two), with a paste pressure of 2.5 bar and a print speed of 25mm/s. In addition, the print material has been shown to have a life of over three months in the transfer head.

Traditional manual or squeegee-based systems are less clean and operator-friendly, and take multiple passes to push material into vias. They can also use a vacuum table to pull material through, resulting in both voids and inadequate deposition.

With results in throughput of over fives times faster than traditional squeegee-based fill processes, the system is repeatable and offers accuracy.

DEK is a global provider of advanced pre-placement manufacturing solutions and innovative deposition technologies for a wide range of electronic materials.

www.dek.com

In a move to help customers speed time to market and reduce manufacturing costs, Dow Corning Corp. (Midland, MI) has launched the External Equipment Provider Alliance with nine companies from the electronics assembly and packaging industry. Under the new alliance—the first of its kind in this market—Dow Corning will work with member companies and customers to streamline the integration of materials and equipment used in board-level assembly and back-end packaging, resulting in standard equipment or customized solutions that help customers meet production goals more quickly and efficiently.

The network of member companies includes Asymtek (A Nordson Company), Bartec Dispensing Technology, DEK, Fluid Research Corp., Lambda Technologies, Liquid Control Corp., Precision Valve & Automation (PVA), Scheugenpflug AG and Sieghard Schiller GmbH & Co. KG. As providers of meter-mix, conformal coating, fluid delivery, rapid curing, stencil printing and robotic xyz positioning, these companies have all demonstrated expertise in applying and handling Dow Corning's silicone and organic materials.

Under the alliance, Dow Corning will leverage member companies' expertise to simplify the procurement, integration, start-up and optimization of materials and processing equipment. By working together, alliance members can help customers address any number of challenges—from choosing the right combination of equipment and materials for a new process to delivering turnkey production packages. The alliance will also provide a lead contact who will work directly with the customer, coordinating the alliance's resources to develop business solutions.

Tom Cook, Global Industry Executive Director, Electronics & Advanced Technologies Industries, Dow Corning, said, "Dow Corning will partner with customers to provide as little or as much assistance as they need, helping them achieve day-to-day objectives as well as key, long-term business goals. The beauty of an alliance like this is that it gives customers access to more resources than any single supplier could deliver alone."

The company has been organizing the alliance over the past year and has selected members based on its long-term relationships with these and other companies throughout the board-level assembly and back-end packaging industry. Dow Corning plans to expand the alliance to other electronics market segments, such as wafer-level and front-end packaging.

www.dowcorning.com/electronics

Photocircuits Corp. (Glen Clove, NY) has announced the realignment of its tooling and manufacturing operations to accommodate rapid growth in its high mix and quick turn business that will increase from $50 million sales in 2002 to an expected $100 million this year. The growth in number of customers to nearly 500, with concomitant increase in part numbers and layers processed, has driven significant changes in the front-end and operational structure of Photocircuits' business.

The company has opened its second offshore tooling center, established to support the increase in tools required by growth in high mix, quick turn business. This newest Tooling group, located in the Philippines, joins the ranks of the groups operating in New York and Costa Rica. All three groups will continue to work under the direction of the Pre-Production Engineering staff in New York and Georgia.

By transferring much of its high-volume backlog to its Peachtree City, GA, operation, the company has made available in Glen Cove substantial manufacturing capacity and the focused technical resources needed to satisfy demands of the high mix, rapid-response marketplace. With the recent installation of new imaging and laser drilling equipment, Photocircuits has increased capacity for conventional and HDI multilayer products.

John Endee, president of Photocircuits Corp., has also announced the promotion of Mike Fuggini to the newly created position of director of operations. Fuggini has been with the company for more than 20 years, most recently responsible for managing the company's process engineering staff and environmental compliance activities.

Fuggini's promotion is an organizational change necessitated by the mushrooming growth in Photocircuits' high mix and quick turn business. He will focus on operational enhancements of the Glen Cove factory producing low volume, quick turn and high technology parts. Fuggini will refine the manufacturing systems to minimize work in progress, continually reduce set-up times and enhance manufacturing capabilities within each process center.

The company has also promoted Steve Graves to the position of national sales director. Graves is a 19-year veteran of Photocircuits' sales organization, most recently managing selling efforts in eastern North America, the Caribbean and Europe.

www.photocircuits.com

Dynatech Technology Inc. (Horsham, PA), the North American distributor for Samsung surface-mount technology equipment, has signed a distribution agreement with Aegis Industrial Software Corp. (Horsham, PA) to sell and install Aegis's CircuitCAM and CheckPoint software on Samsung equipment.

"It's more than one-stop shopping for our customers," said Mike Foster, director of sales for Dynatech. "With both companies located in the same corporate campus, customers can get their training for the equipment and the software on the same business trip. Customers will benefit from having the training on each system essentially at the same time, making it easier to retain the information and become more productive more quickly when the systems are installed in their plants."

In the market for small to medium electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) shops, the Samsung Techwin line includes the newly introduced CP60L compact high-speed chip shooter, CP45F full vision assembly system and a variety of entry-level placement systems, plus machine-control software that can tie into line manufacturing and enterprise information systems. As the North American distributor, Dynatech Technology also provides 24/7 service with a guaranteed 30-minute call-back time.

Manufacturing and process engineers use CircuitCAM to convert CAD design information into visual assembly documentation, reports and optimized machine programs that include the generation and optimization interfaces for the pick-and-place insertion process, inspection and test machines. Users can operate the MS Office suite and programs such as AutoCAD directly within the software environment, and they can transfer documentation into programs such as Word and Excel. Data stored by the software enters a relational database, such as Access, which can be used in stand-alone mode. CheckPoint provides bill-of-materials, revision control and management capabilities.

"This new relationship with our neighbors down the road enables Aegis to further enhance our off-line machine programming capability and better integrate Samsung equipment users into our NPI and MES solutions," said Jason Spera, chief executive officer of Aegis.

www.dynatechsmt.com

www.aiscorp.com

FCI (Etters, PA), a manufacturer of connectors and interconnect systems, has won a substantial victory in its patent infringement suit involving FCI's ball grid array (BGA) connector technology brought in the U.S. against Hon Hai Precision Industries (Foxconn, Tucheng, Taiwain).

On Feb. 13, after a two-week trial in San Francisco, CA, a jury returned a verdict finding Hon Hai liable for infringement of two FCI patents relating to its BGA connector technology.

The jury also found the infringement to be willful and that Hon Hai is liable for multi-million dollar damages as a result of its infringement of FCI's patents.

The infringing sockets are used in computer notebooks, desktops and servers that use BGA socket technology.

Jean Lucien Lamy, FCI chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We will continue, in this instance and in any other cases that should arise, to pursue all legal means to protect our intellectual property."

BGA patented technology from FCI is currently licensed worldwide to Tyco and Molex for socket applications.

www.fciconnect.com

www.foxconn.com

Valor Computerized Systems (Yvane, Israel), a provider of productivity increasing engineering software solutions to the electronics design and manufacturing industry, has reached an agreement with Jabil Circuit Inc. (St. Petersburg, FL), a top-tier electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider. Trilogy 5000 will be implemented at a majority of Jabil's manufacturing and service facilities located in Asia, Europe and the Americas to increase efficiencies in new product introduction (NPI), design for manufacturability (DFM) and assembly process optimization. The deal marks the largest software deployment in Valor's corporate history.

The engineering system selected by Jabil covers the full scope of the assembly engineering solution for an integrated, efficient and productive CAD to DFM to assembly process.

Chris Singleton, global director for manufacturing engineering at Jabil said, "We will be able to accommodate customer ECN's easier and faster as well as provide a higher level of DFM service for customers. Jabil expects Trilogy tools to reduce the engineering process time for new jobs. This is particularly important to our growing high-mix business and will enable us to accelerate new product introductions."

www.valor.com

www.jabil.com

Assembleon (Eindhoven, The Netherlands, a designer and manufacturer of surface-mount pick-and-place equipment for the global electronics industry, and Tecnomatix Technologies Ltd. (Herzlia, Israel), a provider of manufacturing process management (MPM), have announced an agreement to offer a replacement to the CIMbridge software tool with eM-Assembly Expert, from Tecnomatix Unicam, for all Assembleon customers.

Under the terms of the agreement, the software tool—a key component of the printed circuit board (PCB) assembly and test solution suite from Tecnomatix Unicam—will replace the platform currently being used by Assembleon customers. Since acquiring the CIMbridge business unit from Genrad in October 2002, Tecnomatix has been committed to a transition plan to upgrade CIMbridge users to a more advanced, integrated programming platform.

Assembleon customers will also benefit from eM-Document Expert, a subset of the software that automates the creation of method sheets and other documentation for electronic assembly operations.

The programming front-end will interface with Assembleon optimizers and line balancers for all Assembleon machines. Expansion of the platform to other MPM solutions is available directly from Tecnomatix.

www.tecnomatix.com

www.assembleon.com