Counterfeit watchdog! DfR Presentation at iMAPS 2010 Raleigh on Nov 2.

DoD watchdogs are stating that the military is wide open for intrusion by counterfeit parts. Crackdowns are occurring, but the boldness of counterfeiters is increasing. DfR has a complete understanding of how we can help you with this dilemma. Greg Caswell, gcaswell@dfrsolutions.com, will be presenting a paper entitled "Counterfeit Detection Strategies-When to Do It/How to Do It" at the IMAPS Symposium on November 2. In addition, a new and unique methodology, "Using DNA to Safeguard Electronic Components," for obviating counterfeit parts will be presented by Janice Meraglia, janice.meraglia@adnas.com, from Applied DNA Sciences.

Printed Circuit Board Quilt - Bringing Art & Technology Together

Greg Caswell's wife June is a quilter and has produced some interesting designs over the years. This article about a "circuit board" quilt brings art and technology together.

Buyer Beware!!!

SquareTrade provides failure percentage information on a variety of electronic products with VERY SCARY figures; some with failure rates as high as 26% within the first two years of a product's life. Recently, they have examined iPhones, digital cameras, laptop/netbook computers, and computer game boxes. Understanding failure mechanisms is what DfR does best and working with customers to improve their products so that warranty issues are not a problem is a focus. Please contact Tom Johnston, tjohnston@dfrsolutions.com, for more information.

Remote Monitoring and Control Systems - Buyers Unhappy with Reliability

A recent survey by Atenga, Inc. pointed out that buyers of remote monitoring and control systems were unhappy with the reliability of the products. Solving this type of problem is right up DfR's alley. DfR can work with design engineers to facilitate enhanced reliability in a product during the design stage. Don't let your product end up in surveys like this one; contact Craig Hillman, chillman@dfrsolutions.com, for more information.

If at First You Don't Succeed, Triac, Triac Again!!

DfR engineers have definitive experience is electrical characterization and skill in developing the parameters for proper operation of specialized components in their application environment. Triacs are one such component type and this white paper describes the step by step methodology followed to provide this level of insight to our customer. For more information regarding electrical characterization, please contact Robert Manzanares, rmanzanares@dfrsolutions.com.

Fill 'er up!!

Increased circuit board densities coupled with the need for higher electrical performance have resulted in a new reliability challenge, that of vias in close proximity to either SMT or BGA pads. In an effort to reduce inductance, increase density or employ finer pitch array packages, via pads are being placed close to the SMT/BGA lands. Thicker PWBs, due to higher I/O array packages exacerbate these issues as larger holes and pads may be required to maintain through-hole reliability. DfR has extensive experience in both modeling the filled via concept and analyzing failures associated with this defect. For more information contact, Nathan Blattau, nblattau@dfrsolutions.com.

BGA Reballing - A High Reliability Necessity

The military and high reliability market segment have maintained a higher level of stability over the past couple of years. Military manufacturers are, for the most part, still using Sn/Pb materials. The commercial industry has used Pb-free for several years and the medical industry will be following in the next couple of years. Military suppliers are using approaches such as reballing of BGAs with Sn/Pb to utilize them. DfR has extensive experience regarding the reliability of the reballing of BGA packages. Joelle Arnold, jarnold@dfrsolutions.com, recently presented a joint paper with Stephan Meschter of BAE at the IMAPS Advanced Technology Workshop on High Reliability Microelectronics for Military Applications.