Mentor Graphics publishes book on BGA routing

The folks at Mentor Graphics have just announced the publication of a new book written by Charles Pfeil. Charles is the engineering director of Mentor's Systems Design Division, and the book is entitled BGA Breakouts and Routing, Effective Design Methods for Very Large BGAs.

This publication, rich in technological expertise, explores the impact of dense ball-grid array (BGA) packages with high pin-count on PCB (printed circuit board) design, and provides solutions for inherent design challenges.

I know Charles of old, and he certainly "knows his onions" when it comes to this sort of thing. In fact I have a copy of the book in front of me as we speak and – in addition to its technical content – this little scamp is jam-packed with high-quality color illustrations that really get the point across. This is going to be very interesting for folks trying to come up with breakout patterns for FPGAs with thousands of pins.

As Charles says: "Using a BGA is the most common method today for packaging a high pin-count or very dense application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGA). BGAs have been proved to be a reliable, cost-effective package while at the same time providing flexibility to address miniaturization and functional requirements. However, as BGA density and pin count continue to increase, the designer's ability to effectively design with the devices has not kept pace. Fortunately, significant advancements in PCB fabrication technology have enabled further miniaturization in the manufacturing process."

These improvements, along with new software and design methods specifically for BGAs provide a means to successfully design using these devices.

"BGA Breakouts and Routing is a useful industry resource," said James Patten, assistant department manager, Components Design and Analysis Department, Northrop Grumman Space Technology. "The book explores BGA routing in a logical and straight-forward manner, and provides an orderly methodology while offering valuable insight into designing with these devices."

To obtain a copy of BGA Breakouts and Routing, or to learn more about upcoming discussions, events and articles about BGAs and Mentor's solutions to automating the design process for these complex, leading edge packages, visit, www.mentor.com/go/bga or contact Charles directly at bga_info@mentor.com.