The Use of CAD in Advanced Ceramic Package Designs

Being competitive in the high performance IC market requires package design concepts which keep pace with the rapid increase in device complexity. Devices operating in the 50 watt/500 MHz range impose stringent performance specifications on package designs. Rapid package designs are essential in keeping pace with device development. Accurate modelling of electrical, thermal and mechanical properties is also necessary. The use of CAD in advanced package design eliminates the need for each engineer to create a drawing to perform his specific design task. The design tape created by the packaging engineer can be used by the engineer performing the 3‐D electrical modelling functions. It can be used to display the package design at an off‐site product engineering review. The ceramic package manufacturer can use it in tooling the package. This paper discusses the use of CAD to design, model and manufacture a 169 lead ceramic pin grid array for an ECL standard cell application, and the advantages resulting from its use.