connectorZONE Products for the week of September 10, 2007

SchmartBoard Says…

SchmartBoard Releases Three Prototyping Products
New Boards Allow for Hand Solder of QFP ICs as Large as 240 Pins

SchmartBoard, the developer of a new technology that has significantly simplified the creation of electronic circuits for hobbyists, education and industry, announces the release of three new boards for large QFP (Quad Flat Pack) devices.

SchmartBoard ez prototyping boards allow virtually anyone to hand solder surface mount components easily, quickly and flawlessly. Prior to the development of this technology in late 2005, few people had the dexterity to hand solder surface mount components with small pitches such as 0.8-mm or smaller. The advent of SchmartBoards allowed people to hand solder components with up to 100 pins, which previously was inconceivable to most engineers, students and hobbyists. Based on demand from experienced users, SchmartBoard has launched several new boards with the ability to support larger and more complicated components.

"People who a couple years ago would not be able to hand solder some small components with 8 pins, are now asking for us to support up to 256 pins," said Neal Greenberg, vice president of marketing at SchmartBoard. "There are many components that are this large for microprocessors, FPGAs, and other advanced ICs."

Three new SchmartBoards will now support these large QFP package components. The only other prototyping options today for large surface mount components require expensive sockets. The three new boards have been specially created for QFP components and are available at the following specs: 0.8-mm pitch with 120 - 144 pins, 0.65-mm pitch with 112 - 160 pins, 0.5-mm pitch with 128 - 240 pins

EN-Genius Says…

If you've ever had to solder (or de-solder, for that matter) an expensive high-density surface-mount package, you know it can be irritating, and possibly unsuccessful. If you're equipped with a good stereoscopic bench microscope, the proper flux and solder, and perhaps a vacuum pipette and solder vac, it is achievable, provided you also possess a very steady hand.

Trying to hand solder a package measuring a quarter of an inch square, for example, with leads 0.27-mm in size on 0.5-mm pitches, is an invitation to disaster. Sure, it can be done, but the risk of trashing a lead or two is enormous. Ditto for board traces.

Some folks say you can bridge a package’s pins with solder, and then wick the excess off. Ask me how I know this isn't always successful. If you're willing to massacre a prototype board, or two, in the process, and trash a chip that can cost upwards of $20 a pop, go ahead and experiment. Otherwise, check out these products from SchmartBoard.

QFPs Self-Align
To use one, you simply place the semiconductor you're trying to solder onto the appropriate SchmartBoard, and sidle it into place. It actually falls into tiny grooves on the board, and self-aligns. Once you see this you'll be amazed and delighted. Next, you apply a bit of heat and some solder and flux to each of the device's leads, and you're done. SchmartBoard's patent-pending Electronic Circuit Building Blocks make soldering SMT devices rather easy.

These SchmartBoards for QFPs are also pre-traced, so you can solder-in almost any type of through-hole support component. Delicate miniature leads on the SMD are fanned out to standard 100-mil plated-through holes. There are also pads where you can place 0603 and 0805 SMD discrete components, such as bypass and filter caps, or resistors. What's more, the pre-traced board spells fewer wire jumpers than in most other prototyping systems.

I especially like the fact that one SchmartBoard also accommodates more than one size of package, thanks to unique universal lead-outs and grooves. The chips almost magically fall into place on a SchmartBoard Circuit Building Block, self-aligning to matching lines on the board, regardless of package size. Gone are the days of trying to hold the QFP in place with glue or flux while attempting to tack a lead or two to hold the chip in place.

Building Blocks
Not mentioned in SchmartBoard's press release is the fact that the SchmartBoard Circuit Building Block system lets you connect completed QFP boards together. The company's patent-pending SchmartBridge technique lets you partition your circuit, and then stitch them together as needed.

SchmartBoard also offers so-called SchmartModules. These are pre-designed blocks for more or less standard applications such as handling I/O, power, or housing memory and/or microprocessors and controllers. The SchmartModules plug into Samtec connectors to create multi-board modular systems.

Like so many things in engineering, these products do have limitations. Though you can order double-sided SchmartBoards, with copper ground planes on one side, some QFP devices may demand separate digital and analog ground planes. That's hard to implement on a pre-traced SchmartBoard.

Data Sheet