It seems that using the latest components (used by smartphones) requires technology that you don't get access to just sending out a standard board design to a company that makes boards. Even...
It seems that using the latest components (used by smartphones) requires technology that you don't get access to just sending out a standard board design to a company that makes boards. Even drilling the holes so small is a bit unusual:
To put it in solid numbers, the microvias here have a hole size of 0.1mm and an annulus of 0.2mm; and the mechanical via has a hole size of 0.25mm and an annulus of 0.5mm.
This style of via is absolutely essential in handheld products with space-conscious packaging featuring typical pitches of around 0.4mm for balls on a WLCSP [Wafter-level chip-scale packaging, which makes the package as small as the chip inside it].
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I say that microvia technology is ubiquitous, because we all own at least one gadget that uses it liberally: our smartphone. Even the cheap $20 smartphones from the Shenzhen markets use microvia, so clearly it is a mature volume technology. However, very few open hardware products use it; to the best of my knowledge, Xobs’ Fomu was the first. My best guess as to its lack of popularity in open hardware is the high setup cost for microvia. But the high setup cost is driven in part due to a lack of demand and thus you have a classic chicken-and-egg problem blocking technological progress in open hardware.
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Despite these extra costs, it’s virtually impossible to make a handheld gadget these days without microvia technology. The entire parts ecosystem for mobile devices assumes access to microvia technology, Without it, you just can’t access the latest technology in chargers, regulators, and other ICs.
It seems that using the latest components (used by smartphones) requires technology that you don't get access to just sending out a standard board design to a company that makes boards. Even drilling the holes so small is a bit unusual:
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