High Speed Digital

The high-speed digital market is comprised primarily of wireline and wireless communications for the Internet. The telecommunications networks accommodating the continued increase in demand for digitized multimedia include equipment and infrastructure for transport, switching, and routing.

Accurate detection, analysis and processing of digital signals is a function of the overall quality of the hardware in the telecommunications system. Within every piece of the system hardware, digital signal integrity and propagation speed converges to the circuit board and component interfaces. The main components are the semiconductor devices and the electronic packages that house them.

A variety of semiconductor devices from Si CMOS to InP and SiGe are used in high-speed digital applications. Each device technology has evolved to ever-smaller geometries and more complex topologies. Electronic packaging for today's HSD applications have also evolved to smaller geometries, better conductors and interconnects, and most importantly, are available in ceramic and organic material sets. Low dielectric constants in both material categories as well as a range of thermal expansion values and thermal management approaches help meet the demands of this market.

Package types for high-speed digital include (not limited to):

• Opto-electronic
• Ball Grid Array
• Pin Grid Array
• Flip Chip
• QFN / QFP
• Cavity / Connectorized