Visual analyzer speeds PCB fault diagnose

Intellitech’s Visual Fault Analyzer (VFA) is capable of viewing and identifying PCB assembly faults, speeding diagnostics and repair by visually locating the source of faults, even when they are hidden underneath devices. Previously, interconnect faults such as stuck-at, shorts and opens were diagnosed with text messages, displaying just net connectivity information. But plain text doesn’t include informa about the PCB vias, which contribute to faults in a large number of cases. VFA augments text-based diagnostics by visually displaying the fault locations and PCB physical layout that contribute to the faults, without the use of X-rays. This includes placement and layout of components, routing of interconnects and vias. Viewing the fault information in this way allows isolation and diagnosis of faults to be made quickly, based on the proximity of adjacent pins and vias that could cause a fault. Most of the faults with advanced packages are hidden, as solder balls and vias are underneath the IC on an array pad. Today’s devices with .5mm solder ball pitch provide about a 0.25mm distance from an associated via to the average adjacent solder ball. This will drop within2 years to about 0.15mm, causing the potential for hidden faults from vias to increase. VFA can perform diagnostics .

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EPP 176