The disclosure relates to a design support apparatus, a design support program, and a design support method intended to support designs of a circuit and a module or design of the circuit or the module.
In mounting a semiconductor module on a mounting board, etc., increase in functions of a chip involves complication of design of wiring for connection on a wiring board with a mounted semiconductor chip between the semiconductor chip and an electric component such as another semiconductor chip, a resistor, or a capacitor, for example. In recent years, mounting design using a multi-chip module (MCM) or a chip size package (CSP) has been made actively, for example. Such mounting design is made using a design technique of mounting a component on a high-density substrate (hereinafter also called a “subordinate substrate”) and mounting the subordinate substrate on a master substrate while treating the subordinate substrate with the mounted component in its entirety as one component.
As an example, a known substrate designing apparatus includes: a data acquiring unit that acquires data about a component outer shape indicating the shape and size of a component and about terminal information indicating the position of a terminal belonging to the component; a component rectangle calculating unit that calculates a component rectangle corresponding to the shape and size of a target component using component data about each target component; and an occupancy rectangle calculating unit that calculates an occupancy rectangle having a size of a range to be ensured in a substrate for the target component by adding an additive region around the component rectangle of each target component.
On the other hand, from the viewpoint of reducing the size and thickness of a circuit board module used for electronic equipment, an electronic component embedded substrate with an internally embedded electronic component such as a power semiconductor element has been suggested. At the electronic component embedded substrate, the internally embedded electronic component and wiring formed on a surface of the electronic component embedded substrate are connected to each other through a via conductor formed at the substrate, for example. As an example, a known electronic component embedded substrate includes an embedded power semiconductor element, an embedded control element, and an embedded coil.
According to an example of the present disclosure, there is provided a design support apparatus of supporting design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electronic components that configure at least a part of a circuit, including, a component information acquiring unit that acquires component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and a required minimum area calculating unit that calculates a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
According to an example of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute a procedure, the procedure that supports design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electric components configuring at least a part of a circuit, the procedure including, acquiring component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and calculating a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
According to an example of the present disclosure, there is provided a design support method of supporting design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electronic components that configure at least a part of a circuit, including at least, acquiring component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and calculating a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
Thus, a design support apparatus, a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing a program, and a design support method of the present disclosure allow the design to be made efficiently by giving consideration to an element peculiar to the component embedded substrate in making design including derivation of a required minimum area of a component embedded substrate.
The present inventors have found a problem that, in the technical field of an electronic component embedded substrate (in particular, the substrate with an embedded power semiconductor element), in determining a required area of a surface of the electronic component embedded substrate responsive to a size of each electronic component to be mounted internally, it is necessary to give consideration not only to setting of an additive region based on terminal information, etc. but also to influence by a through hole, thermal influence, etc. Specifically, it is requested to provide a design support apparatus that makes it possible to give consideration to an element peculiar to a component embedded substrate in determining a required minimum area of the component embedded substrate.
As a result of earnest examination made to fulfill the above-described intention, the present inventors have found that the above-described problem is solvable by a design support apparatus of support design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electronic components that configure at least a part of a circuit, including: a component information acquiring unit that acquires component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and a required minimum area calculating unit that calculates a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same parts and components are designated by the same reference numerals. The present embodiment includes, for example, the following disclosures.
A design support apparatus of supporting design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electronic components that configure at least a part of a circuit, including: a component information acquiring unit that acquires component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and a required minimum area calculating unit that calculates a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
The design support apparatus according to [Structure 1], further including: a circuit component information acquiring unit that acquires information about circuit components to be included in the circuit from a circuit database containing information about a configuration of the circuit; and an incorporated component selecting unit that selects a component to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate from the circuit components, the component information acquiring unit acquiring information about one or more electronic components selected by the incorporated component selecting unit.
The design support apparatus according to [Structure 1] or [Structure 2], wherein the required minimum area of the component embedded substrate is calculated by using a required minimum mounting area that is derived on the basis of a component area obtained as a total of each area of the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate.
The design support apparatus according to any one of [Structure 1] to [Structure 3], wherein the required minimum area is calculated by using a required minimum pad area that is derived on the basis of each area of one or more electrode pads to be mounted on the surface of the component embedded substrate.
The design support apparatus according to [Structure 4], wherein the required minimum pad area is derived on the basis of geometry information containing at least information about a layer structure, a copper foil thickness, and a substrate material of a mounting board on which the component embedded substrate is to be mounted.
The design support apparatus according to any one of [Structure 1] to [Structure 5], wherein at least one of the electronic components is a power device.
The design support apparatus according to any one of [Structure 1] to [Structure 6], wherein the required minimum area of the component embedded substrate is calculated by further using a required heat dissipation area of the component embedded substrate.
The design support apparatus according to any one of [Structure 1] to [Structure 7], further including: a thermal simulation unit that conducts a thermal simulation on the component embedded substrate by using information about the required minimum area.
A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute a procedure, the procedure that supports design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electric components configuring at least a part of a circuit, the procedure including: acquiring component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and calculating a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
A design support method of supporting design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electronic components that configure at least a part of a circuit, including at least: acquiring component information about the electronic components to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and calculating a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
A design support apparatus supports design of a component embedded substrate including one or more embedded electronic components that configure at least a part of a circuit, and is characterized in that the design support apparatus includes: a component information acquiring unit that acquires component information about the electronic component to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate; and a required minimum area calculating unit that calculates a required minimum area of a surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of at least information about a size of each electronic component contained in the component information.
While embodiments of the design support apparatus of the disclosure will be described below using the drawings, the disclosure is not limited to these embodiments.
A design support apparatus 100 in
The processor 901 is an IC (integrated circuit) that performs processing and controls the other hardware. More specifically, the processor 901 is a CPU (central processing unit), a DSP (digital signal processor), or a GPU (graphics processing unit). The memory 902 is a volatile storage device. The memory 902 is also called a main storage device or a main memory. More specifically, the memory 902 is a RAM (random access memory).
The auxiliary storage device 903 is a nonvolatile storage device. More specifically, the auxiliary storage device 903 is a ROM (read only memory) or an HDD (hard disc drive). The input device 904 is a device to accept an input. More specifically, the input device 904 is a keyboard, a mouse, a numeric keypad, or a touch panel, for example. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the input device 904 may be a device connected through a network to an external customer’s terminal, for example, and may accept information input by an external designer (customer) using an accepting unit 192. The information input to the input device 904 may be supplied as digital information through a network, for example. As a more specific example, the information input to the input device 904 may be information (digital information) input from the customer’s terminal and supplied through the network.
The output device 905 is a device to produce an output. More specifically, the output device 905 is a monitor to make a display or a printer to produce a print, for example. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the output device may be a device connected through a network to an external customer’s terminal, for example, and may be configured in such a manner as to allow display of output information through an output unit 193 on a display of a terminal belonging to an external designer (customer), for example. The information output by the output device 905 may be supplied as digital information through a network, for example. As a more specific example, the information output by the output device 905 may be displayed through a network on a customer’s terminal or on a display of a manufacturer, for example.
The design support apparatus 100 includes “units” provided as elements forming a functional configuration including a circuit component information acquiring unit 101, an incorporated component selecting unit 102, a component information acquiring unit 103, a pad information acquiring unit 104, and an area information acquiring unit 105. The functions of the “units” are realized using software. The functions of the “units” will be described later.
The auxiliary storage device 903 stores a program for realizing the functions of the “units.” The program for realizing the functions of the “units” is loaded on the memory 902 and executed by the processor 901. The auxiliary storage device 903 further stores an OS (operating system). At least part of the OS is loaded on the memory 902 and run by the processor 901. Specifically, the processor 901 executes the program for realizing the functions of the “units” while running the OS. The program may be recorded (stored) on a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium.
Data obtained by executing the program for realizing the functions of the “units” is stored into a storage device that may be the memory 902, the auxiliary storage device 903, a register in the processor 901, or a cache memory in the processor 901. The design support apparatus 100 may include a plurality of processors 901 and these processors 901 may work together to execute the program for realizing the functions of the “units.”
The memory 902 functions as a storage unit 191 storing data. However, a storage device other than the memory 902 may function as the storage unit 191. The input device 904 functions as the accepting unit 192 that accepts an input. The output device 905 functions as the output unit 193 that produces an output.
The “units” may be read as “processes” or as “steps.” The functions of the “units” may be realized using firmware. The program for realizing the functions of the “units” may be stored into a nonvolatile storage medium such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or a flash memory.
The operation of the design support apparatus 100 corresponds to a design support method. A procedure of the design support method corresponds to a procedure of a design support program.
The operation of the design support apparatus 100 (design support method) will be described on the basis of
In step S1, a designer operates the input device 904 to input circuit information, and the accepting unit 192 accepts the input circuit information. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the designer (customer) may operate an external terminal to input the circuit information, and the input device 904 may acquire (accept) the input circuit information through the accepting unit 192. Specifically, the circuit information is a circuit type name and a circuit diagram, for example. Examples of the circuit type name include a half-bridge circuit, a full-bridge circuit, a boost chopper circuit, and a step-down chopper circuit. The circuit type name is not limited to these examples as long as it indicates a basic circuit configuration including at least an electronic component to be incorporated in a component embedded substrate. While the circuit diagram may be a circuit diagram illustrated in
In step S2, on the basis of the circuit information acquired by the input device, the circuit component information acquiring unit 101 acquires component information (circuit component information) required for the foregoing circuit configuration, specifically, information about circuit components to be included in the circuit from a circuit database 210. As a specific example, the circuit component information is a component type name such as a diode, a transistor, a capacitor, or a coil. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the circuit component information may contain a netlist covering connection between circuit components. For example, information in the netlist is used in making design of wiring in the component embedded substrate or design of wiring on a mounting board between the component embedded substrate and a different component. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the circuit information input by the designer (customer) preferably contains information about an operating condition of the circuit (hereinafter also called “operating information”). More specifically, the operating information contains an operating condition of the circuit such as a breakdown voltage, a current value, or an operating frequency, for example. The operating information is used in acquisition of component information described later. In an embodiment of the disclosure, in step S2 in
In step S3, the incorporated component selecting unit 102 selects a component to be incorporated in the component embedded substrate from the circuit components (constituting components of the circuit) acquired by the circuit component information acquiring unit 101. In an embodiment of the disclosure, an active component is selected as an incorporated component from the constituting components of the circuit, for example. As a more specific example, if the circuit configuration is a step-down chopper circuit and if the circuit diagram is the circuit diagram illustrated in
In step S4, the component information acquiring unit 103 acquires component identifying information from a component database stored in the storage unit 191 that is information corresponding to the component selected by the incorporated component selecting unit. In this step, the component information acquiring unit 103 acquires component identifying information conforming to the operating information contained in the circuit information described above input by the designer, and selects a component corresponding to the acquired component identifying information as an incorporated component. If the component identifying information conforming to the foregoing operating information includes a plurality of component identifying information pieces, these pieces of component identifying information may be output together with other information about components (cost, name of manufacturer, specification) through the output device 905, and the designer may select a component to be used. The component identifying information is information identifying the incorporated component. As a more specific example, the component identifying information is a component identifier of each component (the name of the component, for example).
The circuit database and the component database will be described using
In step S5, on the basis of the component identifying information acquired by the component information acquiring unit 103, the pad information acquiring unit 104 derives a component type name and the number of components, thereby acquiring pad information. The pad information contains at least information about the type and the number of electrode pads to be arranged on a surface of the component embedded substrate. The pad information is generally determined uniquely by the type name and the number of components to be mounted on the component embedded substrate. Preferably, a combination of the type name and the number of the components with the type and the number of the pads is stored in advance into the storage unit 191. Table 1 illustrates an example of the combination of the type name and the number of the components with the pad information.
In step S6, the area information acquiring unit 105 derives a required minimum area (area information) on the surface of the component embedded substrate on the basis of a required minimum mounting area and a required minimum pad area.
In the present embodiment, geometry information about the component embedded substrate is preferably acquired in step S4 in
Next, in step S3 in
In step S1 in
Next, in step S2 in
In step S3 in
[In this formula, ΔT indicates a permissible value for temperature increase in the electrode pad, Rse indicates a sheet resistance, S indicates the area of the electrode pad, If indicates a flowing maximum current, and Rst indicates a sheet thermal resistance.]
[In this formula, ΔT indicates a permissible value for temperature increase in the electrode pad, Rse indicates a sheet resistance in the electrode pad, S indicates the area of the electrode pad, If indicates a flowing maximum current, and Rst indicates a sheet thermal resistance of the electrode pad.]
Next, in step S4 in
Finally, in step S5 in
The processing procedure in
The details of the steps and the order of implementation of the steps in the present embodiment are given merely as examples and the disclosure is not limited to the examples given above. This also applies to embodiments described below. In particular in the present embodiment, step S5 in
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to make optimum dimensional design by giving consideration to an element peculiar to a component embedded substrate.
In a second embodiment, the configuration of a design support apparatus 100 is the same as that of the first embodiment (
The operation of the design support apparatus (design support method) according to the second embodiment of the disclosure will be described below using
[In this formula, Rjc indicates a junction-to-case thermal resistance, Rd indicates a thermal resistance of a die bonding material, and Rh indicates a thermal resistance of a heat dissipation plate.]
[In this formula, Tjmax indicates a maximum junction temperature, Tc indicates the temperature of an electrode pad, Q indicates loss, and Rjc indicates a junction-to-case thermal resistance.]
The loss Q is a total value of loss caused by an electronic component (semiconductor component) incorporated in the component embedded substrate. In an embodiment of the disclosure, if the electronic component (semiconductor component) includes a transistor and a diode, for example, loss by the transistor and loss by the diode are calculated using the semiconductor component characteristic information described above and using a publicly-known loss calculation method, and a total of the losses is derived as the loss Q.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, in making design including derivation of a required minimum area of a component embedded substrate, it is possible to make the design by giving consideration to a thermal aspect as well as to a physical aspect.
A third embodiment of the disclosure will be described below by referring to the drawings. Description to overlap the one given in the first embodiment will be omitted or simplified.
The operation of a design support apparatus 200 (design support method) according to the third embodiment of the disclosure will be described below using
In step S8 in
As described above, according to the present embodiment, information about a required minimum area of a component embedded substrate calculated by the design support apparatus is further used for thermal simulation, making it possible to improve design to a greater extent.
According to the embodiments, the function of the design support apparatus 100 or 200 may be realized using hardware. Specifically, the design support apparatus 100 or 200 may include one or two or more processing circuits and the processing circuit may realize the functions of the “units.” The design support apparatus 100 or 200 may be realized using a combination of software and hardware. Specifically, some of the “units” may be realized using software, and the other “units” may be realized using hardware.
Some or all of a plurality of the embodiments described above according to the disclosure may certainly be combined, or some of the constituting elements may certainly be applied to the other embodiment. Such a configuration also belongs to an embodiment of the disclosure.
The design support apparatus, the design support method, and the design support program of the disclosure are available in any field including semiconductors (such as compound semiconductor electronic devices, for example), electronic components, electric equipment components, optical electrophotographic related apparatuses, and industrial members, and especially useful for electronic component embedded substrates with embedded power devices.
The embodiments of the present invention are exemplified in all respects, and the scope of the present invention includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.
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Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2021-128634 | Aug 2021 | JP | national |
This application is a continuation-in-part application of International Pat. Application No. PCT/JP2022/029867 (Filed on Aug. 3, 2022), which claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Pat. Application No. 2021-128634 (filed on Aug. 4, 2021). The entire contents of the above applications, which the present application is based on, are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2022/029867 | Aug 2022 | WO |
Child | 18089883 | US |