Patent Application
20190103349
As semiconductor devices get more advanced and further integrated, manufacturing sockets to interface with these devices is becoming increasingly complex. Some considerations include higher pin counts due to power and I/O demands, higher speed signals requiring improved signal quality, and larger package sizes.
Current land grid array (LGA) solutions are based on metal contacts inserted in plastic housing. Current solutions, however, have limited scalability to address high speed signaling such as co-ax signaling, impedance matching, etc.
The embodiments of the disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the disclosure, which, however, should not be taken to limit the disclosure to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.
An integrated embedded substrate and socket is generally presented. In this regard, embodiments of the present disclosure enable printed circuit board based sockets. Multiple contact designs can be used and embedded in plated through holes (PTHs) or surface mounted on a substrate. Additionally, ground and power wells can be incorporated through the use of selective copper plating. One skilled in the art would appreciate that this approach may enable better ground connections and signal shielding among other benefits.
In the following description, numerous details are discussed to provide a more thorough explanation of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring embodiments of the present disclosure.
Note that in the corresponding drawings of the embodiments, signals are represented with lines. Some lines may be thicker, to indicate more constituent signal paths, and/or have arrows at one or more ends, to indicate primary information flow direction. Such indications are not intended to be limiting. Rather, the lines are used in connection with one or more exemplary embodiments to facilitate easier understanding of a circuit or a logical unit. Any represented signal, as dictated by design needs or preferences, may actually comprise one or more signals that may travel in either direction and may be implemented with any suitable type of signal scheme.
Throughout the specification, and in the claims, the term “connected” means a direct connection, such as electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected, without any intermediary devices. The term “coupled” means a direct or indirect connection, such as a direct electrical, mechanical, or magnetic connection between the things that are connected or an indirect connection, through one or more passive or active intermediary devices. The term “circuit” or “module” may refer to one or more passive and/or active components that are arranged to cooperate with one another to provide a desired function. The term “signal” may refer to at least one current signal, voltage signal, magnetic signal, or data/clock signal. The meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references. The meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.”
Unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives “first,” “second,” and “third,” etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner.
For the purposes of the present disclosure, phrases “A and/or B” and “A or B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C). The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “back,” “top,” “bottom,” “over,” “under,” and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions.
In some embodiments, socket 100 includes a combination of large plated through holes 106 and small plated through holes 108. In some embodiments, large plated through holes 106 include metal contacts 110, while small plated through holes 108 are conductively coupled with a grounded copper plane to improve the quality of signals to be transmitted through a nearby metal contact 110. Metal contacts 110 may have any design, composition, or orientation known in the art formed by manufacturing methods including, but not limited to, stamping, extrusion, etching, micro-forming, etc. In some embodiments, metal contacts 110 are land grid array (LGA) contacts. In some embodiments, metal contacts 110 include buried contact section 112 and cantilevered contact section 114, which may include a bend of at about 45 degrees (+/−15 degrees). While buried contact sections 112 are shown as being substantially straight (+/−10 degrees) and coaxial to the plated through holes, other shapes and orientations may be employed. In some embodiments, instead of being embedded in plated holes, metal contacts 110 may be mounted to a substrate surface, for example, metal contacts 110 may be soldered to a conductive surface contact.
Fill material 116 may fill the plated through holes and may embed metal contacts 110. In some embodiments, fill material is a polymer epoxy with insulative properties, which may provide co-axial shielding for metal contacts 110. Conductive material 118 may be included with some metal contacts 110 where it is desirable to couple the metal contact with the plated through hole and copper plane, for example in the case of a power or ground signal. Conductive material 118 may include solder or conductive paste or other conductive material. In some embodiments, conductive material 118 may be built into a metal contact design to create a conductive contact with the plated through hole. Solder balls 120 may allow socket 100 to couple with a system board for example. Other types of conductive contacts, such as lands, pins, bumps, etc. may be incorporated.
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Fanout routing 314 may be build-up layers of metal and dielectric that couple metal contacts 312 at an end of plated holes and/or vias 310 to solder balls 316 and that translate metal contact pitch 318 to solder ball pitch 320. In some embodiments, solder ball pitch 320 is about one hundred percent coarser than metal contact pitch 318, while in other embodiments different pitch translations are possible. System board 306 may include other system components and may have solder pads (not shown) to couple with solder balls 316 of socket 302.
In some embodiments, one or more of plated holes and/or vias 310 may be conductively coupled with one or more solder balls 316, for example, via fanout routing 314. In this way, plated holes and/or vias 310 may act as a heatsink or heat spreader. One skilled in the art would appreciate that by spreading heat socket 302 may enable higher current transmissions.
Method 400 begins with receiving (402) a substrate. In some embodiments, a substrate, such as 202 may include buried copper layers, such as 204. Next, holes are drilled (404) in substrate. In some embodiments, holes may go through the substrate and the buried copper layers. In some embodiments, the holes may only partially go through a substrate and stop at a buried routing layer.
Then, the holes in the substrate may be plated (406). In some embodiments, copper plating covers the sides of the holes up to the substrate surface. Next, the plated holes may be filled (408) with fill material. In some embodiments, fill material 242 may be polymer epoxy or some other insulative material.
The method continues with inserting (410) metal contacts in the plated through holes. In some embodiments, the straight section of the metal contacts are embedded in the fill material while a bent section of the metal contacts is cantilevered above a substrate surface. Next, some of the metal contacts may be coupled (412) with the plated through holes. In some embodiments, metal contacts that are to transmit power or ground may advantageously be coupled with the surrounding plated through hole, perhaps by depositing solder.
In some embodiments, additional routing layers may be added (414) for example to fanout a contact pitch to a solder ball pitch. Finally, secondary side contacts may be formed (416), such as solder balls.
For purposes of the embodiments, the transistors in various circuits and logic blocks described here are metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors or their derivatives, where the MOS transistors include drain, source, gate, and bulk terminals. The transistors and/or the MOS transistor derivatives also include Tri-Gate and FinFET transistors, Tunneling FET (TFET), Square Wire, or Rectangular Ribbon Transistors, ferroelectric FET (FeFETs), or other devices implementing transistor functionality like carbon nanotubes or spintronic devices. MOSFET symmetrical source and drain terminals i.e., are identical terminals and are interchangeably used here. A TFET device, on the other hand, has asymmetric Source and Drain terminals. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other transistors, for example, Bi-polar junction transistors—BJT PNP/NPN, BiCMOS, CMOS, etc., may be used without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
In some embodiments, computing device 500 includes a first processor 510. The various embodiments of the present disclosure may also comprise a network interface within 570 such as a wireless interface so that a system embodiment may be incorporated into a wireless device, for example, cell phone or personal digital assistant.
In one embodiment, processor 510 can include one or more physical devices, such as microprocessors, application processors, microcontrollers, programmable logic devices, or other processing means. The processing operations performed by processor 510 include the execution of an operating platform or operating system on which applications and/or device functions are executed. The processing operations include operations related to I/O (input/output) with a human user or with other devices, operations related to power management, and/or operations related to connecting the computing device 500 to another device. The processing operations may also include operations related to audio I/O and/or display I/O.
In one embodiment, computing device 500 includes audio subsystem 520, which represents hardware (e.g., audio hardware and audio circuits) and software (e.g., drivers, codecs) components associated with providing audio functions to the computing device. Audio functions can include speaker and/or headphone output, as well as microphone input. Devices for such functions can be integrated into computing device 500, or connected to the computing device 500. In one embodiment, a user interacts with the computing device 500 by providing audio commands that are received and processed by processor 510.
Display subsystem 530 represents hardware (e.g., display devices) and software (e.g., drivers) components that provide a visual and/or tactile display for a user to interact with the computing device 500. Display subsystem 530 includes display interface 532, which includes the particular screen or hardware device used to provide a display to a user. In one embodiment, display interface 532 includes logic separate from processor 510 to perform at least some processing related to the display. In one embodiment, display subsystem 530 includes a touch screen (or touch pad) device that provides both output and input to a user.
I/O controller 540 represents hardware devices and software components related to interaction with a user. I/O controller 540 is operable to manage hardware that is part of audio subsystem 520 and/or display subsystem 530. Additionally, I/O controller 540 illustrates a connection point for additional devices that connect to computing device 500 through which a user might interact with the system. For example, devices that can be attached to the computing device 500 might include microphone devices, speaker or stereo systems, video systems or other display devices, keyboard or keypad devices, or other I/O devices for use with specific applications such as card readers or other devices.
As mentioned above, I/O controller 540 can interact with audio subsystem 520 and/or display subsystem 530. For example, input through a microphone or other audio device can provide input or commands for one or more applications or functions of the computing device 500. Additionally, audio output can be provided instead of, or in addition to display output. In another example, if display subsystem 530 includes a touch screen, the display device also acts as an input device, which can be at least partially managed by I/O controller 540. There can also be additional buttons or switches on the computing device 500 to provide I/O functions managed by I/O controller 540.
In one embodiment, I/O controller 540 manages devices such as accelerometers, cameras, light sensors or other environmental sensors, or other hardware that can be included in the computing device 500. The input can be part of direct user interaction, as well as providing environmental input to the system to influence its operations (such as filtering for noise, adjusting displays for brightness detection, applying a flash for a camera, or other features).
In one embodiment, computing device 500 includes power management 550 that manages battery power usage, charging of the battery, and features related to power saving operation. Memory subsystem 560 includes memory devices for storing information in computing device 500. Memory can include nonvolatile (state does not change if power to the memory device is interrupted) and/or volatile (state is indeterminate if power to the memory device is interrupted) memory devices. Memory subsystem 560 can store application data, user data, music, photos, documents, or other data, as well as system data (whether long-term or temporary) related to the execution of the applications and functions of the computing device 500.
Elements of embodiments are also provided as a machine-readable medium (e.g., memory 560) for storing the computer-executable instructions. The machine-readable medium (e.g., memory 560) may include, but is not limited to, flash memory, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, phase change memory (PCM), or other types of machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic or computer-executable instructions. For example, embodiments of the disclosure may be downloaded as a computer program (e.g., BIOS) which may be transferred from a remote computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client) by way of data signals via a communication link (e.g., a modem or network connection).
Connectivity 570 includes hardware devices (e.g., wireless and/or wired connectors and communication hardware) and software components (e.g., drivers, protocol stacks) to enable the computing device 500 to communicate with external devices. The computing device 500 could be separate devices, such as other computing devices, wireless access points or base stations, as well as peripherals such as headsets, printers, or other devices.
Connectivity 570 can include multiple different types of connectivity. To generalize, the computing device 500 is illustrated with cellular connectivity 572 and wireless connectivity 574. Cellular connectivity 572 refers generally to cellular network connectivity provided by wireless carriers, such as provided via GSM (global system for mobile communications) or variations or derivatives, CDMA (code division multiple access) or variations or derivatives, TDM (time division multiplexing) or variations or derivatives, or other cellular service standards. Wireless connectivity (or wireless interface) 574 refers to wireless connectivity that is not cellular, and can include personal area networks (such as Bluetooth, Near Field, etc.), local area networks (such as Wi-Fi), and/or wide area networks (such as WiMax), or other wireless communication.
Peripheral connections 580 include hardware interfaces and connectors, as well as software components (e.g., drivers, protocol stacks) to make peripheral connections. It will be understood that the computing device 500 could both be a peripheral device (“to” 582) to other computing devices, as well as have peripheral devices (“from” 584) connected to it. The computing device 500 commonly has a “docking” connector to connect to other computing devices for purposes such as managing (e.g., downloading and/or uploading, changing, synchronizing) content on computing device 500. Additionally, a docking connector can allow computing device 500 to connect to certain peripherals that allow the computing device 500 to control content output, for example, to audiovisual or other systems.
In addition to a proprietary docking connector or other proprietary connection hardware, the computing device 500 can make peripheral connections 580 via common or standards-based connectors. Common types can include a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector (which can include any of a number of different hardware interfaces), DisplayPort including MiniDisplayPort (MDP), High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), Firewire, or other types.
Reference in the specification to “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “some embodiments,” or “other embodiments” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but not necessarily all embodiments. The various appearances of “an embodiment,” “one embodiment,” or “some embodiments” are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiments. If the specification states a component, feature, structure, or characteristic “may,” “might,” or “could” be included, that particular component, feature, structure, or characteristic is not required to be included. If the specification or claim refers to “a” or “an” element, that does not mean there is only one of the elements. If the specification or claims refer to “an additional” element, that does not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.
Furthermore, the particular features, structures, functions, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, a first embodiment may be combined with a second embodiment anywhere the particular features, structures, functions, or characteristics associated with the two embodiments are not mutually exclusive
While the disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, many alternatives, modifications and variations of such embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the foregoing description. The embodiments of the disclosure are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as to fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.
In addition, well known power/ground connections to integrated circuit (IC) chips and other components may or may not be shown within the presented figures, for simplicity of illustration and discussion, and so as not to obscure the disclosure. Further, arrangements may be shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the disclosure, and also in view of the fact that specifics with respect to implementation of such block diagram arrangements are highly dependent upon the platform within which the present disclosure is to be implemented (i.e., such specifics should be well within purview of one skilled in the art). Where specific details (e.g., circuits) are set forth in order to describe example embodiments of the disclosure, it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the disclosure can be practiced without, or with variation of, these specific details. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative instead of limiting.
The following examples pertain to further embodiments. Specifics in the examples may be used anywhere in one or more embodiments. All optional features of the apparatus described herein may also be implemented with respect to a method or process.
In one example, an apparatus is provided comprising: a substrate material comprising one or more embedded copper planes; one or more plated through holes through the substrate material; one or more metal contacts, the metal contacts comprising a substantially straight section coupled with adhesive within the one or more plated through holes, and a cantilever spring section extending beyond a first surface of the substrate material; and one or more conductive contacts on a second surface of the substrate material, opposite the first surface, the conductive contacts coupled with the metal contacts.
Some embodiments also include separate power and ground planes embedded in the substrate material. In some embodiments, one or more plated through holes are coupled with a ground plane. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more metal contacts is conductively coupled with a surrounding plated through hole. In some embodiments, the one or more conductive contacts comprise a pitch spacing coarser than a metal contact pitch spacing. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more plated through holes is conductively coupled with at least one of the one or more conductive contacts at least in part to spread heat. In some embodiments, the substrate material comprises laminated fiberglass. In some embodiments, the adhesive comprises a polymer epoxy.
In another example, a system is provided comprising: an integrated circuit device package; and a socket coupled with the integrated circuit device package, wherein the socket comprises: a substrate material comprising one or more embedded copper planes; one or more plated through holes through the substrate material; one or more metal contacts, the metal contacts comprising a substantially straight section coupled with adhesive within the one or more plated through holes, and a cantilever spring section extending beyond a first surface of the substrate material; and one or more conductive contacts on a second surface of the substrate material, opposite the first surface, the conductive contacts coupled with the metal contacts.
Some embodiments also include separate power and ground planes embedded in the substrate material. In some embodiments, one or more plated through holes are coupled with a ground plane. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more metal contacts is conductively coupled with a surrounding plated through hole. In some embodiments, the one or more conductive contacts comprise a pitch spacing coarser than a metal contact pitch spacing. In some embodiments, the cantilever spring sections comprise land grid array (LGA) contacts that interface with the integrated circuit device package. In some embodiments, the substrate material comprises laminated fiberglass. In some embodiments, the adhesive comprises a polymer epoxy.
In another example, a method is provided comprising: forming a substrate with one or more embedded copper planes; drilling one or more holes through the substrate; plating the one or more holes; inserting one or more metal contacts into the one or more plated holes, wherein the one or more metal contacts comprise a cantilever spring section extending beyond a first surface of the substrate; adhering the one or more metal contacts within the one or more plated holes; and forming one or more conductive contacts on a second surface of the substrate, opposite the first surface, the one or more conductive contacts coupled with the one or more metal contacts.
Some embodiments also include conductively coupling the one or more metal contacts with the one or more plated holes. In some embodiments, conductively coupling the one or more metal contacts with the one or more plated holes comprises depositing solder. In some embodiments, drilling one or more holes through the substrate comprises drilling a hole through the one or more embedded copper planes. In some embodiments, adhering the one or more metal contacts within the one or more plated holes comprises depositing a polymer epoxy. Some embodiments also include forming plated though holes coupled with an embedded ground plane. Some embodiments also include forming one or more routing layers coupled with the one or more metal contacts to translate a first pitch on the first surface to a second pitch on the second surface. In some embodiments, inserting one or more metal contacts into the one or more plated holes comprises inserting metal contacts in opposing orientations. In some embodiments, forming one or more conductive contacts on a second surface of the substrate comprises forming solder balls.
In another example, a system is provided comprising: a display subsystem; a wireless communication interface; and an integrated circuit device, the integrated circuit device coupled with a socket, the socket comprising: a substrate material comprising one or more embedded copper planes; one or more plated through holes through the substrate material; one or more metal contacts, the metal contacts comprising a substantially straight section coupled with adhesive within the one or more plated through holes, and a cantilever spring section extending beyond a first surface of the substrate material; and one or more conductive contacts on a second surface of the substrate material, opposite the first surface, the conductive contacts coupled with the metal contacts.
Some embodiments also include separate power and ground planes embedded in the substrate material. In some embodiments, one or more plated through holes are coupled with a ground plane. In some embodiments, at least one of the one or more metal contacts is conductively coupled with a surrounding plated through hole. In some embodiments, the one or more conductive contacts comprise a pitch spacing coarser than a metal contact pitch spacing. In some embodiments, the substrate material comprises laminated fiberglass.
An abstract is provided that will allow the reader to ascertain the nature and gist of the technical disclosure. The abstract is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to limit the scope or meaning of the claims. The following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
