Doing More with Less: Downsizing with Ball Grid Arrays

One miniaturization technique is to develop integrated circuit packages in Ball Grid Arrays (BGAs). BGA designs enable large

amounts of connections between the integrated circuit and printed circuit board - increasing the ability to route signals and

therefore increasing the processing power of the system it is being assembled into.

BGAs also improve chip reliability and reduce overheating, as they allow for higher numbers of thermal channels and shorter 

signal travellengths. Establishing more and better electrical connections make BGAs a key enabler in technology miniaturization.

Inherently, BGAs are a great way of integrating the plethora of sensing and response systems needed for applications such as 

autonomous vehicles. The Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) that are critical pieces of autonomous vehicles require carefully 

calibrated sensors to gather the constantly changing information around a car as it travels down the road. According to Intel, 

"Autonomous vehicles will need the computing power necessary to fuse ~1gb/sec of information from various sensors to [output] safe 

decisions."

Of course, these systems must be rugged and reliable to meet safety standards. Research presented at the 2020 WCX SAE World Congress 

studied the performance of high-density BGAs under different thermal and vibrational situations, simulating conditions that an autonomous 

driving module would undergo when installed. Reliability is an important factor that directly impacts the design and therefore the assembly 

process we select to manufacture these systems.