Second edition
Charles Pfeil
BGA Breakouts and Routing
Effective Design Methods
for Very Large BGAs
Second Edition
Version 5.1
Charles Pfeil
5/12/2010
Very large BGAs, over 1500 pins, present a unique challenge
for routing on a printed circuit board. Often just routing out
of the BGA is the primary contributor to the number of layers
required for routing. This book presents a number of studies
and solutions for addressing these challenges.
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Acknowledgments
I gratefully acknowledge those who contributed material, ideas, and review
during the production of this book.
• My colleagues at Mentor Graphics who provided review, discussion
and feedback on various aspects of the content:
Happy Holden
Steve Kaufer
Chuck Ferry
Kendall Hiles
• Mentor Graphics SDD customers who took the time to meet with
me and discuss the issues:
Vern Wnek and Kevin Seaman, Broadcom
Aydin Cokoyoglu, Alcatel-Lucent
Shaun Olsen, Intel
Larry Paul and Andy Green, Qualcomm
• The software and package design team at Xilinx who provide
feedback on my research with the Virtex-4 and Virtex-5 devices.
• The Marcom team at Mentor Graphics who provided review and
produced the finished copy:
Leslie Van Grove
Mark Forbes
Thanks to everyone who supported and encouraged this effort.
i
Table of Contents
Preface – Second Edition ....................................................................... v
Chapter One - Introduction ................................................................... 1
Expedition PCB ............................................................................... 2
Figures ............................................................................................ 2
Definitions ...................................................................................... 2
Via Types ........................................................................................ 6
Stackup Types ................................................................................. 6
The Problem ................................................................................. 12
Solutions ....................................................................................... 15
Chapter Two - BGA Packages .............................................................. 17
High Pin Counts ............................................................................ 17
Impact on Routing, Performance and Cost .................................. 20
Off-Matrix Ball Pads ..................................................................... 22
0.8mm Pin-Pitch ........................................................................... 23
The Near Future ........................................................................... 24
Chapter Three - HDI Layer Stackups .................................................... 25
Fabrication Vendors ..................................................................... 25
Dependencies ............................................................................... 26
Overview of Stackup Types .......................................................... 27
HDI Stackup Details ...................................................................... 31
Via Models .................................................................................... 36
Plane Layer Assignments .............................................................. 39
Layer Count .................................................................................. 42
Design Rules ................................................................................. 43
Fanout Patterns ............................................................................ 43
Signal Integrity ............................................................................. 44
Recommended HDI Stackups ....................................................... 44
Secondary HDI Stackups ............................................................... 48
Any-Layer-Via Stackups ................................................................ 52
Summary ...................................................................................... 53
iii
BGA Breakouts and Routing
Chapter Four - Fanout Patterns ........................................................... 55
Theoretical Breakout Methods .................................................... 56
Signal Integrity Concerns .............................................................. 60
Minimizing the Variables .............................................................. 61
Fanout Pattern Goals and Approach ............................................ 64
Through-Vias ................................................................................ 65
Drilled Blind and Buried-vias ........................................................ 78
HDI Micro-Vias .............................................................................. 89
Summary ...................................................................................... 94
Chapter Five - Layer Biased Breakouts ................................................ 95
Board Description ......................................................................... 95
General Assessment of Original Board......................................... 95
Recommendations and Solutions ................................................ 96
Using Layer Biased Breakouts ...................................................... 97
Fanouts for Micro-Via Layers ..................................................... 101
Route Results .............................................................................. 119
Summary .................................................................................... 120
Chapter Six - 0.8mm Pin-Pitch BGA Tests .......................................... 121
Test Scenario .............................................................................. 121
Test 1: Through-Vias ................................................................... 124
Test 2: Micro-Vias and Through-Vias ......................................... 134
Test 3: Any-Layer-Vias ................................................................ 149
Summary .................................................................................... 163
Chapter Seven - Software for Generating BGA Fanouts ..................... 165
Method ....................................................................................... 166
Regions ....................................................................................... 167
Adding Blind and Through-Vias .................................................. 168
Adding Buried Vias ..................................................................... 170
Additional Example .................................................................... 173
Conclusion ........................................................................................ 175
About the Author .............................................................................. 177
iv
Preface – Second Edition
This new edition includes updates throughout the book with greater
details, new methods, and clearer figures. It also has an additional chapter
called “Software for Generating BGA Fanouts”. This chapter describes how
to use new software in Mentor Graphics Expedition PCB and
BoardStationXE to automatically generate efficient fanouts patterns for
large dense BGAs.
v