PCB probing solutions with BGAs

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digital_hw_engineer

Joined: 14 May 2008
Posts: 3

14 May 2008 21:18 probing bgas

[Digital HW question]:

Just curious what other people are doing out there when probing / testing / verifying PWBs with BGAs. I have seen the PWAs I work on get smaller, making use of blind vias, high density interconnects, fine pitch BGAs.

Way back in the olden days, you could probe a QFP from one device to another and verify setup / hold, etc. Now that BGAs are being used, it is impossible to probe under the device. So how are people testing PWAs using BGAs? How do you verify setup/hold from one FPGA BGA to an SRAM BGA?

bobcat1

Joined: 10 Jul 2002
Posts: 1118
Helped: 48

17 May 2008 13:03 Re: PCB probing solutions with BGAs

Hi

For prototypeing there is special high cost socket with all signals avaliable

All the best

Bobi

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senilicus

Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 87
Helped: 12
Location: The Netherlands

23 May 2008 9:14 Re: PCB probing solutions with BGAs

Instead of placing the BGA, place a BGA socket on the board. Then you can place 'devices' like this one http://www.emulation.com/catalog/off-the-shelf_solutions/emulator_tools/emulator_adapters/wired_one-to-one-surface_mountable/pga_smt.cfm to make all the signals available for probing.

rikie_rizza

Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 334
Helped: 20
Location: Bikini Bottom, between a rock and a pineapple

23 May 2008 10:04 PCB probing solutions with BGAs

for device testing you can use contactor or burn-in socket design specially for BGA device. Its expensive... very very expensive.

Iouri

Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Posts: 687
Helped: 79

26 May 2008 17:38 PCB probing solutions with BGAs

You can also use tectronix P6419 probe, just need to open some copper on PCB

som_raparty

Joined: 23 Sep 2006
Posts: 42

27 May 2008 12:05 Re: PCB probing solutions with BGAs

i think going for a socket is expensive as most designs now go on cost reduction
u make routing in such a way that u have some test points which are accessibleas the routing is in our control, or you can look at the destination point of the signals

bye
som

Joe Black

Joined: 14 May 2006
Posts: 16
Helped: 1

01 Jun 2008 13:57 Re: PCB probing solutions with BGAs

BGA chips usually has a JTAG interface so you can use boundary-scan tools to test PCB interconnects. I'd recommend Scanseer software for this purpose. Scanseer can probe and even control pins of any part with JTAG.