December, 2015
www.us-
tech.com
Page 49
Tiny Components Find Homes in Smaller Circuits
By Jeffrey Paulownia E
lectronic components are becoming smaller and more energy efficient. These trends are apparent in analog, digital, optical, and
hybrid components in many different markets and are enabling the design and development of com- pact, low-power electronic products for a wide range of users, from commercial to the military. Commercial applications driving the miniaturiza- tion of electronic components include wearable sensors that will provide wireless connections to the Internet, in-building wireless communications, and the increased use of different wireless sensors and Global Positioning System (GPS) chips on per- sonal belongings as a way of monitoring their whereabouts by means of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Military sys- tem developers are looking to small- er, lighter, lower power cameras, sen- sors, and wireless transceivers to equip small unmanned aerial vehi- cles (UAVs) for high-data-rate sur- veillance transmissions. For lower- power electronic components, in par- ticular for components mounted on printed-circuit boards (PCBs), minia- turization is a continuing trend and clever thermal management is a nec- essary part of designing and fabricat- ing PCBs that are densely packed with active and passive components in many configurations — including chips, drop-in-housings, and surface- mount-technology (SMT) packages. A previous report (see “Surface-
Mount Components Help Shrink Circuit Dimensions,” US Tech, June 2015, p. 65) explored how SMT packag- ing was making it possible to miniatur- ize both discrete components and inte- grated circuits (ICs), and how the use of solder paste and automated han- dlers were speeding the assembly of
Miniaturization of
electronic components is driven by customer
demands for smaller final products that will operate with lower energy
consumption, but also by manufacturers’ desires to cut costs by reducing the amount of materials used in a production line.
these tiny components on PCBs. Housings as small as 0402 packages of 0.4 × 0.2 mm (0.016 x 0.008 in.) are now commonly used for active and pas- sive components, from audio through microwave frequencies in support of such high-volume applications as per- sonal communications devices and security monitoring systems. In fact, the trend towards the
use of SMT components for electronic circuit design and assembly is so strong that a growing number of com- ponents once considered unlikely to ever be available in surface-mount form are being produced in miniature package configurations. As an exam- ple, the model TC4-122-75X+ is a bal- anced-to-balanced 75W transformer from Mini-Circuits (www.minicir-
cuits.com) in surface-mount form measuring just 0.15 × 0.15 × 0.16 in. (3.8 x 3.8 x 4 mm). It operates over a wide frequency range of 40 to 1250MHz and supports bandwidth requirements for DOCSIS® 3.1 com-
Vibra-Fit/EZ-Out THM Holder Vibra-Fit SMT Holder Auto-In/Ultra-Low SMT Holder IT’S WHAT’S ON THE INSIDE THAT COUNTS ® ELECTRONICS CORP.
www.keyelco.com (718) 956-8900 (800) 221-5510 Vibra-Fit THM Holder Auto-In/EZ-Out SMT Holder Auto-In SMT Holder Gowanda’s SMG1812 is the smallest non-
magnetic molded RF inductor series, meas- uring just 0.165 x 0.118 in. (4.2 x 2.99 mm).
pliant systems and equipment. In spite of the small size compared to discrete-component trans- formers, this unit achieves a 4:1 secondary-to-pri- mary impedance ratio with low insertion loss of 1.4 dB and outstanding amplitude and phase unbal- ance of 1.1dB and 7°, respectively. The surface- mount transformer incorporates the firm’s Top Hat™ packaging approach for the small housing, to enhance accuracy with pick-and-place equip- ment. The core-and-wire construction fits a sur- face-mount configuration with a five-lead plastic base and tin-over-nickel termination finish. Miniaturization of electronic components is
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