SuperButton^® Technology & Application

HCD's SuperButton^® is a land grid array (LGA) electrical connection technology, which provides highly efficient cost/performance solutions for package-to-board and board-to-board connections that may require very large arrays or special footprints. The mechanical and electrical properties of the conductive elements can be engineered to meet specific application requirements. This enables reliable, high frequency, high current electrical contacts with extremely low profiles at a low contact force.

Custom connector designs can be made quickly and cost-effectively with SuperButton^® technology. First, an FR-4 carrier is produced to the footprint specified by the customer. SuperButtons are then inserted and secured into the carrier during the manufacturing process. Finally, the filled carrier is clamped onto the mainboard to create a reliable, high frequency, and high current connection.

HCD's SuperButton^® technology is fully tested to EIA standards. It has also demonstrated reliability in thermal cycling, humidity, and thermal aging under accelerated test conditions.

SuperSpring® Technology & Application

HCD's SuperSpring^® is also an LGA type of connection technology but was specifically developed for test and burn-in applications. For such applications, high compliance at a fine pitch is required for repeated touchdowns with high temperature durability. The SuperSpring^® has an all metal structure that is housed in a high temperature polymer carrier. The properties of the technology are such that it can be easily used in both prototype and production sockets in which high temperature and/or strong durability are required. The capability to produce customized footprints is also offered by SuperSpring^® technology. The mechanical and electrical properties can be engineered by mechanical design and materials selection to meet the requirements of a particular application. The reliability of HCD's SuperSpring^® technology is superior to alternate approaches at temperatures up to 150 degrees C.

Subsystem Products
3-D Space-Constrained Solutions

HCD offers a comprehensive line of high performance subsystems which fit the space-constrained systems of its customers. The cornerstones of the line are HCD's NexMod products. The NexMod product family includes HCD's RDRAM NexMod and DDR NexMod, both covering a broad range of densities and sizes. The standard module line includes leading edge Rambus SO-RIMMs.

The NexMod Product Family

HCD's unique NexMod family of products offers high performance, three-dimensional solutions that enable high I/O and robust signal integrity within a compact footprint and a restricted height. NexMod's unique layered structure uses area array connections in a 'building block' architecture. This architecture makes it easier to take advantage of advanced memory technologies such as Direct Rambus^{®,/sup> and Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM. The NexMod can also include processors or other integrated circuit components.}

The RDRAM NexMod offers a complete Rambus channel, including termination resistors as well as the Direct Rambus Clock Generator (DRCG) and Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) onboard - simplifying customer board design and shortening time to market. The onboard channel reduces propagation delay time which results in improved overall system margins. Additionally, the footprint of the module itself is substantially smaller than competing solutions with significantly lower height, saving space and routing requirements on the mainboard.

The DDR NexMod is designed to fit the tight height restrictions found in today's aggressive high density server applications known as blade or ultra dense servers. With capacities ranging from 256MB to 2GB and greater, the DDR NexMod offers a unique solution for the ultra dense server market or any system needing a large amount of memory with tight height restrictions.

As system performance and complexity increase, NexMod technology helps customers by facilitating mainboard designs and allowing them quick entry into the market. Expanding the NexMod family to include other components, such as network processors, further enhances customer flexibility.