• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • Capacitors
  • Resistors
  • Inductors
  • Filters
  • Fuses
  • Non-linear Passives
  • Applications
  • Integrated Passives
  • Oscillators
  • Passive Sensors
  • New Technologies
  • Aerospace & Defence
  • Automotive
  • Industrial
  • Market & Supply Chain
  • Medical
  • RF & Microwave
  • Telecommunication

iPhone X fight for space using A11 chip with embedded passives

8.11.2017

WT Microelectronics to Acquire Future Electronics

20.9.2023

Circuit Protection Components 2023 Market Analysis

20.9.2023

Ink-Jet Printed Flexible Capacitors: Manufacturing and Ageing Tests

19.9.2023

4th PCNS Awards Passive Component Papers

19.9.2023

Benefits of Ceramic Capacitors as Bootstrap Capacitors

19.9.2023

Vishay Boosts Power Inductor Manufacturing Capacity in Mexico

19.9.2023
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • EPCI Membership & Advertisement
  • About
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Passive Components Blog
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Circuit Protection Devices
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Medical
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication

    WT Microelectronics to Acquire Future Electronics

    Circuit Protection Components 2023 Market Analysis

    Ink-Jet Printed Flexible Capacitors: Manufacturing and Ageing Tests

    4th PCNS Awards Passive Component Papers

    Benefits of Ceramic Capacitors as Bootstrap Capacitors

    Vishay Boosts Power Inductor Manufacturing Capacity in Mexico

    SUMIDA to Build New Inductive Components Factory in Northern Vietnam

    Oscillators Integration, Selection Guide and Design In

    X-FAB Provides Foundry Service for Passive Device Integration

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos
    • Sensors

    Oscillators Integration, Selection Guide and Design In

    Input Capacitor Selection for Power Supplies – Part 3: Electrolytic Capacitors

    Input Capacitor Selection for Power Supplies Part 2 – Ceramic Capacitors

    Input Capacitor Selection for Power Supplies Video (Part 1)

    Vishay Webinar: Components Selection for Solar Panel Systems

    Capacitors Basics: Decoupling

    Totem Pole PFC Design for E-Mobility; Microchip and WE Video

    High frequency model of the physical inductor: The Cauer model

    High frequency model of the physical inductor: The basic lumped model

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Suppliers
    • Preferred Suppliers
    • Who is Who
  • Events
  • Home
  • NewsFilter
    • All
    • Aerospace & Defence
    • Antenna
    • Applications
    • Automotive
    • Capacitors
    • Circuit Protection Devices
    • Filters
    • Fuses
    • Inductors
    • Industrial
    • Integrated Passives
    • Market & Supply Chain
    • Medical
    • New Materials & Supply
    • New Technologies
    • Non-linear Passives
    • Oscillators
    • Passive Sensors
    • Resistors
    • RF & Microwave
    • Telecommunication

    WT Microelectronics to Acquire Future Electronics

    Circuit Protection Components 2023 Market Analysis

    Ink-Jet Printed Flexible Capacitors: Manufacturing and Ageing Tests

    4th PCNS Awards Passive Component Papers

    Benefits of Ceramic Capacitors as Bootstrap Capacitors

    Vishay Boosts Power Inductor Manufacturing Capacity in Mexico

    SUMIDA to Build New Inductive Components Factory in Northern Vietnam

    Oscillators Integration, Selection Guide and Design In

    X-FAB Provides Foundry Service for Passive Device Integration

    Trending Tags

    • Ripple Current
    • RF
    • Leakage Current
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
    • Snubber
    • Low ESR
    • Feedthrough
    • Derating
    • Dielectric Constant
    • New Products
    • Market Reports
  • VideoFilter
    • All
    • Antenna videos
    • Capacitor videos
    • Filter videos
    • Fuse videos
    • Inductor videos
    • Non-linear passives videos
    • Oscillator videos
    • Passive sensors videos
    • Resistor videos
    • Sensors

    Oscillators Integration, Selection Guide and Design In

    Input Capacitor Selection for Power Supplies – Part 3: Electrolytic Capacitors

    Input Capacitor Selection for Power Supplies Part 2 – Ceramic Capacitors

    Input Capacitor Selection for Power Supplies Video (Part 1)

    Vishay Webinar: Components Selection for Solar Panel Systems

    Capacitors Basics: Decoupling

    Totem Pole PFC Design for E-Mobility; Microchip and WE Video

    High frequency model of the physical inductor: The Cauer model

    High frequency model of the physical inductor: The basic lumped model

    Trending Tags

    • Capacitors explained
    • Inductors explained
    • Resistors explained
    • Filters explained
    • Application Video Guidelines
    • EMC
    • New Products
    • Ripple Current
    • Simulation
    • Tantalum vs Ceramic
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Suppliers
    • Preferred Suppliers
    • Who is Who
  • Events
No Result
View All Result
Passive Components Blog
No Result
View All Result

iPhone X fight for space using A11 chip with embedded passives

8.11.2017
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
42
VIEWS

source: macrumours article

As the launch of Apple’s iPhone X happened in November 17, eager users are set to enjoy battery life normally reserved for Apple’s Plus-size form factors in a phone more closely resembling a non-Plus variant in its dimensions. The reason for this advancement is not an energy density development, but rather a smaller printed circuit board (PCB) inside the iPhone X, according to a February report from KGI Securities.

RelatedPosts

WT Microelectronics to Acquire Future Electronics

Circuit Protection Components 2023 Market Analysis

Ink-Jet Printed Flexible Capacitors: Manufacturing and Ageing Tests

This smaller PCB is thanks to a technology referred to as substrate-like PCBs, or SLP. Depictions from the report show a PCB with more layers than a traditional iPhone PCB thanks to application processor and RF signal-chain dedicated PCBs married via an interposer, creating a layer stackup nearly twice that of a conventional iPhone PCB.

However, this doesn’t come close to telling the whole story. While a new PCB stackup may offer some more flexibility in component placement, it’s important to remember that the opposite side of the board from the A11 isn’t empty in an iPhone 8. There are plenty of components there too — the NFC chip, display drivers, Wi-Fi combo chips, and power management ICs have all often found their homes directly opposite the workhorse application processor.

After all, 4.7-inch iPhones and their 5.5-inch “Plus” siblings have similarly sized PCBs, with battery capacity suffering as a direct result in the smaller phones. Herein lies the real problem in trying to improve battery life in these smaller form factors.

To truly make advances in the space needed to house all the components in the iPhone, the height of the PCBs must be leveraged as well. 3D and 2.5D IC techniques such as chip stacking, through-silicon vias, interposers and other techniques have gotten a lot of exposure in recent years for device packaging, but they can also apply to PCBs to some extent. PCB vendors have been embedding simple passive components such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors in PCBs for years.

These features were first intrinsic to the process, whether through resistor films, printed winding traces, or using the PCB dielectric as the foundation for a capacitor formed across layers. Embedded physical components are now rising in prominence, with vendors even planning for embedded active components in the not too distant future.

Embedded and formed wafer level components

Though it has gone somewhat unnoticed, Apple has already been employing this technique with its A-series application processors. Several years ago, leaked packaged parts began to show curious voids on the underside where the normal interconnect array would be expected. These voids are likely spaces for passive filtering components to nestle inside the package.

Apple A11 chip with embedded components

This achieves two things. First, it decreases the amount of board space needed to seat all components. Second, it often carries a performance advantage because proximity to the metal inside the device is one of the key performance drivers of active devices such as this.

The capacitors and inductors used to filter and bypass the power on the application processor serve to prevent voltage droop in changing current demand scenarios, as well as provide a bypass route to ground for high frequency noise. Placing it as close to the device as possible cuts down on unwanted parasitics which reduce these components’ effectiveness.

Passive filtering components for the A11 on an iPhone 8 Plus PCB

By extending this concept to PCBs, Apple can utilize any extra space within the PCB to house these components. Examination of the rear of an iPhone 8 Plus PCB shows there are numerous passive components sitting on the rear of the PCB behind the A11.

The more of these components that can be embedded within the board stackup, the more space efficiency the design can have. At an extreme, the PCB would have these components untouched, with an interposer (or perhaps multiple, interspersed with bonding material to match the boards) having a cutout in this area so that the digital and RF boards could be laminated together. This concept in itself presents technical challenges, and a gradual adoption rather than a momentous shift should be expected for embedded components.

What should be clear moving forward is that the internals of PCB stackups could prove to be just as interesting as their surfaces and the x-ray shots of component dies that we have come to expect. Perhaps we’ll get a glimpse at some of these concepts once the teardowns start rolling in.

Related Posts

Capacitors

Ink-Jet Printed Flexible Capacitors: Manufacturing and Ageing Tests

19.9.2023
18
PCNS

4th PCNS Awards Passive Component Papers

19.9.2023
25
Capacitors

Benefits of Ceramic Capacitors as Bootstrap Capacitors

19.9.2023
10

Upcoming Events

Sep 19
September 19 @ 12:00 - September 21 @ 14:10 CEST

RF and Microwave Course for Engineers

Sep 26
September 26 @ 12:00 - September 28 @ 14:00 EDT

Microwave Packaging Technology

Sep 26
16:00 - 17:00 CEST

Connector Temperature Rise and Derating

View Calendar

Popular Posts

  • What is a Dielectric Constant of Plastic Materials ?

    4 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 0
  • Understanding High-Precision Resistor Temperature Coefficient of Resistance

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ripple Current and its Effects on the Performance of Capacitors

    3 shares
    Share 3 Tweet 0
  • Why Low ESR Matters in Capacitor Design

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • How to Choose the Right Inductor for DC-DC Buck Applications

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Coefficient of Linear Thermal Expansion on Polymers Explained

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Inductors and RF Chokes Basics

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Dielectric Constant and its Effects on the Properties of a Capacitor

    7 shares
    Share 7 Tweet 0

Newsletter Subscription

 

Archive

2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017

Symposium

Passive Components Networking Symposium

Passives e-Learning

Knowledge Blog

  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • EPCI Membership & Advertisement
  • About

© EPCI - Premium Passive Components Educational and Information Site

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Video
  • Knowledge Blog
  • Preferred Suppliers
  • Events

© EPCI - Premium Passive Components Educational and Information Site

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.