I had a *lot* of routing problems with the SpartanXL series. I had lotsa logic left but if it would route it would take days. I didn't have any problems, at the time, with Virtex or Vertex-E. Now the Virtex-2s and 4s route in a small number of minutes with no errors.
I don't deal with them either. That's the layouter's job. ;-) Actually, right now I just work on what goes into them (though I had to completely redesign a badly screwed up board in December, which we *still* don't have back).
The latter is a concern in my field (medical). We need to be able to inspect. The other concern is involuntary board flexing. Most of my designs have to sustain under tortures such as freighter pilots ploughing through a storm in the Carribean in airplanes as old as a DC-3 or a trucker in Africa who is lead-footing it over a few hundred miles of washboard road.
X-Rays?
Sounds boring. No wonder he's usually bummed.
John
They tend not to penetrate through metal so well and are frowned upon at the work place.
Hi Joerg,
Actually I think a very significant fraction of companies (at least those hiring EEs) offer some sort of contribution to 401k plans, sometimes profit sharing, sometimes stock options, etc... but I concur that the old days of "company pensions" is pretty much gone.
Absolutely, but if you're an employer it's definitely a legitimate consideration that starting a bunch of 70-year-olds on a, say, decade-long "modernization" project is rather riskier than if you toss a few 50- or
30-year-olds into the mix as well. :-)I agree that one year seems too short, but trying to figure out how many years should be taken into consideration (which is effectively what happens in private companies if the company is contributing to your 401k) is not going to be easy either.
---Joel
I'm sure you know this, but plenty of places will X-ray BGAs to "inspect" them.
Mostly it's a mere pittance. And that's ok, I am a strong believer that everyone should pull their own weight. Except disabled people, of course.
True. However, we should embrace the Japanese concept of letting older folks teach the young ones, not lay them off.
Just make it the same as with 401(k), IRA, old style pension funds, social security etc. What counts is what you pay in over your whole career.
We can read such stories almost daily, just an example from this morning:
Guess who gets to pay the tab for the agency's legal defense?
I guess it depends on the employer...
Do you see anything bad about the old system of pensions (from private companies, ignore the government for the moment)? I see them more as "different" than particularly better or worse. These days you're personally responsible for more of your retirement planning, which has the upside that you can probably do a better job than some company-wide pension programs used to do, but the downside is that those who plan poorly (or not at all) end up needing that much more government assistance once they're retired.
Yes, agreed 100%.
The end result there is that if your employer requires you to move to, e.g., California for the last few years of employment you'll pretty much be forced to then immediately move when you hit retirement. I suppose that isn't particularly awful, since that fact would have been clear when the employer said, "move!"
Sheesh... screw the taxpyers with retiremend funding and then screw'em again when someone tries to blow the whistle. Nice...
---Joel
Yes, but that's expensive and it's not usually done on a production basis. We do have a video prism thing the lets us peek under the chip, with fair visibility three or maybe four balls in. But we don't routinely use it. The BGAs just work.
John
My company contributes 15% of employee salaries (including bonuses) to their 401K. It's tax deductable to the company, not taxable to the employees, and makes everybody happy. That's what really matters, after all.
But it's not a pension, in that the company has no obligations at all.
John
Yes, but all along I've had the impression that your company does a lot more for emplyee motivation than most others. 15% is huge.
And it shouldn't be. Employees must understand that investing it is their responsibility, not yours.
harder
But that's how it's done.
Right. Flip-chip mounting of chips to substrates has been done for at least forty years. It just works.
harder
Well, what else can they do? And I guess OSHA is going to be breathing down their backs all the time. I like to see things so I prefer QFP. of course you won't get 1700 pins that way but usually that's not realy needed.
Yes, and I've done my fair share as well. But: It was either to a hard substrate that does not flex such as alumina or to a very flexible material such as Kapton. FR4 ain't my kind of turf with BGA. Can be ok for gear that doesn't get stressed much but not in my field of work.
clean?
if
start
harder
And
...
Your "usually" and mine are quite different. ;-)
message
They've been flip-chip mounting on organic substrates for at least a decade, too.
Pretty much honest responses. Almost all of good value.
Mark hinted and Joerg mentioned one of the foremost subjects, floorplanning. This will impact everything you do. From the original schematic drawing to the FPGA VHDL/Verilog coding and optimizing to PWB layout , documentation, and testing. Each of these activities requires floorplanning to get good results. To achieve the best PWD layout results make several different versions for your first few boards and route them all to completion. It will make huge improvements in your understanding.
when
OK lets get to that.
Not particularly uncommon until you get to low end hourly. Standard for engineers since WWII.
Yes there has been abuses.
When i worked for private as an engineer it was $5 for office visit, $20 for lab, $5 per prescription. Today with State of CA it is $10 or more for office visit, $0 for lab, $5 to $25 per prescription. It increases in retirement. Then Medicare is supposed to kick in and relieve much of the State burden. If you are 65 or older and don't like what you have try Medicare and see how well you like that.
It has been changed to the highest paid three years average in the last ten. And it now takes ten years to become "vested", instead of five.
Now, you have been reading my stuff for some years now, do you think i am a doofus parading as an engineer? When i was hired some 15 years ago a PE could only expect about $5000 a month in State service. What was your monthly average then. What was it 5 years ago? What is it today. CA State pay rates for engineers and almost all others is a matter of public record. Try looking them up for yourself. You would do well to start with
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