The medium is the message

Citation

Ellis, B. (2005), "The medium is the message", Microelectronics International, Vol. 22 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/mi.2005.21822bag.001

The medium is the message

The medium is the message[1]

Keywords: Internet, Keyboards

For a change, let me talk about a delightful piece of hardware that I have discovered. It is a keyboard and an ideal keyboard, at that, for use with the internet, be it for browsing or for e-mailing. It is called the Cherry CyMotion Master XPress and you can find details at: www.cherry.de/english/cymotion-line/cymotion-line_master_xpress.htm

Before describing it in detail, I must say that the Afeel@ of it is great, with a key pressure and movement that I find just right, at least for my clumsy fingers (have you thought that the keyboard is the only true digital computer peripheral?). As delivered, it is already internet-ready, with keys for starting up your browser and e-mail client and navigating within them. It does not stop there as there are specific keys for Back, Forward, Stop, Reload, Find, Favourites/Bookmark and there is even an @ key (no Shift required). There is also a series of keys if you wish to play multimedia, including a very useful volume control. Further general functions include single keys for Scroll up, Scroll down, Scroll right, Scroll left, Cut, Paste, Copy, Undo and Redo, plus keys to bring up lists of My Files, Office Programs and Accessories, as well as a number of other ones. However, there is more to come. As technical guys, we often need special symbols when e-mailing or writing papers. This is where the best feature of all can be found. It comes with a software called Keym@n which allows you to programme any of nearly 30 of the keys to suit your own purposes. For example, I have keys on two out of three of my keyboards with symbols, such as °, ±, μ, ², 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, , £, etc., but you can put in what you like. As I often e-mail in French, I've added à, â, ç and all the rest of the diacritical vowels used in that language and this on a standard US keyboard (there are also versions available for most countries, as well). I've also put in some text macros for my three most usual signatures for e-mails, such as:Regards, or Best regards,Brian Ellis Brian

Plate 1 Cherry CyMotion Master Xpress programmable keyboard, ideal for Internet browsing. Some of the programmable keys can be seen on either side of the usual keyboard, over the number pad and in the silver-coloured areas above and below the traditional keys

This is a great time saver and other text macros of almost unlimited size can be put in. Keypress and chained program start-up macros are also possible with emulation of mouse movements. The possibilities are almost endless (Plate 1).

There is one problem that users may experience at first with this keyboard. There is an 81-page Operating Manual, which is in rather arcane language, probably written by the software developer who understood what it was all about. It took me a few hours to feel really at home with the niceties of programming it, but well worth the effort.

I should like to finish by saying that it costs very little more than a standard keyboard, so it is an excellent investment, of good quality. Needless to say, I have no vested interest in recommending this device.

My second news item of the day is the Firefox browser from http://www.mozilla.org/. I've been using the beta versions (formerly Firebird) of this and the Thunderbird e-mail client for about a year and have been impressed with both. Mozilla have now issued the full release version of Firefox 1.0 and Thunderbird 1.0 and I'm even more impressed. For this article, I'll concentrate on Firefox and will discuss Thunderbird in the next issue. The browser is faster downloading pages than any other one I have tried and is jam-packed with features, including multiple pages and tabs, multiple search engines on the standard toolbar, choice of sidebar function, configurable menus and so on.

One of the new features that I especially like is the new Find in Page function, which is brought up by Ctrl-F or from the menu. It opens a toolbar and menu at the foot of the page, as well as a text box with a white background. It starts the search as you type in the first letters of the word or phrase, so that you frequently don't even need to finish it. If there is nothing corresponding in the page, the background turns immediately to pink and a pink icon appears, along with a warning sound, so no time is lost in fruitless searches. The first match is highlighted in green. If you move onto a new page or tab, the toolbar stays put, until you decide to click it away, so that you can easily search on multiple pages. I grant you, this is only a small advance on the traditional Mozilla/Netscape/ Internet Explorer function but a very clever and useful one.

One of the most important features is that, by default, Firefox blocks the very dangerous pop-ups that sometimes harbour spyware functions. A banner strip warns you when a pop-up tries to be loaded and it gives you the choice between allowing them or not from the particular site you are viewing. This is particularly useful for some net-banking sites that use pop-ups as an intermediary to printing out statements. Of course, you do not have to wait for the banner; if you have a list of trusted sites, you can easily enter them into a dialogue box. There are many other security features that you will not find elsewhere, making this one of the safest means of surfing, whether you use any one of the 32 bit Windows, Linux, or Mac operating systems.

Traditionally, many browsers have shown an open or closed padlock to demonstrate whether one is operating with a secure site. This is usually a tiny icon tucked away in a corner of the screen. In Firefox, it is to the right of the box where you type in the URL, a more obvious place for such an important security feature. In addition, and this becomes a much more apparent and useful property, the whole of the box changes from white to yellow when in secure mode.

This browser is open-source, meaning that it can be downloaded free-of-charge and used by anyone, or even modified to suit your own needs, as the source code is also downloadable. It is easy to install and simple to operate. Individual configuration is equally simple, to suit your needs. It therefore offers anyone an alternative to the Microsoft Internet Explorer that, from the point of view of security, is as full of holes as a sieve and has become quite dated compared with a number of other browsers. At the same time, it offers its speed and advanced features, which are not to be found elsewhere and, unlike some others, it conforms rigidly to HTML coding without individual quirks. I strongly recommend it.

Well, will Firefox ever become the wolf that eats up the numeric supremacy of internet explorer? At the time of writing, over 16 million downloads have been made, in just 6 weeks, which is impressive, but this does not necessarily mean that there has yet been a vast movement away from MSIE towards it. On the other hand, it could be a start. In a way, I selfishly hope it does not become the de facto standard, because it would then attract more crackers and hackers to exploit its weaknesses B and weaknesses it must have, despite its apparent robustness at this time. What I have observed is that there is a steady, but slow, trend in the numbers of MSIE users choosing other browsers, possibly because Microsoft have not been making significant improvements to it over the last couple of years or so, while the competition have. Also, the display of many pages, which were not developed with MS software, has become increasingly quirky (and, to some extent, vice versa) because of Microsoft's insistence of using non- standard code. Time will tell!

Plate 2 IMAPS Home Page, as displayed in the new Mozilla Firefox browser, showing tabs, Google^® and find functions

My screenshot in Plate 2 shows the appearance of Firefox, as I have set it up, as well as the content: the IMAPS Home Page. This is, unfortunately, not “user-friendly”, because of its very heavy load of graphics, much of it animated. For the global majority of surfers who do not have access to broadband (like myself), the download time for the .>200KB can count in minutes. I also criticise the waste of “real estate”, by having a fixed width of 750 pixels, shown by the white area to the right of my screenshot. If the author of this page had opted for 100 per cent width, it would have filled the available space and reduced the need for scrolling, because, today, most of us have 1024, 1280 or more pixel width available.

To start my review section and keeping on the IMAPS theme, I propose going to the three pages giving the programme of the IMAPS 37th Symposium, held in Long Beach, California, last November. I do not suggest commenting on anything; I'll just give the session titles and their purpose. If anything rings a bell regarding an issue with which you are struggling, you are then welcome to look up the individual papers.

http://www.imaps.org/imaps2004/advprog_tues.htm

First day

• •

  Wafer level packaging. Cost reduction and performance improvement in wafer level packages. The two most important issues in packaging.

• •

  Sensors-thick and thin film. Homeland security and process monitoring needs continue to make sensing an important area. This session includes new approches for measuring flow, temperature and gas concentration.

• •

  Developments in wire bonding. New wire bonding applications continue to evolve. Fine pitch, stacked die and automotive applications will be described in this session.

• •

  Conductive polymers and adhesives. Conductive polymers and adhesives are critical to electronics assembly. This session looks at flexible, low stress, and solder-like conductive adhesives.

• •

  High density substrates. Design issues around high density substrates, particularly in the area of micro- vias for both LTCC and organics substrates.

• •

  Diminishing manufacturing resources workshop. This one hour session will define and discuss issues and concerns regarding diminishing manufacturing resources as a result of outsourcing and COTS. The discussion leader will lead the audience through an interactive discussion as to potential paths towards long term stability and security in the supply chain for concerned companies.

• •

  ITAR. This 1h session will explain what information exporters need to comply with under the US Export ITAR control requirements. The focus will fall on the process and requirements necessary to obtain an export license from the Department of State. Suspect situations or “Red Flags” in export to foreign countries will be identified and discussed.

• •

  Advanced power device packaging. Wafer-level packaging to high- temperature packages - come listen to the latest advanced power packaging approaches.

• •

  MEMS devices. This session covers new developments in micromachining including laser drilling, microcantilevers, and MEMS antennas.

• •

  Copper/Low K wire bonding. Copper/ Low K wire bonding is critical to the development of advanced devices at 90 nm and beyond. This session looks at the critical issues of this process.

• •

  Lead free solder development. The timeline for lead-free conversion in Europe and elsewhere is fast approaching. Next generation lead- free compositions and required modifications are presented for practical manufacturing capabilities to replace traditional solders. The new approaches offer improved performance in terms of creep, bend and flex joint properties.

• •

  Development of SiP technologies in Japan (2 sessions). Development of system in a package (SIP) has been in fashion in Japan. Related technologies including embedding (building in) electronic parts, 3D Chip stacking, wafer and SIP level MEMS packaging are covered.

• •

  Thermal interface materials. Methods and techniques for reducing the thermal path with both solders and TIM.

• •

  MEMS materials. New developments in MEMS materials including thick film piezoelectrics, photo-epoxies used for microcavities, and fatigue analysis are reviewed in this session.

• •

  Cu wire-wire bonding. Copper ball bonding has become a high-volume process. It's now a major interconnection method in heavy wire, power devices. This session will cover issues in copper wire, wire bonding.

• •

  Pb free assembly I. Due to health and environmental concerns, lead-free solder is becoming more and more popular and being adopted surely and slowly. However, there are still many questions about its reliability and process quality not fully answered. This session covers the basics of lead-free solder, examines the impacts of component and pad metallizations, and solders compositions on solder joint reliability. The process challenges and yield associated with assembling 0201 components using lead-free solders are also discussed.

http://www.imaps.org/imaps2004/advprog_wed.htm

Second day

• •

  High heat flux management and direct die attach solder TIMS. Here we address some ways of handling the high CTE stress caused by high heat FLUX.

• •

  RF MEMS packaging. RF MEMS is an important emerging technology. This session covers several approaches for wafer level hermetic packaging of these devices.

• •

  3D integration and packaging I. The latest development, design and reliability issues in 3D die stacking technologies will be presented in this session.

• •

  PB [sic!] free assembly II. This session is centered upon the advances in aspects of Lead-free assembly. The papers focus on the underfill for fine pitch small diameter Pb-free CPSs, handling of heat sensitive components at higher reflow temperatures and the impact of pad design and process conditions on joint reliability. These too are all critical issues in the implementation of lead-free solder assembly.

• •

  Thick film and LTCC applications I. Interconnect to mounted components and the advantages of embedding those components. Core issues in this maturing technology.

• •

  High thermal conductivity TIM and die attach applications. Listen to very advanced power die attach approaches, including the use of nanomaterials.

• •

  MEMS packaging processes. This session covers new processes for wafer level MEMS packaging including flip-chip and solder.

• •

  3D integration and packaging II. The latest development, design and reliability issues in 3D die stacking technologies will be presented in this session.

• •

  PWB fabrication. Some important issues in the manufacturing and reliability of PWB.

• •

  Thick film and LTCC applications II. Advanced techniques for stacked design, embedding components and increasing connection reliability at low cost.

• •

  Interactive forum (Poster Session). One-on-one Interactive Forum. This is your chance for detailed interaction with authors whose work is too good to miss.

• •

  Thermal components and low resistance package development. Learn about two advanced packages and a novel cooling method here.

• •

  MEMS packaging. This session includes MEMS packaging solutions for automotive, RF, and gyroscope applications.

• •

  Electronic molding compounds. This session looks at new developments in the field of molding compounds, including reliability, compatibility with lead-free processes, and halogen-free systems.

• •

  RFID, textile, wearable electronics. RFID, textile and wearable electronics require new methods, materials and concepts. This session features recent developments for the next microelectronic revolution.

• •

  LTCC advances. Continued growth in new materials and methods for making ceramic embedded passives along with new filter complex.

• •

  System level thermal solutions. Thermal analysis of systems in three critical designs are described here.

• •

  Hermetic and near-hermetic MEMS packaging. Low cost packaging for optical MEMS, including HTTC and liquid crystal polymers, is the focus of this session.

• •

  Flip chip under bump metallurgy. The Flip Chip Under bump metallurgy (UBM) Session will cover topics related to past, present and future issues in UBM like reliability, geometry, low k dielectric and copper interconnect. Mechanisms related to interfacial reactions and intermetallic growth issues will also be covered. Finally, the effects of zincate in conjunction with Ni plating in UBM will be reviewed for optimal strength and reliability.

• •

  PWB thermal design and characteristics. Investigation of the effects of design parameters including vias on the thermal and electrical performane of PWB.

• •

  Microwaves and RF. Microwave and RF technology are continuing to expand and permeate through the market- place. This session will focus on Microwave & RF Packaging including 1st level packaging and its applications.

http://www.imaps.org/imaps2004/advprog_thur.htm

Third day

• •

  Unique fabrication processes. The rapid pace of innovation in electronics manufacturing technology makes for a constant demand for newer applications. This session presents two applications of ink-jet printing in electronics fabrication and a new diagnostic method in flip chip assemblies.

• •

  Integrated low cost optoelectronics. This session addresses some important issues which are critical to the low cost packaging of ultra small form factor 10GB integrated transmitters, optical interconnection modules and high power LEDs.

• •

  Flip chip bumping and wafer applied underfill. Techniques for fine-pitch, flip-chip wafer level bumping will be presented in this session. This will include bumping with Pb-free materials. The relative merits of common bumping methods (stencil printing and electroplating) and their effects on reliability will be reviewed. In addition, with the drive towards lower cost, high yield flip- chip devices, a new method for wafer level encapsulation and bumping will also be presented.

• •

  Solder joint reliability - prediction and experimentation. Prediction of solder joint reliability is critical in electronic assemblies. Reliability of solder joints depends on many factors including packaging types and sizes, solder alloys, surface finishes, and more. This session focuses on the prediction and testing of board level solder joint reliability.

• •

  Microwaves and RF design and modelling. Design of Microwave and RF systems and subassemblies continues to be a challenge for a wide range of applications. This session will focus on the design and modelling techniques as they relate to RF and Microwave packaging.

• •

  Doing business with China. Mr Wong is also a senior consultant with California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC), a non-profit corporation organized by the US Congress and funded by the US Department of Commerce through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the State of California. Mr Wong's current position with CMTC specializes in helping business dealings between China and the US.

• •

  Emerging Technologies I. This session will present several novel fabrication techniques applied to wafer and die- level packaging, including stressed metal springs, nano laser marking, and piezo elements in a solid state cooler device.

• •

  Advanced processes for optoelectronics packaging. This session looks at the state-of-the-art optoelectronics packaging techniques including laser welding used in external cavity tunable laser diode (ECTLD) with a fixed diffraction grating mirror and laser welding of fibers internal to the package and issues with post weld shift. Another advanced opto assembly technique presented is hermetically sealed transparent combo lids that transmit optical, infrared and ultraviolet spectrums.

• •

  Pb free flip chip bumping. Technical challenges in the adoption of lead- free flip chip and bumping approaches are discussed. New deposition and electroplating approaches, in addition to process and composition modifications are presented, paving the way to meet the critical requirements for lead- free flip chip adoption.

• •

  Area array packages, assembly and reliability. Come and learn all aspects of second level area array reliability issues only in one session! Electronic miniaturization demands robust area array packages with higher I/Os and finer pitches imposing stringent requirement for substrates and printed circuit board materials as well as second level interconnects. Key product reliability issues are addressed in this session by dissecting each element of the system. The first paper provides both FEA modelling approach substantiated by experimental test results to assist users in selection of substrate materials and design to optimize solder joint reliability. The second paper uses both modelling and experimental results to understand the effect of printed circuit board warpage on the second level reliability. The last paper covers other system issues such as PWB thickness and double-sided assembly on the second level reliability.

• •

  Integrated Passives – Ceramic. Continued growth in materials and methods for making ceramics embedded passives along with a high frequency embedded filter.

• •

  Emerging Technologies II. Papers in this session address reliability issues in probing low K devices, improved materials for first level interconnections and a robust laser bonding technique for system level interconnections.

• •

  Flip chip (MEMS, flat panel, COG). The flip chip (FC) (MEMS, flat panel, COG) session will cover topics related to emerging FC applications in MEMS requiring low parasitic losses and improved high frequency characteristics in contact with the environment, FC on glass flat panel displays requiring low contact resistance and using low temperature solder, and a new UBM (Under Bump Metallurgy) for very fine pitch chip on glass (COG) using Au redistribution.

• •

  Flip chip underfill stress. Thermo- mechanical modelling and failure analysis caused by underfill stresses will be presented in this session.

• •

  Bend and drop testing. Bend and drop are two important reliability test methods in electronic assemblies. The session focuses on the modelling of bend and drop tests in various applications and experimental validation of these models.

• •

  Integrated passives – organic substrate. Size reduction and reliability improvement in organic embedded passives.

Most of these sessions offer three technical papers. Please note that the text is verbatim, so that any spelling or grammatical errors are not of my making! This is a remarkable set of sessions, just about covering every imaginable aspect of the subject matter of this journal. IMAPS are to be congratulated on their comprehensiveness.

Brian EllisCyprusb_ellis@protonique.com

Note1 Marshall McLuhan, “The medium is the message”, Understanding Media (1964) ch. 1.