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The drive to increase the functionality and performance of electronic products has resulted in the need to increase the density of every element of the electronics assembly from the silicon chip, which has relentlessly reduced in size, to the printed circuits used in their interconnection. Accompanying the reduction in feature sizes on IC chips has been an explosion in pin counts, especially in high‐end microprocessors. The challenge thus falls to the electronics interconnection and packaging industry to allow the pace to continue. Reviews strategies being either proposed or used to meet the challenge of high‐density interconnection at both chip package and next level substrate.

This paper focuses on the project “Development of electronic components on circuit boards made of renewable resources” which has the aim of developing materials and technologies for the production of electronic components with printed wiring boards (PWB) completely made of renewable resources.

Reviews the use of renewable resources in the electronics industry where there is potential for fostering sustainable development through its technological innovations.

Outlines that ARBOFORM, a high‐quality thermoplastic engineering material for applications that demand high technological standards, combines the positive properties of natural wood with the processing capabilities of thermoplastic materials.

The motivation for the substitution of non‐renewable raw materials is not only given by ecological aspects but could also be boosted in future as reserves of fossil resources are further depleted and costs increase.

The need for the printed circuit board (PCB) industry to minimise its environmental impact is increasingly important, not only because of public lobbying but also because of the potential negative financial implications. For the industry to be competitive and to reduce its costs, it must therefore maximise the benefits of available environmental best practices. Since PCB manufacturing uses many processes that are potentially harmful to the environment, their negative impact can be significant. This also means, however, that there are major opportunities available through the adoption of waste minimisation and environmental best practices. This article outlines the advantages of adopting such practices within PCB manufacturing and details specific examples of where real improvements and savings can be made. Sources of further information are given and specific reference is made to the PCIF’s new PCB Industry Environmental Best Practice Guide.

To review the challenges confronting the electronics interconnection industry as it transitions into the gigahertz frequency range and to describe novel prospective solutions designed to circumvent the problems by means of alternative interconnection architectures while remaining within the confines of the existing manufacturing infrastructure.

The paper has been written in a manner so as to provide first a brief review of the history of interconnections as background reference, providing access and understanding to a broader readership of the significance of the area of investigation. From there, the paper describes the problems facing electronic circuit manufactures relative to the serious matter of assuring signal integrity of high speed interconnections. It then goes on to describe a general class of prospective solutions, which can be implemented through simple architectural changes in design and manufacture. Finally, the paper describes a prototype system which was fabricated using the concepts and the first‐order findings are provided.

From operation of the prototype system, it was found that the concepts, relative to PCB architectural changes prescribed in the paper are capable of delivering performance levels beyond what is accepted when using traditional interconnection modalities. The 10 Gbps backplane prototype has proved capable of sending a 100 mV peak‐to‐peak signal a distance of 75 cm through a two wire single differential pair which pass through two industry standard connectors. The signal generated has a ∼65 percent margin indicating it could go much further and determining the limits an object of future study. The modulation is standard NRZ. With only two wires there was no cross talk in the system, however, the next stage of investigation will consist of a multi‐device assembly to see what cross talk effect there might be, if any.

The chief value of the paper resides in its disclosure of novel approaches to electronic interconnection involving simple changes in circuit architectural structures which extend the signal performance limits of copper interconnections, well beyond present consensus expectations of industry. Moreover, the paper provides first experimental results of the technology in actual operation as proof of concept.