Sentinel Interconnect is a product line that includes embedded monitors for detecting intermittencies and degradation in crucial system interconnects, and a visualization tool. It is part of the Sentinel Suite family of prognostic and health management (PHM) solutions.
While simple in principle, interconnections are the most frequent source of intermittencies and failure in electronic systems. There are tools and techniques that determine that electronic and electromechanical assemblies have been manufactured properly before shipment, but monitoring the system’s integrity once it is deployed has been difficult. Sentinel Interconnect detects interconnection degradation and intermittencies in wiring, cables, connectors, and IC packages – regardless of whether the problems are caused by mechanical, thermal, moisture, electrical, radiation, or other mechanisms – and thus provides you with actionable maintenance data before a catastrophic failure occurs.
Sensors
SJ BIST™: SJ BIST is an monitors the reliability of interconnects and is able to detect intermittencies in IC packages and substrates, and on printed circuit boards (PCBs), cables, and connectors.
TSV BIST™: TSV BIST monitors interconnects using through-silicon vias (TSVs) in 2.5D and 3D IC chip stacks and in other high-density IC packaging schemes.
Applications
Sentinel Interconnect applications include:
- PCBs with Ball-Grid Array (BGA) or other high-density packages for field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), and other high pin-count devices
- IC package qualification
- IC die-crack detection
- Board-to-board, board-to-backplane, and other electrical connectors
- Embedded ICs inside a single package connected using TSVs, wire-bonds, or other interconnection mechanisms
- Electrical cabling systems
SJ BIST Demonstration and Evaluation Unit
For evaluating SJ BIST in your applications, we have developed the SJ BIST Demonstration and Evaluation Unit (DEU). Contact Ridgetop if you wish more information about how this can help learn how SJ BIST will work in your application.
For more information about Sentinel Interconnect, contact us directly or follow the links below :
Overviews
Brochure
Product Briefs
Selected White Papers
- A Sensor for Real-Time Detection of Solder-Joint Faults in Operational Field Programmable Gate Arrays
- Solve Interconnect Reliability Issues Using Flip-Chip Testing with SJ BIST™
Webinars
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Interconnect Intermittency Detection with SJ BIST™ – Broadcast by Microsemi
Click here to download the webinar presentation (PPTX)
Related products
- Sentinel Power™, a product line for monitoring power systems, providing diagnostics and prognostics analysis and visualization.
- Sentinel Motion™, a product line that includes wireless vibration and motion signature monitoring sensors, prognostic reasoners, and a visualization tool
- Sentinel IT™, a product line that provides solutions for improving IT network reliability and network health management (NHM).
- ARULE™ – Adaptive Remaining Useful Life Estimator
- Sentinel Suite™Family of Advanced Diagnostics and Prognostics Tools
Ridgetop is certified as category 1A under the Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) as part of the Trusted Supplier Program. Ridgetop has history of designing analog and mixed signal ICs for demanding applications in space satellites that are subjected to extreme temperatures and radiation. Our designs have utilized bulk CMOS, CMOS-SOI, and SiGe at process geometries down to 28 nm channel lengths. Radiation hardness is also a concern, and Ridgetop has addressed those requirements as well. A recent Ridgetop design was delivered to ON Semiconductor for the U.S. Air Force STELLAR Star Tracker.
Under contract to NASA, Ridgetop designed an effective 3-axis wireless rotational sensor. The RotoSense™ sensor has been tested on fast-spinning pinion gears on helicopter gear boxes, and also rolling stock for railroad safety improvements.