sustaining innovation
DISRUPTIVE Technology or SUSTAINING and FRUGAL innovation?
Reducing complexity through advanced pitch translation design:
NextWave 360 has developed a revolutionary pitch translation device (P2 Interposer) that allows our design team to reduce overall PCB design complexity and decrease design and fabrication time by as much as 50%.
Between the interposer and other interface improvements using NextWave 360 IP, NextWave 360 has successfully doubled site counts while increasing applications space on the DIB by up to 270%. With decreased fab complexity, reduced lead time and lower overall cost of hardware, the P2 Interposer aims to be an industry-leading enabler of high-site-count WLCSP and the preferred replacement of current pitch translation technology.
Disruptive technology lacks refinement, often has to earn performance credibility because it is new, appeals to a limited audience and may not yet have a proven practical for all intended applications. “It describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors.” (Christenen)
Sustaining innovation relies on incremental improvements to an already established technology. PCB design already exists. Pitch translation can be found in top hat PCB and different forms of MLO (multi layer organic) designs. A sustaining technology doesn’t disrupt the advancement of innovation, it builds bridges that allow creative solutions to continue to be developed. The concept behind pitch translation is not new in ATE PCB manufacturing. We’ve just found a way to provide pitch translation from <.1mm to .8mm in monolithic form that drastically decreases DFM (design for manufacturing) limitations. Frugal innovation is the act of removing complexity and/or cost from an existing product through changing materials, methods or distribution.
Although the P2 interposer lacks refinement and there is a need for continued product development, everyone agrees that it’s a solution that helps bridge a technology gap. We would like to say that our technology is disruptive but there is an argument that it’s just the next advancement in interposer pitch translation, making it a sustaining and frugal innovation. We believe the P2 will eventually displace current materials and methods of an interposers design and manufacturing.
Is it a disruptive technology or a sustaining and frugal innovation?
Either way, NextWave 360 is dedicated to supporting our customers and the industry with innovative solutions to existing challenges. Our product roadmap is challenging our engineers to identify test cell challenges and find solutions though collaboration and partnerships that support the industry as a whole.
-Bud Stevens
NextWave 360, Co-founder and President
Ref:
Christensen, Clayton. Website; http://www.claytonchristensen.com/key-concepts/.
