The technology of interconnection

The key role of interconnection technology is to make it possible for designers to exploit fully new and developing device and manufacturing technologies such as very large scale integration (VLSI) and surface mount technology to produce feature- and function-rich systems at lower cost, in smaller volumes with shorter design intervals. Interconnection media, assembly technology, and computer-aided engineering and design (CAE/D) tools have been developed in concert with VLSI and have permitted designers to make about a ten-fold reduction in the cost of system interconnections and a ten-fold improvement in system reliability in the decade 1976–1986. Application of the Fastech® interconnection system, together with CAE/D, has contributed to reducing design interval by a factor of three and to increasing designer productivity five-fold in this period. These improvements were obtained by closely coupling development of interconnection technology to device development, systems design, and manufacturing requirements.