Circuit Board with Radio Frequency Identification for Collecting Stage-by-Stage Manufacturing Metrics

• US 20110133899A1
• Filed: 02/20/2011
• Published: 06/09/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sanmina-SCI Corporation
• Original Assignee: Sanmina-SCI Corporation
• Inventors: Shachar, Rony
• Granted Patent: US 8,188,866 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/128 the workpiece itself serves as a record carrier, e.g. by its form, by marks or codes on it
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4183 characterised by data acquisition, e.g. workpiece identification
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/33199 Transponder
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/45031 Manufacturing semiconductor wafers
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/0266 Marks, test patterns or identification means
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/10098 Components for radio transmission, e.g. radio frequency identification [RFID] tag, printed or non-printed antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/0052 Depaneling, i.e. dividing a panel into circuit boards; Working of the edges of circuit boards
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/0097 Processing two or more printed circuits simultaneously, e.g. made from a common substrate, or temporarily stacked circuit boards H05K3/0052 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is coupled to a circuit board to track the specific operating and environmental conditions of each manufacturing stage as the circuit board passes through the manufacturing stages. An RFID reader and data collector are used at each stage to read the RFID tag and store its identifying information along with processing information, operating conditions, and results for each stage. This permits to quickly and accurately collect manufacturing information for each circuit board at various manufacturing stages as well as the operating conditions for each stage at a particular time. Such manufacturing metrics can then be retrieved on a stage-by-stage basis for a particular circuit board by an identifier printed on the circuit board.

Claims

1. A multi-layer substrate, comprising:

one or more circuits boards defined on the multi-layer substrate;

one or more automated optical inspection holes formed on the substrate and configured to identify the position and orientation of the one or more circuit boards; and

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag coupled to the multi-layer substrate inside at least one of the automated optical inspection holes, the RFID tag configured to identify the one or more circuit boards as they pass through a plurality of stages of a manufacturing process.

2. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein the one or more automated optical inspection holes are located along a perimeter of the substrate outside substrate areas defining the one or more circuit boards.

3. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein the multi-layer substrate includes a plurality of dielectric and conductive layers, each circuit board including an electrical circuit.

4. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein the RFID tag is used to collect stage-by-stage manufacturing information for each stage of the manufacturing process and associate the stage-by-stage manufacturing information with each of the one or more circuit boards.

5. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein an identifier is stored in the RFID tag and associated with the one or more circuit boards, the identifier is read from the RFID tag at a plurality of stages of the manufacturing process to identify the one or more circuit boards and associate the one or more circuit boards with manufacturing information for each stage of the manufacturing process.

6. The multi-layer substrate of claim 5, wherein the manufacturing information includes at least one of operating conditions, results, and/or other metrics for each stage of the manufacturing process.

7. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more circuit boards includes a unique serial number or barcode that identifies the manufacturing information collected during the plurality of stages of the manufacturing process.

8. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein the RFID tag stores a part number and a circuit board identifier associated with the one or more circuit boards.

9. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein the RFID tag is removable from the at least one automated optical inspection hole after completion of the plurality of stages of the manufacturing process.

10. The multi-layer substrate of claim 1, wherein the one or more circuit boards are detachable from the portions of the multi-layer substrate upon completion of the manufacturing process.

11. A multi-layer circuit board, comprising:

a substrate defining one or more electrical circuits;

one or more automated optical inspection holes formed along non-circuit portions of the substrate; and

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag positioned inside at least one of the automated optical inspection holes, the RFID tag configured to identify the circuit board as it passes through each stage of its manufacturing process.

12. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 11, wherein the one or more automated optical inspection holes serve to identify the position and orientation of the multi-layer circuit board during the manufacturing process.

13. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 11, wherein the one or more automated optical inspection holes are located along a perimeter of the substrate.

14. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 11, wherein the RFID tag is used to collect stage-by-stage manufacturing information for each stage of the manufacturing process and associate the stage-by-stage manufacturing information with the multi-layer circuit board.

15. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 11, wherein an identifier is stored in the RFID tag and associated with the multi-layer circuit board, the identifier is read from the RFID tag at a plurality of stages of the manufacturing process to identify the multi-layer circuit board and associate the multi-layer circuit board with manufacturing information for each stage of the manufacturing process.

16. A circuit board, comprising:

a multi-layer substrate defining one or more electrical circuits; and

a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag embedded between two layers of the multi-layer substrate during a manufacturing process, the RFID tag configured to identify the circuit board as it passes through each stage of its manufacturing process.

17. The circuit board of claim 16, wherein the RFID tag is positioned to avoid interfering with circuit routing or vias formed of the one or more electrical circuits.

18. The circuit board of claim 16, wherein the RFID tag is used to collect stage-by-stage manufacturing information for each stage of the manufacturing process and associate the stage-by-stage manufacturing information with the circuit board.

19. The circuit board of claim 16, further comprising:

a unique serial number or barcode that identifies stage-by-stage manufacturing information collected during a plurality of stages of the manufacturing process.