Vol. 46 No.

1 January 2005

®
IPC-7351
FROM THE PAST …
Since 1987, whenever the industry has needed information on land pattern dimensions and tolerances, it has relied on
IPC-SM-782, Surface Mount Design and Land Pattern Standard. Undergoing a complete overhaul in 1993 to Revision
A, and followed up by amendments in 1996 for new chip components and again in 1999 for BGA components down
to 1.0 mm pitch, the document has provided users with the appropriate size, shape and tolerance of surface mount land
patterns to ensure adequate solder fillets while allowing for the inspection and testing of those solder joints. Still, the
document had struggled to keep up with the increasing proliferation of new component families and the onward push
toward tighter component densities. IPC recognized that a paradigm shift was in order.

RIGHT INTO THE FUTURE….

This month, IPC anticipates the release of the long-awaited successor to IPC-SM-782A, IPC-7351, Generic
Requirements for Surface Mount Design and Land Pattern Standard. Much more than an updated land pattern standard
addressing new component families such as Quad Flat No-Lead (QFN) and Small Outline No-Lead (SON), IPC-7351
represents a change in the way land patterns are developed, categorized and defined, all key ingredients to building a
new industry CAD library.

HOW SMALL DO YOU WANT IT? Density Level B: Median (Nominal) Land Protrusion —
for products with a moderate level of component density
The primary concept of IPC-7351 revolves around three
and providing a robust solder attachment
new application-specific land pattern geometry
variations that are designed to support various levels of Density Level C: Minimum (Least) Land Protrusion —
for miniature devices where the land pattern has the least
product complexity. Whereas IPC-SM-782 provided a
amount of solder pattern to achieve the highest
single land pattern recommendation for a given component packing density
component, IPC-7351 acknowledges that variables such
as component board density, high shock environments As Figure 1 shows, the goals for the solder fillets at the
and the need for rework and repair all contribute to the toe, heel and side of each solder joint, as well as the goals
need for more than just one land pattern recommen- for the placement courtyard excess, all contribute to the
dation. As such, IPC-7351 provides the following three differences among the three land pattern geometries.
land pattern geometry concepts for each component that
the user may select from: INTELLIGENT LAND PATTERN
Density Level A: Maximum (Most) Land Protrusion — NAMING CONVENTION
for high component density applications typical of IPC-SM-782 provided a registered land pattern (RLP) for
portable/hand-held products and products exposed to each component addressed in the standard. Basically a
high shock or vibration. The solder pattern is the most three digit number, where a range of RLP numbers were
robust and can be easily reworked if necessary. assigned to a given component family, the convention did
 D E N S IT IE S
R IAT IO N S IN COMPONENT
METR IE S F O R VA
M U LT IP L E G E O
IPC-7351

not provide any intelligence that would convey to engineers or and the suffix letters “L”, “M” and “N” signify when the land
manufacturers information on the parts themselves; in fact, the protrusion is at its minimum (least), maximum (most) or
proliferation of components within a given family such as Thin median (nominal) geometry variation.
Small Outline Package (TSOP) practically guaranteed that at Therefore, the land pattern name QFP80P+1720 X 2320-80N
some point the range of RLP numbers assigned to that family conveys the following information:
would be exhausted.
The component family prefix of QFP
In place of the RLP convention, IPC-7351 provides an The component pin pitch of 0.80 mm
intelligent land pattern naming convention that not only aids in
The component lead span nominal X = 17.20 mm for “1720”
the standardization of electronic schematic symbols for
The component lead span nominal Y = 23.20 mm for “2320”
engineering, but also communicates component information
between engineering, design and manufacturing. For example, The total component pin quantity of 80 pins
the generic naming convention for a 0.80 mm pitch Quad Flat The median (nominal) land pattern geometry
Package (QFP) would be:
By providing intelligent information in the land pattern naming
QFP80P+Lead Span L1 Nominal X Lead Span L2 Nominal – convention, IPC-7351 allows for enhanced search capability of land
Pin Qty patterns within CAD libraries, allowing the user to search on
where the + (plus sign) stands for “in addition to” (no space multiple attributes to look up a specific part.
between the prefix and the body size),
the X (capital letter X) is used instead of the word “by” to PLACEMENT COURTYARD
separate two numbers such as height X width, IPC-7351 provides expanded coverage for the land pattern court-
the – (dash) is used to separate the pin quantity, yard, which accounts for the minimum electrical and mechanical
clearance of both the component boundary extremities and the
land pattern boundary extremities. This coverage aids the board
Figure 1 – Goals for Capacitors and Resistors Equal to or Larger than 1608
(0603)

Minimum Median Maximum

(Least) (Nominal) (Most) Figure 2 – Courtyard Boundary Area Conditions
Density Density Density
Lead Part Level C Level B Level A
Toe (JT) 0.15 0.35 0.55 Component / Pattern
(maximum boundary)
Round off to the nearest two place
Round-off factor Courtyard
even decimal, i.e., 1.00, 1.20, 1.40 excess
Heel (JH) -0.05 -0.05 -0.05 Courtyard
(minimum area)
Round off to the nearest two place
Round-off factor
even decimal, i.e., 1.00, 1.20, 1.40 Manufacturing
allowance
Side (Js) -0.05 0.00 0.05
Courtyard
Round off to the nearest one place manufacturing zone
Round-off factor
decimal, i.e., 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
Courtyard excess 0.1 0.25 0.5
 Thus, the IPC-7351 zero component rotation scheme
helps prevent those scenarios where a PCB designer loses
the ability to reference a single land pattern when the zero
rotation of a part is according to the method the
component is delivered to the assembly machine. Figure
4 shows an example of an IPC-7351 zero component
rotation for Small Outline Transistor (SOT) packages.

IPC-7351 LAND PATTERN VIEWER

The Land Pattern Viewer is a key component of IPC-
Two Corner Fiducial Targets
per FP Device is Preferred 7351. It is a shareware program included with the
standard on CD-ROM that allows users to view
Figure 3 – Local Fiducials component and land pattern dimensional data for
standardized component families in tabular form as well
designer in determining the minimum area occupied by the as through graphical images that illustrate how a
combination of component and land pattern. Figure 2 (pre- component is attached to the land pattern on the board.
ceding page) depicts the factors taken into consideration for This shareware viewer boasts a number of improvements
a land pattern placement courtyard. over the previous online IPC-SM-782 calculator. For
example, the IPC-SM-782 calculator contained only
DESIGN GUIDANCE AND static component and land pattern images for a given
ASSEMBLY CONSIDERATIONS component family. The IPC-7351 Land Pattern Viewer
IPC-7351 provides new design guidance for fiducial marks provides a specific component and land pattern graphic
(Figure 3) as well as vias under components and within lands. for each land pattern geometry and is built using the
The standard also addresses assembly considerations by cover- dimensions and tolerance for that part. The Land Pattern
ing laser cut stencil developments and solder preforms, as well Viewer also provides enhanced search capabilities among
as covering solder processes such as laser and conduction reflow multiple component libraries, aided by the IPC-7351 land
soldering. pattern naming convention. Users can look up
components and land patterns by searching on such
ZERO COMPONENT ROTATIONS attributes as pin pitch, pin quantity, part name or lead
A new feature of IPC-7351 are zero component rotations span, to name a few. Figure 5 provides an example of how
which are designed to allow CAD land patterns to be built the IPC-7351 Land Pattern Viewer displays component as
with the same rotation for the purpose of assembly well as land pattern dimensional data for a given
machine automation. The rotations expressed in IPC- component.
7351 will be defined in terms of the standard CAD
The IPC-7351 Land Pattern Viewer relies on library files,
component library with respect to a given PCB design.
know as .p files, for component and land pattern
This is accomplished with the recognition that a single
dimensional data. As new component families are
land pattern may be used for the same component part
standardized by the industry and approved by IPC, new .p
from different component suppliers and that each
library files will be made available to users of the IPC-
component supplier may have different orientations on
7351 Land Pattern Viewer for free download. This
their reels or that the components may come in trays.
shareware program is also supported by additional

Figure 4 - Zero Component Rotations for Small Outline Transistor (SOT) Packages

PACKAGE OUTLINE COMPONENT EXAMPLES ZERO ROTATION

Pin 1 on Upper Left

SOT COMPONENTS

SOT23-3 SOT23-5 SOT343 SOT223

Land Pattern
software programs that allow for the calculation of new Figure 5 –
land patterns as well as the creation of new parts libraries IPC-7351
Land
that store new component and land pattern data. Updated .p Pattern
library files, new versions of the IPC-7351 Land Pattern Viewer
screenshot
Viewer, and information on supplemental calculators and for QFP
library generators are all available at www.ipc.org under the component
“PCB Tools and Calculators” link. and land
pattern
dimensions
SCHEDULED RELEASE
Following the completion of its balloting period, IPC-7351 is
expected to be released in January 2005. Like its
predecessor, IPC-7351 relies on proven mathematical
algorithms that take into account fabrication, assembly
and component tolerances in order to calculate precise
land patterns. The standard improves upon the concepts
developed for IPC-SM-782 by establishing three land
pattern geometries for each component, providing clear
descriptions of the solder joint engineering goals for
each component family, as well as providing the user
with an intelligent naming convention that aids in the
lookup of land patterns. For more information on IPC-
7351, contact John Perry, IPC’s technical project
manager, at [email protected] or 847-597-2818.

January 2005 IPC REVIEW 17