Green initiative-power management and its effects on electronics packaging

The influence of Green initiatives and resulting reduction in power consumption have an impact on module reliability. In this paper we will discuss an approach that IBM is using to acquire and save cyclic field data from processors as well as the testing methodology used to quantify the reliability impacts of variable cyclic loads on FCPLGA packages. Important questions to be answered are: (1) what types of cyclic loads will IBM modules see in the field as a result of power management and applications run by our diverse customer set, and (2) what unique testing must be conducted to assure that there is no reliability exposure associated with said cyclic loads. This paper discusses new failure mechanisms found through minicycle stressing in a lab environment, meant to simulate cyclic loads that a processor would see in the field, where power was being throttled to control overall consumption. We will also discuss the methodology and implementation of a Figure of Merit algorithm which allows us to pull cyclic load histories on individual processors while in the field or from processors that have been returned to IBM.