Explained here are the results of intense research and testing of the most important technologies for surface mount devices – BGA and LGA. Although both offer advantages such as automatics pick and place capability, automatic soldering and easy handling to support customer manufacturing processes, LGA technology provides advantages that are ideal for mass production and specific M2M vertical markets such as automotive, alarms and more.

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	Flexibility
BGA	Heat must be applied to fix balls of solder onto the module. Soldering paste must be applied with extreme precision to fit balls of solder that are already fixed on the module. Due to the temperature profile of the already fixed solder, customer choice of soldering paste is limited.
LGA	Blank NiAu pads are engineered on the surface of the module. A wide range of soldering pastes may be used so that solder material selection is based on customer needs and processes. Blank pads offer high flexibility for customer specific soldering paste.

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	Durability
BGA	Heat must be applied to fix balls of solder onto the module. BGA ball height differs by up to 50%, reducing coplanarity and functionality. An additional heating is necessary to place the balls to the modules´ ground during manufacturing of the modules.
LGA	A unique layout of LGA pads provides optimized heat dissipation. Connections would be critical near to the corners and in the middle. NiAu pads prevent surface corrosion. Limited PCB warpage impacts on soldering joints.

 

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	Reliability
BGA	Residues of  flux lead to passivation, or reduced conductivity of the balls. Residues of flux on module ball surfaces can reduce the yield rate impending performance of the module.
LGA	Optimized pad size enables customer specific overprinting for excellent yield rate. Flat design optimizes customer application. Pad layout contributes to mimized impact on RF part. Ground pads are located underneath the RF components.