NASA Office of Logic Design

A scientific study of the problems of digital engineering for space flight systems,
with a view to their practical solution.

Out of Compliance Solder and Upsets in XC2V FPGAs

Xilinx recently released an advisory about some FPGAs in flip-chip packages were manufactured using solder that may cause upset of configuration memory bits.  It was determined that out of compliance "low-alpha" solder was used.

Customer Advisory: Flip-Chip Package Substrate Solder Issue advisory2003-10.pdfXL

Introduction The purpose of this advisory is to communicate that some Xilinx FPGAs in flip-chip packaging were manufactured using solder material that might cause random upset of device configuration bits.

Flip-Chip Package Substrate Solder Issue wp208.pdfXL

Introduction Alpha particle emission in close proximity to the device circuitry is minimized by following Xilinx low alpha solder requirements on package substrate pads. One flip-chip packaging vendor’s failure to comply with these requirements has resulted in contamination by high alpha solder causing possible soft errors due to flipped device configuration bits. This white paper provides an overview on soldering material, describes the specific soldering problem, and offers some solutions.

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Last Revised: February 03, 2010
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