Electronic package and circuit board having segmented contact pads
View Patent ↗An electronic package has a circuit board including a substrate electrical circuitry including circuit traces and first and second contacts for connecting to surface mount device(s). The first and second contacts each have multiple components including first and second pads. The first pad is separate from the second pad to allow for low cost and easy testing of the electrical circuit.
1. An electronic package comprising:
a circuit board comprising a substrate and one or more integrated circuits formed on the substrate;
for each of the one or more integrated circuits, first and second contacts formed on the circuit board for electrically coupling the integrate circuit to a surface mount bypass capacitor, wherein (1) the first contact comprises first and second pads such that the first pad is electrically isolated from the second pad, (2) the first pad is electrically coupled to an electrical power supply, (3) the second pad is electrically coupled to the integrated circuit, and (4) no separate test contacts for continuity testing of the first and second pads are present on the substrate adjacent the pads; and
for each of the one or more integrated circuits, a surface mount bypass capacitor comprising first and second terminals, wherein the first terminal is connected to both the first and second pads of the first contact and the second terminal is connected to the second contact, whereby the presence of the surface mount capacitor is indicated by a functional test of the integrated circuit.
2. The electronic package as defined in claim 1 , wherein, for at least one of the one or more integrated circuits, (1) the second contact comprises third and fourth pads, (2) one of the third and fourth pads is grounded with respect to the power supply, (3) the third pad is electrically isolated from the fourth pad, and (4) the second terminal of the surface mount bypass capacitor is connected to both the third and fourth pads.