Failure Analysis for Reliable 5G mmWave Infrastructure

Fifth Generation (5G) cellular wireless networks are being erected worldwide to keep pace with growing demands for mobile communications services. The infrastructure for these systems provides wider bandwidths than previous generations, enabling users to access the internet almost anywhere and while on the move. Users of mobile communications networks such as 5G and its predecessors depend on those systems more than ever, so those systems must provide reliable operation. Achieving widespread 5G coverage at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies of 24 GHz and higher will require large numbers of printed-circuit-board (PCB) assemblies working at those frequencies and production lines capable of producing them with high quality in high volumes. Failure analysis (FA) helps improve the production of electronic products at RF/microwave frequencies, and it can also be applied to achieve production success with mmWave systems.