Various circuit boards with mounted passive components and method of making the same are disclosed. In one aspect, a method of manufacturing is provided that includes at least partially encapsulating a first plurality of passive components in a molding material to create a first molded passive component group. The first molded passive component group is mounted on a surface of a circuit board. The first plurality of passive components are electrically connected to the circuit board.

A multi-layer ceramic electronic component includes a ceramic body and a pair of external electrodes. The ceramic body includes a pair of main surfaces perpendicular to a first axis, a pair of end surfaces perpendicular to a second axis, a pair of side surfaces perpendicular to a third axis, and internal electrodes drawn to the end surfaces, and has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The external electrodes each include an end-surface-covering portion that covers one of the end surfaces, and a main-surface-covering portion that is formed to be continuous from the end-surface-covering portion and covers a part of the main surface. The main-surface-covering portion includes a conductive resin layer, and first and second convex portions formed on the basis of a shape of the conductive resin layer, each swelling toward the center in the direction of the second axis, and disposed apart from each other in the third axis direction.

A substrate of an electronic device includes a first set of contact pads and a first set of contact pillars having a height greater than the first set of contact pads. Components are coupled to the first set of contact pads and the first set of contact pillars in traversing directions. The components coupled to the contact pillars are positioned above the components coupled to the first set of contact pads such that at least a first portion of a first side of the component coupled to the contact traces faces a first side of the components coupled to the contact pillars. Stacking passive components in this manner can allow for increased component density without increasing package size.

In an exemplary embodiment, a coil component includes: an element body part 10 including a magnetic material; a coil 30 built into the element body part 10; an external electrode 50a electrically connected to the coil 30 and provided at least on a bottom face 12 of the element body part 10 along a side 13a of the bottom face 12; and an external electrode 50b electrically connected to the coil 30 and provided at least on the bottom face 12 along a side 13b, opposite the side 13a, of the bottom face 12; wherein the external electrode 50a has a tip part 52a facing the external electrode 50b; the external electrode 50b has a tip part 52b facing the external electrode 50a; and a void 70a is formed between the external electrode 50a and the bottom face 12 in a manner extending from the tip part 52a.

An electronic device includes a carrier substrate with an electronic IC chip mounted on top of the carrier substrate. An encapsulation block on top of the front face of the carrier substrate embeds the IC chip. The encapsulation block has a through-void for positioning and confinement that extends through the encapsulation block to the top of the carrier substrate. At least one electronic component is positioned within the through-void and mounted to the top of the carrier substrate. Solder bumps or pads are located within the through-void to electrically connect the at least one electronic component to the carrier substrate.

A printed circuit board structure is disclosed for providing reliable solderability for higher density component placement. The printed circuit board structure includes conductive points disposed on the surface of a printed circuit board which are separated by a channel disposed in the surface of the printed circuit board between the conductive points. The conductive points may be surface mount component terminal pads. The printed circuit board structure is particularly useful for overcoming component density limitations related to extremely miniaturized surface mount components known in the art.

Disclosed herein is a surface-mount electronic component that includes a main body part having a mounting surface, a first terminal electrode provided on one end side of the mounting surface in a long side direction thereof, and a second terminal electrode provided on other end side of the mounting surface in the long side direction thereof. Each of the first and second terminal electrode includes a main area extending in a short side direction of the mounting surface and a protruding part provided at a center portion in the short side direction so as to protrude from the main area to an end portion of the mounting surface in the long side direction.

A switched capacitor converter package includes a semiconductor package on a first side of an electrical routing apparatus, a first capacitor and a second capacitor on a second side of the electrical routing apparatus, wherein the first capacitor and the second capacitor are adjacent to each other and connected in parallel, and a third capacitor and a fourth capacitor connected on the second side of the electrical routing apparatus, wherein the third capacitor and the fourth capacitor are adjacent to each other and connected in parallel.

A multi-layer ceramic electronic component includes: a ceramic body including internal electrodes laminated in a first direction, a first main surface including a first flat region facing in the first direction, and a second main surface including a second flat region facing in the first direction; and a pair of external electrodes connected to the internal electrodes and facing each other in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, a dimension of the ceramic body in the first direction being 1.1 times or more and 1.6 times or less a dimension of the ceramic body in a third direction orthogonal to the first and second directions, the first flat region being formed at a center portion of the first main surface in the second direction, the second flat region being formed at a center portion of the second main surface in the third direction.

A board design assistance device includes a design data acquirer to acquire design data for a printed circuit board, a first determiner to determine, based on the design data for the printed circuit board, whether a lengthwise direction of board fiber in the printed circuit board is perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of an electronic component mounted on the printed circuit board, a second determiner to determine, based on the design data for the printed circuit board, whether a wire is routed crosswise from a pad receiving the electronic component mounted on the printed circuit board, and a notifier to provide a notification including error information specifying an electronic component determined to have a longitudinal direction not perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the board fiber and determined to be connected to a pad from which a wire is not routed crosswise.