How we RF prototype: Crafting tech with care inside our San Diego lab
In a global economy of assembly lines and mass production, I discover the unexpected: a team that practices the art of bespoke, handmade radio frequency (RF) technology. Known as the Proto Lab, the one-stop shop turns engineering ideas into reality. From a modest two-room lab on the Qualcomm San Diego campus, they hand-assemble around 1,500 RF prototypes a month.
Inside the lab
A giant, blue-and-gray square X-ray machine greets me at the door. Qualcomm Technologies’ Support Engineer, Viet Pham, is using it to inspect chips. Like a radiologist, she places the silicon in the machine, but instead of the human anatomy, she diagnoses a cap (a protective layer for semiconductor wafers) or a die (a silicon square).
If there’s an imperfection, she hands it off to a colleague who, with the hands of a surgeon, precisely repairs the part. Some components are as small as a grain of sand — a steady hand is key.
One such colleague is Qualcomm Technologies’ Senior Manager, Prototype Assembly, Diane Brown, who jokes, “We’re very patient around here, and we don’t drink a lot of coffee.”
What is a prototype in technology?
Building dreams
The team’s reliable hands also assemble evaluation boards (a testing tool for an electronic device) and circuit cards (the control center of an electronic device). One-by-one they remove and replace micro-millimeter passives, bond wires connecting microscopic jumpers from pad to pad and place resistors on top of pads or between die.
The team is skilled in a wide variety of services, like:
- Mechanical routing,
- Wire-bonding,
- Assembly of test fixtures, chassis and rack installation, and
- Circuit board assembly and rework.
Endless and ongoing innovation, testing and iterations inspire them to bring their A-game.
Brown adds, “We help our engineers with whatever they need.”
What is a passive?
Tools of the trade
More state-of-the-art equipment is at their disposal, stationed around the open floor. Reflow machines remove and replace chips on boards, and vacuum ovens remove moisture from boards and chips. But I recognize some items, like the solders, and the household electric drills used to create cables.
Typically taking one to two days, the team does what it takes to fulfill a variety of hardware, tuning and computer rack and other builds.
The touch in tech
The chip design process is incredibly complex. This is one of many steps towards the cutting-edge technology we are known for, that our customers thank us for and that Snapdragon Insiders appreciate.
The location I toured is one of nine on Qualcomm’s San Diego campus, with others focused on auto, mobile, internet of things, modems and other device and technology builds. We also have labs across the globe.
As more technology enables our lives, and as we collaborate with ecosystem partners on next generations, I find it comforting to know that some of the steps still require a personal touch.
Real people — my colleagues — contribute their skills, love of people and passion for intelligent computing everywhere. And it’s one of the reasons I love it here: because this is one of the many powerful ways we engineer human progress.
