PASTA is a FP7 integrated project on integration of electronics into fabrics, with partners from 5 different countries. Until now, many developments in the smart textile field have been focusing on textile technologies (conductive wiring, sensors, connectors.) in a combination with classic printed circuits with classic components.
Often, the bottleneck for further integration of electronics into the fabric, is the mismatch of these classic electronic packaging technology with typical textile properties as comfort, drape ability or stretchability, washability and last but not least the manufacturing process. As textile production is essentially a large area roll-to-roll process, any additional production step for smart fabrics should be compatible with that process.
Therefore, the PASTA project is focusing on the development of new electronic packaging and interconnection technology for manufacturing large area smart textiles. Three different new electronic packages are being developed: a die-in-yarn solution (for small bare die Si chips), a stretchable carrier as package for bare dies and components, and a crimp flat pack solution for small flexible circuits.
