Q
The Gerber files for the AD9467 show that solder paste is
deposited only on the center square of the exposed paddle PCB layout.
A
This is just a recommendation so that there is uniform solder flow under the
chip so there aren’t any “islands” that form when the chip is mounted on the
board.
The partitioning can be done by using a solder mask layer. Figure 69 in the
datasheet actually
shows an extreme case, but even if the area was partitioned into 4 areas, it
would still be better than having one big exposed paddle.