Xilinx and TSMC: Volume Production of 3D Parts

Xilinx and TSMC: Volume Production of 3D Parts
by Paul McLellan on 11-07-2013 at 1:23 pm

A couple of weeks ago, Xilinx and TSMC announced the production release of the Virtex-7 HT family, the industry’s first heterogeneous 3D ICs in production. With this milestone, all Xilinx 28nm 3D IC families are now in volume production. These 28nm devices were developed on TSMC’s Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS)… Read More


GlobalFoundries and ARM

GlobalFoundries and ARM
by Paul McLellan on 11-04-2013 at 4:56 pm

GlobalFoundries had several interesting things at the ARM TechCon last week. Firstly, GlobalFoundries won the best in show award in the chip design category recognizing the best-in-class technologies introduced since the last TechCon.

Earlier in the summer GlobalFoundries and ARM announced the ARM Cortex-A12 processor,… Read More


3DIC, the World Goes to…Burlingame

3DIC, the World Goes to…Burlingame
by Paul McLellan on 10-23-2013 at 2:09 pm

For the tenth year, the big 3DIC conference takes place in the Hyatt Regency at Burlingame (just south of San Francisco Airport). Officially it is 3D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packaging or ASIP. This year there have already been some significant 3D announcements: TSMC’s 3D program, and Micron’s… Read More


3D: the Backup Plan

3D: the Backup Plan
by Paul McLellan on 09-05-2013 at 1:20 pm

With the uncertainties around timing of 450mm wafers, EUV (whether it works at all and when) and new transistor architectures it is unclear whether Moore’s law as we know it is going to continue, and in particular whether the cost per transistor is going to remain economically attractive especially for consumer markets … Read More


SEMICON Taiwan 3D

SEMICON Taiwan 3D
by Paul McLellan on 08-08-2013 at 3:10 pm

SEMICON Taiwan is September 3rd to 6th in TWTC Nangang Exhibition Hall. Just as with Semicon West in July in San Francisco, there is lots going on. But one special focus is 3D IC. There is a 3DIC and substrate pavilion on the exhibit floor and an Advanced Packaging Symposium. Design tools, manufacturing, packaging and testing solutions… Read More


Moore, or More Than Moore?

Moore, or More Than Moore?
by Paul McLellan on 04-19-2013 at 12:05 pm

Yesterday was the 2013 GSA Silicon Summit, which was largely focused on contrasting what advances in delivering systems will depend on marching down the ladder of process nodes, and which will depend on innovations in packaging technology. So essentially contrasting Moore’s Law with what has come to be known as More Than… Read More


3D IC: Are We There Yet?

3D IC: Are We There Yet?
by Paul McLellan on 04-13-2013 at 4:42 pm

For the last few years, thru silicon via (TSV) based ICs have been looming in the mist of the future. Just how far ahead are they? Xiliinx famously has a high-end gate-array in production on a 2.5D interposer, Micron has a memory cube, TSMC has done various things in 3D that it calls CoWoS (chip on wafer on substrate), Qualcomm have been… Read More


Cadence 3D Methodology

Cadence 3D Methodology
by Paul McLellan on 12-28-2012 at 8:20 pm

A couple of weeks ago was the 3D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packagingconference in Redwood City. Cadence presented the changes that they have been making to their tool flow to enabled 2.5D (interposer-based) and true 3D TSV-based designs. You know what TSV stands for by now right? Through-silicon-via, … Read More


3D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packaging

3D Architectures for Semiconductor Integration and Packaging
by Paul McLellan on 12-10-2012 at 4:00 am

There is obviously a lot going on in 3D IC these days. And I don’t mean at the micro level of FinFETs which is also a way of going vertical. I mean through-silicon-via (TSV) based approaches for either stacking die or putting them on an interposer. Increasingly the question is no longer if this technology will be viable (there… Read More


Cadence at Semicon West Next Week: 2.5D and 3D

Cadence at Semicon West Next Week: 2.5D and 3D
by Paul McLellan on 07-05-2012 at 5:32 pm

Next week it is Semicon West in the Moscone Center from Tuesday to Thursday, July 10-12th. Cadence will be on a panel session during a session entitled The 2.5D and 3D packaging landscape for 2015 and beyond. This starts with 3 short keynotes:

  • 1.10pm to 1.25pm: Dr John Xie of Altera on Interposer integration through chip on wafer on
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