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Thinking Outside The Chip

Intel joins AMD, IBM on advanced packaging; performance is the key driver.

January 14th, 2016 - By: Ed Sperling

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Intel will begin adding 2.5D and 3D packaging into its processors, following the lead set by IBM and AMD in recognizing that new packaging approaches are essential for improving performance and lowering power.

This shift won’t derail the semiconductor industry’s efforts to the reach future process nodes or continually shrink features, but it does add context for other factors that increasingly will help define technology progress in the future. Those factors include:

• Shortening distances that signals must travel between the processor, memories and I/Os;
• Reducing the resistance to driving those signals by using faster interconnects with improved bandwidth—thereby reducing both power and heat;
• The ability to optimize performance, power and cost more easily through different packaging options, and
• Improved time to market by using customized configurations from parts developed at a variety of process geometries.

For Intel, this is more than just a statement of direction. It’s a modification of a 2D approach to chip design that has defined the company since its inception. And if the past is any indication, it will be used as a stamp of approval by other chipmakers as they migrate to smaller geometries.

“We will start this year,” said Babek Sabi, Intel corporate vice president and director of assembly and test technology development. “That will be for servers. Adding this for the mass market involves us and memory suppliers and some others. There are a lot of people talking about it now. We expect it will move down in the market in the latter part of this decade.”






While Intel may be able to manage all of the pieces itself—manufacturing, packaging, chip development—it’s not so clear how the rest of the industry will fare with an advanced packaging model.