How Do 3D-IC Designs Make More Than Moore a Possibility?

With applications such as metaverse, autonomous driving, and high-performance computing (HPC), the demand for processors that can handle compute and provide high performance is increasing. Chip designers and OEMs have been using scaling to enhance the transistor density to embed more features into the chip. Moore's law held up for a long time, but rising costs and challenges like quantum tunneling, rules of the interconnects, via, and RC losses have shifted the industry towards alternatives like multiple cores, usage of more vertical tier 3D-IC, heterogeneous integration, etc. However, using multiple cores to achieve the desired performance is limited by the challenge of efficiently achieving the performance with the general-purpose cores. So, to meet the insatiable demands of performance and instant gratification, the industry is shifting towards packaging multiple small dies in 3D-IC.

3D-ICs are poised to revolutionize the semiconductor industry and will play a critical role in developing a wide range of new and exciting products in the future. 3D-IC helps realize multiple benefits, such as performance and reduced die-sizes and costs. It helps reduce the latency and improve interconnect bandwidth as they use much shorter global wires. Many companies are designing processors with V-cache design for the desired performance and speed by keeping high-end memory design close to the processor using 3D-IC technology. Although 3D-IC technology is in its infant stages, the trend of 3D-ICs is expected to grow in the coming years, as many companies have started working on this technology. 

Three-dimensional IC technology is the gateway to the new era of electronic design. Understanding the latest design and manufacturing techniques is essential for anyone interested in working with 3D-ICs. The latest book '3D-IC Trends 2023 Outlook' by Paul McLellan, John Park, and Vinay Patwardhan, clearly shows the latest trends and challenges and highlights technologies supporting this revolution. It provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of 3D-IC technology and explores the trends shaping its future. The book covers a wide range of topics, from need of 3D-IC design to showcasing how chiplets and heterogeneous packaging are changing system design and analysis.

It starts with motivations behind industry’s migration, from designing large SoCs with billions of transistors to building small chiplets and packaging them into a larger SoC. Another major trend covered in the book is integrating heterogeneous materials in 3D ICs. There are some really good questions asked in this book, such as:

• Will chiplets be available as silicon or just as IP for a license?
• Who will hold the inventory if there are actual chiplets available?

This book discusses the challenges and opportunities of using heterogeneous materials in 3D-ICs, explores the latest research, and covers the 3D-IC design methodologies, including through-silicon vias (TSVs) and associated requirements in this area. Especially for the 3D-IC design community, this book introduces the Cadence next-generation Integrity 3D-IC Platform for multi-chiplet design and various case studies from well-known conferences. Finally, it shows how the chiplets and heterogeneous packaging change the system design and analysis and illustrates thermal and stress analysis of 3D-IC using Cadence Celsius Thermal Solver.

To wrap up, the chapters of the book are:

• An Introduction to 3D-IC–System in Package, Why Now?             
• Heterogeneous Integration         
• Chiplet Design   
• Package Design 
• System Analysis

In conclusion, we are witnessing transformations in electronic design fueled by the semiconductor industry's revolutions. It is a time of significant change, such as Moore's law losing relevance and 3D-IC coming up to overcome the challenges of classical scaling. "3D-IC Trends: Outlook 2023" is a compilation of facts, challenges, and requirements of 3D-IC design. It shares how the industry handles this migration. With contributions from leading experts, this book provides a broad perspective of 3D-IC design. It is a must-read for technology enthusiasts, design engineers, dedicated research communities, and anyone interested in the latest developments in 3D-IC technology.

The book is already published, and available on Amazon. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn the latest 3D-IC trends from our experts and understand how the 3D-IC design is making it possible to achieve More than Moore.