IFTLE 644: IBM’s Scott Sikorski details their Onshore Advanced Packaging for AI, HPC and Defense Applications

The recent IMAPS Onshoring workshop included Scott Sikorski, IBM Global Business Development Leader, reviewing details of their onshore advanced packaging efforts for AI, hig performance computing (HPC) and defense applications.

The IMAPS “Onshoring” meeting is restricted to US citizens and thus IFTLE will not be able to review most of the presentations for you, but the IBM slides were labeled “approved for public release” and after further checking with IBM, I was given the green light to discuss this presentation with the IFTLE audience.

IBM began stepping away from producing all the components for its computer systems in the early 2000s, culminating in a major shift in 2005 when it sold its entire PC division to Lenovo. This strategic shift was driven by declining hardware profits and the rise of more competitive, low-cost manufacturers in Asia. IBM chose to focus on high-margin services and emerging technologies rather than continue producing all the components in-house. Thus, IBM began its transformation from a hardware-centric company to a leader in software, consulting, and AI. Today, over 70% of IBM’s revenue comes from software and consulting.

Technologies for IBM Mainframe Servers

IBM Z is IBM’s family of enterprise mainframe servers built on the Z Architecture and designed for mission‑critical, high‑volume transaction processing with continuous availability and strong security. Modern IBM Z servers use IBM-designed Telum processors that are manufactured by Samsung.

The IBM AIU (Artificial Intelligence Unit) is a system-on-chip (SoC) designed to train and run deep learning models much more efficiently than general-purpose CPUs. While the IBM AIU is an SoC today, plans are for it to be a chiplet on SiP in the near future as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Today’s AIU is a monolithic SoC, but in the future it will evolve to a chiplet architecture.

IBM is currently set up to its 200mm R&D in Yorktown Heights, development and prototyping at the Albany Nanotech center and transfer technologies to be manufactured at its Bromont, Canada facility.

Figure 2: IBM Microelectronics Research Lab; Albany R&D Facility, and IBM Bromont. (Source: IBM).

Albany Nanotech capabilities are shown in Figure 3:

Figure 3: Albany Nanotech capabilities. (Source: IBM)

IBM is moving towards a full suite of advanced packaging options with comparisons to current foundry options (Figure 4). IFTLE has previously discussed its recent license of DECA M series technology. The IBM DECA M-series implementations are focused on DECA MFIT molded interposer with embedded bridge technology to enable SOTA AI. (Editor’s Note: You can also listen to the podcast with Scott Sikorski and Tim Olson beginning at 23:04)