Applications

Autonomous Vehicles Drive AI Advances for Edge Computing

Advances in Edge Computing Must Innovate for Autonomous Vehicles to Realize Their Potential Large numbers of sensors, massive amounts of data, ever-increasing computing power, real-time operation, and security concerns required for autonomous vehicles are driving the core of computation from the cloud to the edge of the network. Autonomous vehicles...

48V Ecosystem and Power Packaging Trends

With each passing year, emerging growth application areas such as Automotive, Cloud Computing, Industrial Automation, and Telecom (5G) Infrastructure are garnering more attention. Although the application segments are different, there is a commonality in how voltage conversion and power distribution are achieved at the system level. System demands are becoming...

The Future of Image Sensors is Chip Stacking

CMOS image sensors (CIS) have often been heralded as the first 3D devices in volume manufacturing. However, this is not really the case. Shellcase MVP, the first generation of CIS that used through silicon vias (TSVs) to form interconnects was still a 2D device. (Remember, TSV is not always synonymous with 3D)....

tablets and smartphone

3D App Update

Because someday soon, we will find more 3D TSV devices than just CMOS image sensors inside mobile applications, I like to keep my eyes and ears open for what’s going on in those areas. Here are a few interesting tidbits I came across lately. Forget what you heard about TSMC...

This Week in 3D IC News (Oct 8-12)

All Programmable PlanetToday All Programmable Planet’s newsletter appeared in my inbox, with a great post by Max Maxfield on the Xilinx family of 3D FPGAs.  Beyond the detailed descriptions of Xilinx’ products, and explanation between the difference between 3D FPGA and 3D Heterogeneous FPGA, I especially like Max’s musings on...

EV Group’s GEMINI Wafer Bonding System First to Pass Equipment Maturity Assessment within SEMATECH’s Interconnect and Manufacturability Program

SEMICON West, San Francisco, Calif., July 10, 2012 — EV Group (EVG), a leading supplier of wafer bonding and lithography equipment for the MEMS, nanotechnology and semiconductor markets, today announced that its GEMINI® Automated Wafer Bonding System has become the first product to pass a systematic, rigorous Equipment Maturity Assessment...

3D in the iPhone 5 and Other Teardown Discoveries

“It’s just like peeling a banana” reads the caption on one  teardown photo describing the careful dissection of the iPhone 5. . But if you really want to see how it was done, check out this initial teardown video produced by iFixit.  It’s been 3 days since Chipworks tweeted anything...

When 3D is 3D IC, and When it’s Not

Some of the best news to read (especially on a Friday) is non-news, like this report by Ann Steffora Mutschler, in SemiMD on how 3D ICs will not impact computational lithography tools. According to her sources, this particularly true with regards to TSVs, because of their large size in comparison...

Ziptronix Takes on 3D Memory

After seeing the latest press release on Ziptronix foray into the memory space, I sought out Kathy Cook, business development manager at Ziptronix, at ECTC to get the full story.  We’ve been reading and hearing a lot about Ziptronix ZiBond process being used in CMOS image sensor (BSI) technology, and particularly...

3D: You’ve Come a Long Way Baby!

This column by Francoise von Trapp appeared in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Chip Scale Review It sums up a lot of what was said at various 3D IC events over the past few months. A year ago, there were still skeptics in the room at the annual 3D Architectures...