The Commercialization of 3D Stackable Memory – Part Two
The Opportunities for RRAM Cells to Take 3D Stackable Memory to 8-nm Nodes In Part One of this two-part series, we looked at the challenges that need to be overcome in manufacturing 3D stackable memory using the competing technology approaches. We will now focus on the advantages inherent in resistive memory...
The MEMS Supply Chain: Through the Looking Glass at IDTechEx 2015
What is the MEMS supply chain as we know it going to do, device makers and equipment suppliers both, if paper becomes the next MEMS/sensor substrate? And why are we interested? Dr. Alissa M. Fitzgerald, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, gave what was probably the single most talked-about presentation at the...
The Commercialization of 3D Stackable Memory: Part One
The Challenges of Manufacturing 3D Stackable Memory Memory technologies vying to fulfill the increasing capacity and density requirements of the solid-state storage market two years from now will be confronted by having to meet demanding cell performance and cost-per-bit metrics to be viable. Today, NAND technology is still the primary...
With the Potential to Save Lives, Smart Rock Bolt Takes Home the IPSO CHALLENGE 2015 Grand Prize
Now in its third year, the IPSO CHALLENGE 2015, an annual event run by the IPSO Alliance, requires entrants to showcase how they use Internet Protocol (IP) and open standards in building devices for the the Internet of Things (IoT). This year’s entries came from around the world in a...
Mobile Sector Dominates the Advanced Packaging Market as IoT Looms on the Horizon
“Advanced packaging will reach 44% of packaging services and a revenue of US$ 30 billion by 2020,” announces Yole Développement (Yole). Overall, the main advanced packaging market is the mobile sector with end products such as smartphones and tablets. Other high volume applications include servers, PC, game stations, external HDD/USB...
IC Packaging: An Essential Enabler and Differentiator, Part 2
The Great Miniaturization … SEMI/MEPTEC Conference Nov 10 & 11, continued from Part 1. Wednesday morning started with a IC packaging session focused on my favorite subject: Multi-die Integration. Trevor Yancey, who recently joined Jan Vardaman at TechSearch International, talked about the IoT and gave an example for how the...
IC Packaging: An Essential Enabler and Differentiator, Part 1
The Great Miniaturization … SEMI/MEPTEC Conference Nov 10 & 11 After 50 years of following Moore’s Law and reaping major benefits with every feature size reduction, the economics of transistor scaling are now no longer universally applicable. Only designs that can be sold in extremely high volumes are likely to...
Takeaways from the 5th Annual IEEE Global Interposer Technology Workshop
More than 25 years ago, Professor Rao Tummala founded Georgia Tech’s Package Research Center. However, his vision that advanced IC packaging technology would “graduate” soon and play a major role in the semiconductor industry didn’t come true for a long time. About a decade ago, the first generation of advanced...
The IPSO Alliance IoT Pavilion at Designers of Things Brings Smart Ideas to Life
Have you ever met someone who actually built a better mousetrap? What about someone who came up with the idea to add intelligence to otherwise mundane objects like a hospital food tray, radiator, or an ordinary concrete bolt? If you’re in San Jose for the Designers of Things Conference, December...
The Great Consolidation
The recent MEPTEC – SEMI Symposium on “The Great Miniaturization” featured two days of talks on just that subject at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Clara, CA, the week of November 9 2015. Thank you MEPTEC, thank you SEMI, and thank you to all speakers for the work you did preparing...
Executive Viewpoint: Why the European 3D Summit is Going Beyond TSVs
Remember back a few years ago when 3D and TSV were considered to be the pretty much the same thing? Anne-Marie Dutron, general director of SEMI Europe Grenoble Office does. She was in the thick of it, working at ST Microelectronics Mobile Division in partnership with CEA-Leti and imec on...
Questions Answered at the 2015 MEMS Executive Congress
This final post from my time at the 2015 MEMS Executive Congress addresses some random questions I had that were answered for me at this year’s event. Can MEMS and sensors help keep the IoT safe? Is there a difference between privacy and security? Many would say that there is; others...
Cool Stuff at the MEMS Executive Congress 2015
Each year the MEMS Industry Group (heretofore known a the MEMs and Sensors Industry Group), turns the spotlight on some of the really cool ideas that have come out of MEMS and Sensors technology at its annual MEMS Executive Congress, which this year was held November 4-5, 2015 at the...
System-level Scaling: UCLA’s Answer to Extending Moore’s Law
“We are at a crossroads. Current chip design is nearing its capacity. The time, expense, and effort needed to make major inroads have grown exponentially. We need a transformational shift in how our systems are designed and put together. Moore’s law is no longer about scaling a chip, but about...
Hey Data Guys, Show Us the Money!
I spent last week attending two separate events: the opening of the Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (CHIPS) at UCLA, and The MEMS Executive Congress, in Napa. I came away from both events with some interesting takeaways on new technology developments, which I plan to dive into and...
Why Do We Need Assembly Design Kits for Packages?
In our last article, we talked about a project we participated in to test the feasibility of an assembly design kit (ADK) for package design verification. This time, we’d like to delve a little more into the reasons why assembly design kits are needed. Naturally, one of the reactions to...
ASU’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society Creates Strong, Responsible Outcomes
Here’s a question I’ve been pondering ever since I started thinking about the Internet of Everything and what it means for future generations. Just because something is technologically feasible, should we build it? Will it really improve our lives? Is it going to benefit the greater good? What impact will...
Trusted Data is at the Heart of Monetizing the IoT
While there’s been no end to the discussion of the benefits the Internet of Things will bring to our daily lives, it seems some of the more concerning byproducts –referred to as “unintended consequences” – have been, for the most part, downplayed. Concerns like who owns the data generated by...
3D Stacking is Part of Life
Sitaram Arkalgud, VP 3D technologies, Invensas, provided the entertainment at last week’s IWLPC 2015. As soon as he realized Phil Garrou wasn’t in attendance, he reverted to using the 2.5D terminology, despite the fact that on numerous occasions, I have voiced my disdain for the term, preferring “interposer integration.” Arkulgud...
Interposers, 3D TSVs, and Alternatives: One Size Does Not Fit All
Whenever Francoise organizes an event, she always manages to compose a mixture of entertainment, real work and valuable education. This panel was no different. Francoise moderated the IWLPC 2015 Panel Discussion: Interposers, 3D TSVs, and Alternatives: What are the Options and Where do They Fit? featuring Aric Shorey, Corning, Inc.; Thibeault Buisson, Yole...
