Stacked Die Politics, Technology And Tools


The path to stacking die may look fairly straightforward, but reality is somewhat different. There is a battle raging between foundries and OSATs over who will actually stack and package the die. There is new technology being created that could change the economics of how these die go together. And there is debate about just how ready the tools are to make all of this happen. All of this is ... » read more

Ready To Pounce


A series of inflection points at 16/14nm and beyond is having a rather unusual effect on the semiconductor industry. Rather than forge ahead with the next nodes to gain an edge and early lead over rivals—the standard formula for success over the past five decades—the entire supply chain is poised on the edge, waiting for someone to make the first move before they take action. The problem... » read more

SEMICON West Preview: Test


Talking with the speakers scheduled to speak in the programs on IC testing at SEMICON West this year, I was struck by how much this equipment sector is changing as the value moves to software and the cloud. It has to be the first time I’ve ever mentioned PayPal in the same paragraph with semiconductor equipment, to say nothing of the business model of free hardware with software subscription.... » read more

Semicon West Preview: Packaging


By Paula Doe The evolving mobile device market means the packaging, assembly and test supply chain faces a growing range of alternative technologies vying for its investment dollar, everything from Google’s modular electronics with 3D printing, to more solutions for integrating varied chips in smaller packaged systems. One potentially disruptive change is the wider use of more open-source... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing And Design


Blocking cell phone use and texting while driving have been proposed by the U.S. government and for good reason. About 10 people a day are killed in “distraction-affected” car accidents in the U.S., according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As a result, some companies are developing technologies that can block texts while driving. But according to Strategy Analyt... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing & Design


Intel is getting serious about the foundry business.  “Intel CEO Brian Krzanich is making some waves. This is not because Intel is becoming more market driven, but that Intel will open its foundry to ‘any’ company able to utilize the company's leading-edge technology. It’s very refreshing to see Intel make this move and could have important implications for the industry. Based on Intel... » read more

The Changing Role Of The OSAT


By Ann Steffora Mutschler As process geometries and packaging technologies have matured over time, the OSAT (outsourced semiconductor assembly and test) provider has played an evolving role in the semiconductor packaging ecosystem. With true 3D chip stacking on the horizon, their role may evolve once again as ecosystem players jostle for position in the 3D universe. There are two things tha... » read more

The Impact of 3D Packaging


With semiconductor packaging becoming a more crucial piece of the Moore’s Law roadmap, the industry is still sorting out the impact of a 3D design and packaging approach on design time, cost and power. 3D is now commonly used for high volume applications such as cell phones and SD cards, and is accomplished at the packaging step either through chip stacking or package-on-package (PoP) stac... » read more

Newer posts →