The Evolution Of UCIe


Since it was released in March 2022, the Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) has grown from a basic way of connecting two dies together into a comprehensive specification that can ensure the handoff of data between various components in an advanced package, as well as validate the chiplets within that package. Mayank Bhatnagar, director of product marketing at Cadence, talks about the... » read more

Chiplet Standards Aim For Plug-n-Play


Key Takeaways Die-to-die chiplet standards are only the beginning. Many more standards are necessary for a chiplet marketplace. A number of such standards have either had initial versions released or are in progress. Existing work covers packaging, a system architecture, various design kits, a universal link layer, and updates to BoW. Today’s chiplets exist in silos. In a ... » read more

Challenges of Chiplet Placement And Routing Optimization (KAIST)


A new technical paper titled "Advanced Chiplet Placement and Routing Optimization considering Signal Integrity" was published by researchers at KAIST. Abstract: "This article addresses the critical challenges of chiplet placement and routing optimization in the era of advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration. We present a novel approach that formulates the problem as a signal integr... » read more

What’s Missing From Predictions


At this point everyone has made their predictions for the year, but there is one thing many people get wrong. Predictions are not about innovation. They are about pain and what is causing it. This industry is risk-averse, and everyone wants to continue doing what they are doing. But there comes a point when it's so painful to continue that something has to change. Having something that is... » read more

Chiplets Still A Challenge With UCIe 2.0


Plug-and-play chiplets are a popular goal, but does UCIe 2.0 move us any closer to that becoming a reality? The problem is that the current drivers of the standard are not after interoperability in the way that plug-and-play requires. Released in August 2024, UCIe 2.0 touts higher bandwidth density and improved power efficiency, as well as new features supporting 3D packaging, a manageable s... » read more

Analysis Of Multi-Chiplet Package Designs And Requirements For Production Test Simplification


In recent years there has been a sharp rise of multi-die system designs. Numerous publications targeting a large variety of applications exist in the public domain. One presentation [2] on the IEEE’s website does a good job of detailing the anecdotal path of multi-die systems by way of chiplet building blocks integrated within a single package [2]. The presentation includes references to a ha... » read more

Defining The Chiplet Socket


Experts At The Table: The semiconductor industry has been buzzing with the possibilities surrounding chiplets, but so far this packaging technology has been confined to large semiconductor companies that are vertically integrated. The industry has been attempting to open this up to a broader group of people. To work out what this means for chiplets, and what standardization will be required, Se... » read more

Chiplets: More Standards Needed


Recent months have seen new advances in chiplet standardization. For example, consortia such as Bunch of Wires (BoW) and Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) have made progress in developing standards for die-to-die (D2D) interfaces in a chiplet’s design. Far from being a new phenomenon in communication, these types of standards are established for all forms of wired and wireless com... » read more

Is UCIe Really Universal?


Chiplets are rapidly becoming the means to overcome the slowing of Moore's Law, but whether one interface is capable of joining them all together isn't clear yet. The Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) believes it will work, but some in the industry remain unconvinced. At least part of the problem is that interconnect standards are never truly finished. Even today, the protocols tha... » read more

How Memory Design Optimizes System Performance


Exponential increases in data and demand for improved performance to process that data has spawned a variety of new approaches to processor design and packaging, but it also is driving big changes on the memory side. While the underlying technology still looks very familiar, the real shift is in the way those memories are connected to processing elements and various components within a syste... » read more

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