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As one of MIT Technology Review’s top ten groundbreaking innovations of 2024, chiplets have made a significant impact in EMS manufacturing, particularly in the semiconductor industry.

 

Chiplets are compact, modular components designed to perform particular tasks, such as memory controllers or artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, that can be combined and integrated into a fully functional unit.

A chiplet can serve as a processor core, a memory module, an I/O controller, or a signal processing component. Chiplets offer manufacturing solutions to constructing system-on-chips (SoCs), boosting yields and cutting costs by almost half. This method divides the chip into separate components, linking them through a standardized interface, enabling design and engineering teams to tackle performance, operational efficiency, power, size, and cost hurdles in this modern era.

In contrast to monolithic SoCs, chiplets allow for a flexible network of modular parts that can be tailored and reused. With standardization and a strong ecosystem, the chiplet market in computing is set for significant growth. Revenue is expected to soar, with a 14.7% annual growth rate projected, reaching $236 billion by 2030. This growth is driven by a 19.7% CAGR and increased unit shipments, spurred by different processor architectures. 

The chiplet advantage

Chiplets offer a range of benefits, providing industrial solutions. 

• Overall efficiency

The modular, Lego-like sensibility of chiplets allow manufacturers the ability to build systems with lower initial costs for new chip designs, boosting efficiency and performance. Chiplet technology enables versatile, customizable chips, which shortens development timelines and reduces costs. Reusable Intellectual Property (IP) and testing chiplets before assembly improve device yield and reliability.

• Lower energy consumption

Additionally, chiplets conserve energy by minimizing data movement, contribute to higher manufacturing yields than traditional monolithic designs, enhance performance for specific tasks, and lower power consumption and heat generation by enabling smaller processors.

• Design flexibility

Chiplets enable the integration of diverse functions into a unified system, simplify design, and provide flexibility for adapting to new technologies in the industrial market. They support creating comprehensive SoCs by combining multiple chiplets, reflecting their growing importance and evolving trends in chiplet technology.

• Customization

Chiplets optimize performance by using different technologies for different tasks. For example, I/O and bus chiplets use older, reliable tech, while compute chiplets use the latest tech for better performance. Memory chiplets use new memory technologies to handle various needs. Plus, chiplet designs speed up development because outdated chiplets can be updated more easily.

• Compatible with emerging technologies

As the chiplet market grows, these modular designs may expand into various fields. For instance, the automotive market is well-suited for chiplets, which provide a customizable electronic system. This setup involves a base function chiplet enhanced with additional components for features like autonomous driving and sensor fusion. The modular approach speeds up time to market and allows easier updates compared to upgrading monolithic SoCs. 

Additionally, because automotive sales volumes are lower than those of mobile phones, redesigning a monolithic SoC for each car model would be costly. Chiplets also help manufacturers meet safety and reliability standards using proven designs.

• Miniaturization

Chiplets usually yield high results due to their compact size and straightforward designs. They start with tested, reliable components and use repair methods for any faulty connections. To maintain the rapid growth of components on integrated circuits, chipmakers have focused on shrinking transistors and increasing density, which has led to the development of large monolithic system-on-chip (SoC) designs. 

Chiplet Development

Chiplet technology, a fairly recent innovation, is currently under active development by various semiconductor companies. A key objective is to seamlessly integrate multiple chiplets into a single System on a Chip (SoC), offering these benefits:

• Data storage
• Signal handling
• Computation
• Data flow control

When several chiplets work in one circuit, they are called a hybrid IC, multi-chip module, advanced package, or 2.5D IC. Engineers can quickly and affordably create complex chips by combining different third-party components, like memory and processor cores, into a single chip. Chiplets are integrated into a package and linked using a die-to-die system to make an SoC.

By placing chiplets close together in a package, they can communicate quickly and efficiently, similar to how monolithic SoCs function. Chiplets can be connected through the following: 

• Side-by-side connection

This can be done with a common substrate, such as silicon, glass, or organic polymers. Initial chiplet integration used silicon interposer substrates to connect chiplets. This involved placing two chiplets close together, less than 50µm apart, on a shared interposer with tiny wiring to link them.

However, silicon interposers offer excellent performance and thermal properties but are costly and complex. As a result, organic substrates are being explored as cheaper alternatives.

• Chiplet stacking

3D-SoC involves stacking chiplets on top of each other. Wafer-to-wafer hybrid bonding is key for integrating 3D-SoC at the µm interconnect level, connecting two silicon chips with a low-temperature expansion coefficient. The dielectric is crucial for bonding and insulating the chiplets. 

Chiplet tech challenges

Though chiplet technology offers several advantages, it needs to overcome these challenges:

• Design complexity

While the chiplet's modular design improves yield, the functional blocks are on separate dies from different vendors, making it harder to assess each chiplet. This adds complexity to the design. Advanced simulations and modern EDA tools that support the chiplet process are essential to manage this.

• Die-to-die communication

A key challenge in chiplet design is ensuring effective chip communication, known as die-to-die (D2D) communication. Reliable and standardized D2D communication is essential for chiplet design. Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) is an emerging open standard, which aims at improving the reliability and compatibility of chiplet-based designs.

Bottomline

Chiplets provide significant benefits, including reduced costs, as they allow for more cost-effective and efficient production than traditional monolithic SoCs. They also deliver enhanced performance by enabling specialized chiplets to handle specific tasks more effectively. Additionally, chiplets offer increased flexibility, allowing for easier upgrades and customization of electronic systems.

These advantages make chiplets crucial for driving progress and adapting to new technologies in the electronics sector. They support more innovative and responsive design approaches essential for keeping pace with rapidly evolving technological demands. 

 

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