Page 27 - System on Package_ Miniaturization of the Entire System

Intr oduction to the System-on-Package (SOP) Technology 5

100 SOP
% System miniaturization 30 SOC Stacked chip integration

System
SIP
or package
integration
IC integration
15
Past focus Present focus Future focus
FIGURE 1.2 The miniaturization trend in ICs since the 1960s to systems around 2020.

The initial focus of SOP is on miniaturization and convergence of the package and
system board into a system package, hence the name system-on-package. Such a single-
system package with multiple ICs provides all the system functions by codesign and
fabrication of digital, radiofrequency (RF), optical, micro-electro-mechanical systems
(MEMS), and microsensor functions in either the IC or the system package. The SOP
thus harnesses the advantages of the best on-chip and off-chip integration technologies
to develop ultraminiaturized, high-performance, multifunctional products. Figure 1.2
depicts the miniaturization trend that started at the IC level in the 1960s at the microscale
level and continued on to reach the expected level below 40 nanometers (nm). This is
referred to as “SOC.” The single-chip package miniaturization took place in a similar
manner but at a slower rate until chip-scale packages (CSP) and two-dimensional (2D)
multichip modules (MCMs) in the 1990s and three-dimensional (3D) SIPs a decade later
were introduced. This is referred to as module-level miniaturization. The system-level
miniaturization began subsequently.

1.2 Electronic System Trend to Digital Convergence
The combination of microelectronics and information technology (IT), which includes
hardware, software, services, and applications, has been a trillion-dollar industry. It has
been acting as the driving engine for science, technology, engineering, advanced
manufacturing, and the overall economy of the United States, Japan, Europe, Korea,
and other participating countries for several decades. Of this trillion-dollar worldwide
market, hardware still accounts for more than $700 billion. Of this $700 billion, the
semiconductors constitute about $250 billion and microsystems packaging (MSP),
defined as both packaging of devices and systems but excluding semiconductors,
accounts for about $200 billion. The simplistic way to define MSP is as the bridge between
devices and end-product systems as depicted in Figure 1.3.
The MSP market of $200 billion, accounting for more than 10 percent of the entire IT
market, is a strategic and critical technology, unlike in the past. It controls the size,
performance, cost, and reliability of all end-product systems. It is, therefore, the major
limiting factor and a major barrier to all future digital-convergent electronic systems.
The MSP, in the future, involves not just microelectronics but also photonics, RF, MEMS,
sensors, mechanical, thermal, chemical, and biological functions.
From cell phones to biomedical systems, the modern life is inexorably dependent on
the complex convergence of technologies into stand-alone portable products designed to
provide complete and personal solutions. Such systems are expected to have two