Page 54 - System on Package_ Miniaturization of the Entire System

Intr oduction to the System-on-Package (SOP) Technology 31

technology from design to fabrication to integration, test, cost, and reliability. The
testbed explored optical bit stream switching up to 100 GHz; digital signals up to 5 to
20 GHz; decoupling capacitor integration concepts to reduce simultaneous switching
noise of power beyond 100 W/chip; design, modeling, and fabrication of embedded
components for RF, microwave, and millimeter wave applications up to 60 GHz.
So far, at least 50 companies have taken parts of the SOP technology developed at
the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Packaging Research Center (PRC) and applied
them to their automotive, computer, consumer, military, and wireless applications. A
number of test vehicles have also been built over the years for different companies
focused on integrating different combinations of analog, digital, RF, optical, and sensor
components in a single package.
Japanese companies, such as Ibiden, Shinko, Matsushita, Casio, and NEC, have been
active in R&D in EMAP technology for more than 5 years. Casio and Matsushita have
already demonstrated embedded passives and IC components in laminate layers. They
started this research around 1998–2000. One example of Matsushita’s SIMPACT
technology developed in 2001 is shown in Figure 1.30 where discrete passives and actives
are embedded in dielectric layers. Matsushita indicated that its embedding program
uses discretes but will migrate to thin films as the company perfects manufacturing.
In the United States, Intel has been active in EMAP for its RF modules and digital
applications and is expected to appear with EMAP products in the market in 2 to
3 years. Companies like 3M and Oak-Mitsui have thin-film capacitor technologies ready
for production. GE has been a big player in embedded actives technology for a long
time and is now focusing on embedded passives to go with existing embedded active
technology. TI is beginning to be a big contender in this research and business. Even
in the automotive industry, companies like Delphi are interested in EMAP technology.
There is a big interest in Europe too, such as by Nokia.
Motorola uses parts of SOP technology in two models of its GSM/General Packet Radio
Service quad-band cell phones to gain about a 40 percent reduction in board area. The
module contains all the critical cell phone functions: RF processing, base-band signal
processing, power management, and audio and memory sections. Not only does the module
free up space for new features, it is also the base around which new cell phones with different
shapes and features (camera or Bluetooth, for instance) can be rapidly designed. Motorola
calls it a system-on-module (SOM), for which it developed its own custom embedded-
capacitor technology. It reports it has shipped more than 20 million SOM-based phones.

Via Bare IC

500 μm
Discrete passive Organic filling
FIGURE 1.30 Matsushita SIMPACT with embedded discrete passives and actives developed in 2001.