Multi-Purpose Chip IO Bumps for High-Bandwidth Package Links
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for multi-chip integration, such as using organic substrates and silicon interposers, face limitations in achieving high bandwidth connectivity while maintaining cost-effectiveness, as organic substrates have low data bandwidth due to low pad density and high-cost silicon interposers with fine-pitch bumps.
Innovation Solution
Implementing multi-purpose interface bumps on semiconductor chips that adapt between fine-pitch μ-bumps and standard bumps, allowing for staggered bump patterns and configurable data interfaces to maintain or increase data throughput without increasing the number of active bumps, using transceivers and multiplexers to manage data lanes and clock phases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If organic substrates are used for chip connectivity, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but data bandwidth is limited due to low pad density
Solution Approach 1:
The organic substrate is divided into multiple regions with different bump pitch specifications. Some regions use coarse pitch bumps (≥100μm) for cost-effective connections, while other regions use fine pitch bumps (<50μm) for high-bandwidth connections. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high overall bandwidth while maintaining cost-effectiveness by not requiring the entire substrate to use expensive fine-pitch technology.
2Productivity
If silicon interposers with fine-pitch bumps are used, then data bandwidth is increased, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the organic substrate are assigned different bump pitch qualities based on their specific functional requirements. High-bandwidth critical paths use fine-pitch bumps with higher density, while non-critical paths use coarse-pitch bumps. This local quality differentiation allows the system to achieve high bandwidth where needed without incurring the full cost of fine-pitch technology across the entire substrate.
3Ease of manufacture
If standard bump pitch (≥100μm) is used on organic substrates, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but pad density and data bandwidth are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The bump pitch configuration is made dynamic and adaptable rather than fixed. The system can selectively activate fine-pitch bump regions when high bandwidth is required, and switch to coarse-pitch modes for cost-sensitive applications. This dynamic flexibility allows the same organic substrate to serve multiple performance levels without requiring separate substrate designs.
Data Source
AI summary
Multi-purpose interface bumps on semiconductor chips may be used to optimize chip-to-chip data connectivity, including for example high speed chip-to-chip interfaces using fine-pitched bumps adaptable to interfaces with standard bumps without loss of total data rate. A chip with fine-pitch pads for μ-bumps may be connected to an organic package substrate with every other pad populated with a bump and connected to the organic package substrate, while adjacent pads are not populated with bumps and are deactivated. Total number of active bumps to 1/N for each data interface block, and the total bandwidth may be maintained by increasing the active bump data rate by N-times.