Stacked Semiconductor Device Signal Serialization Via Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of through-silicon vias in stacked semiconductor devices leads to larger chip sizes due to space and clearance requirements, hindering the miniaturization and high-bandwidth signal transfer in semiconductor integrated circuits.
Innovation Solution
A stacked semiconductor device that serializes transmission signals into a smaller number of data paths using serialization units and then parallelizes them in receiving semiconductor dies, reducing the number of through-silicon vias needed for signal transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If many through-silicon vias are used to implement high-bandwidth signal transfer in stacked semiconductor devices, then signal transfer bandwidth is improved, but chip size increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple data signals are merged into a single serialized data stream for transmission through the via. The serialization circuit combines P parallel data signals into one serial signal, allowing multiple pieces of information to share the same physical transmission path, thereby reducing the number of vias required while maintaining high bandwidth
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from spatial parallelism (multiple vias side by side) to temporal parallelism (single via transmitting multiple signals at different times). By serializing data in the time domain, the system achieves high bandwidth through a single via that operates at multiple time slots, effectively adding a temporal dimension to the transmission capability
2Area of stationary object
If the number of through-silicon vias is reduced to minimize chip size, then chip area is improved, but signal transfer capability may be degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the signal transmission parameters by converting parallel signals to serial signals, altering the data format from P simultaneous signals to 1 sequential signal. This parameter transformation allows the same physical via to carry equivalent information throughput by utilizing time-division multiplexing, thereby maintaining signal transfer capability with fewer vias
Solution Approach 2:
The serialization circuit acts as an intermediary that transforms multiple data signals into a single serialized stream before transmission. This intermediary component enables efficient use of the via resource by preparing the data in a format that can be transmitted through a reduced number of physical channels while preserving all original information
Data Source
AI summary
A stacked semiconductor device includes a plurality of semiconductor dies stacked in a first direction, M data paths electrically connecting the plurality of semiconductor dies, one data path including one or more through-silicon vias, where M is a positive integer, a transmission circuit including M serialization units configured to serialize P transmission signals to M serial signals and output the M serial signals to the M data paths, respectively, where P is a positive integer greater than M and a reception circuit including M parallelization units configured to receive the M serial signals from the M data paths and parallelize the M serial signals to P reception signals corresponding to the P transmission signals. The number of the through-silicon vias is reduced by serializing the transmission signals, transferring the serialized signals through the smaller number of data paths between the stacked semiconductor dies and then parallelizing the transferred signals.