Chiplet basics: Separating hype from reality

By Ashley Stevens, Arteris
EDN | June 16, 2025

There’s currently a significant buzz within the semiconductor industry around chiplets, bare silicon dies intended to be combined with others into a single packaged device. Companies are beginning to plan for chiplet-based designs, also known as multi-die systems. Yet, there is still uncertainty about what designing chiplet architecture entails, which technologies are ready for use, and what innovations are on the horizon.

Understanding the technology and supporting ecosystem is necessary before chiplets begin to see widespread adoption. As technology continues to emerge, chiplets are a promising solution for many applications, including high-performance computing, AI acceleration, mobile devices, and automotive systems.

The rise of chiplets

Until recently, integrated circuits (ICs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), and system-on-chip (SoC) devices were monolithic. These devices are built on a single piece of silicon, which is then enclosed in its dedicated package. Depending on its usage, the term chip can refer to either the bare die itself or the final packaged component.

Designing monolithic devices is becoming increasingly cost-prohibitive and harder to scale. The solution is to break the design into several smaller chips, known as chiplets, which are mounted onto a shared base called a substrate. All of this is then enclosed within a single package. This final assembly is a multi-die system.

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