Heterogeneous Integration - Chiplets

By GSA

Chiplets are a hot topic in the semiconductor industry, and to many represent a paradigm change for chip designers and chip consumers alike. Rather than a traditional single piece of monolithic silicon with many functions and features, a chiplet contains one or a very limited set of functions and features. Multiple chiplets are then assembled into a MCM (multi-chiplet module).

Chiplets can offer multiple advantages over monolithic silicon, including:

•   Chiplets can be designed in the optimum process node (performance, power, cost) for the particular function and/or feature
•   Size and yield – as monolithic silicon reaches reticle limitations, chiplets are much easier and cheaper to manufacture
•   The ability to manufacture with and integrate diverse and potentially incompatible semiconductor materials, such as GaN, SiC, Ga2O3, and others
•   Chiplets can be re-used over multiple products and projects
•   Enables choice: allows chipmakers/OEMs to select the right combination of chiplets for their needs, rather than be forced to choose a potentially less-optimum monolithic chip
•   Lower NRE (non-recurring engineering) costs for chiplet designs, potentially enabling smaller volume applications
•   Lowers the entry barrier to designing and selling silicon
•   Allows semiconductor IP to be sold in silicon form
•   Quickens time to market

Homogenous chiplet MCMs, or MCMs containing chiplets from only a single manufacturer, have been mass-market deployed – an example would be the AMD Ryzen Zen 3 processors. Homogenous chiplets share many of the advantages mentioned above – however, as they remain the domain of a single chip supplier, they don’t offer all the advantages (and issues) that heterogenous chiplets do. A heterogenous chiplet MCM contains chiplets from multiple manufacturers, often made in different facilities on different process nodes. Heterogenous chiplets might include a combination of CPU, GPU, NPU, FPGA, and/or special purpose chiplets. Chip consumers (OEMs, brands, etc.…) can assemble the optimum selection of chiplets into a heterogenous chiplet MCM for their needs, and chiplet suppliers can manufacture their chiplets in the ideal location/node for price, performance, and area. While heterogenous chiplets seem to have multiple advantages over traditional monolithic silicon and even homogenous chiplets, they still have not been mass-market deployed. This white paper will explore the commercial, interface, packaging, and security issues heterogenous chiplets face, along with recommendations for the industry’s successful deployment of heterogenous chiplets.

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