Open-Silicon and GLOBALFOUNDRIES together built a 2.5D chip

Open-Silicon and GLOBALFOUNDRIES have together built a functional system-on-chip (SoC) with two 28nm logic chips embedding ARM Cortex-A9 processors connected on a silicon interposer, which is called 2.5 semiconductor packaging. This 2.5 device is for mobile and low-power server applications. The two processors are attached to a silicon interposer, which is built on a 65nm manufacturing flow with through-silicon-vias (TSVs) to enable high-bandwidth communication between the chips. This approach allows designers to choose the most appropriate process technology for each function of their SoC, while the interposer and TSVs allow for finer grain and lower power connectivity than traditional packaging solutions, leading to smaller form factors and reduced power budgets for next-generation electronic devices, says Open Silicon. “We are now much closer to building a system in package than before and Open-Silicon is extremely pleased to be at the forefront of making 2.5D a reality with our foundry and OSAT partners,” said Dr. Shafy Eltoukhy, vice president of technology development at Open-Silicon. “Given the multitudes of advantages that this technology offers, we firmly believe that widespread adoption along with heterogeneous die-integration will ensue soon.” “As chip designers face growing complexity and cost at smaller geometries, the adoption of 2.5D technology is incr...