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02/05/2000 12:35 AM
Packages fill SOC design gaps
(COMTEX) B: Packages fill SOC design gaps
B: Packages fill SOC design gaps
Feb. 04, 2000 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- Silicon
Valley- While the concept of system-on-a-chip has generated a lot of
attention and hype, the economic reality of manufacturing complex
application-specific devices is changing the way people think about
system-level integration.
Proposing time- and money-saving alternatives to single-chip
solutions, large IC-packaging and -assembly houses have begun offering
multichip packages that integrate various system elements into a
single-function block that delivers the benefits of a system-on-a-chip
(SOC)-space and power efficiency, high performance, and a reduced bill
of materials-at a lower production cost.
"We see the market moving out of single-component manufacturing, ...
bringing chip and wire capability down to the package level," said
Patrick McKinney, vice president of business development and marketing
at Amkor Technology Inc. in Chandler, Ariz.
Driven by the escalating cost of deep-submicron IC production, the
shift is giving rise to new business models among packaging firms, and
blurring the lines between electronics manufacturing service providers.
"System-on-a-chip requires a certain level of maturity in terms of
design capability, mask development, manufacturing, and debug,"
McKinney said. With multichip SiPs, "we're using known-good techniques
that you can take off the shelf and wrap together in the most
cost-effective package available."
Amkor has dubbed its multi-chip approach System-in-a-Package. As an
integrated solution, SiP goes beyond what current SOC technology can
do, enabling the combination of otherwise incompatible technologies in
a single package. For example, an RF module for a cellular handset
might require a standard or custom IC, optical components, MEMS, and
passives-each manufactured on different wafer processes, said Paul
Hoffman, senior vice president of Amkor's module business.
"We're seeing the cell-phone guys embracing this concept very
strongly because once the design is done upfront, it reduces the
time-to-market for iterations," Hoffman said. "And it shifts some of
the manufacturing infrastructure out of their factories."
Amkor is producing a dual-band RF power-module, which it sells as a
fully functioning block to a large cell-phone maker. The SiP device
combines what would otherwise require two individually packaged ICs, a
diode, and two dozen passives in a standard-package format.
"Figuring the complexity of the RF componentry, alone, it might take
five or six design cycles to get this kind of product right," Hoffman
said. "These are already known-good function blocks, which we can
implement in one pass."
Taiwan's leading IC-packaging houses have also been developing and
shipping SiP-like products in high volume for about a year. Most refer
to the technology as MCM (multichip module) BGA, which consists of
flash memories, ASICs, and other ICs housed in a small BGA package.
Taiwanese concerns are also developing higher-end packages, including
three-dimensional or stacked MCM BGAs for use in cell phones, MP3
players, digital cameras, PDAs, and other compact consumer items.
"My guess is that only the top five [merchant] packaging companies in
the world can do this," said a spokesman at Advanced Semiconductor
Engineering Inc. (ASE), the island's largest IC-packaging and -assembly
house.
Siliconware Precision Industries Co. Ltd., Taiwan's second-largest
chip-assembly and -packaging company, is gearing its production of MCMs
for PC-related applications like notebooks and PDAs. Its current 1-mm
product, dubbed the Multi Media Chip Package (MMCP), combines an ASIC
controller and flash memory in a seven-pin BGA, according to Randy Lo,
vice president of research and development at the Hsinchu-based
company.
Siliconware is also working on 3D MCM BGA packages, which stack the
flash memory to increase density, Lo said. ASE is shipping similar MCM
packages in volume, according to the company.
While the more advanced packaging techniques appear thus far limited
to the industry's leading suppliers, analysts said the trend validates
the growing market for SOC-like integration.
"Now that people see there will be some significant volumes and new
markets, all of a sudden it's clear that it doesn't necessarily have to
be one piece of silicon," noted Jim Feldhan, an analyst at Semico
Research Corp., Phoenix. "There's another way to do it and still be
competitive."
Graphics-IC supplier S3 Inc., for example, has used the MCM approach
to reap the performance and power benefits of embedded DRAM while
side-stepping the manufacturing problems.
Indeed, some applications will have stringent enough busing, power,
or performance requirements, or command a high-enough price and volume
to justify single-chip integration. What Amkor and others are promoting
has been described by one analyst as a "poor-man's ASIC"-the ability to
optimize manufacturing for each system element, then integrate them in
the lowest-cost package possible.
According to Dataquest Inc., San Jose, the market for multichip
packages will grow rapidly, driven by issues of time-to-market and
cost. Within four to five years, MCMs may grow to represent 10% of all
IC packages, said Dataquest analyst Jim Walker.
But Amkor insists its SiP is more than just a package-it's a
functional system block, Hoffman said. "Sometimes it's a product by
itself," he said.
As a result, packaging companies are being pulled into system design
earlier in the process, working closely with their customers' engineers
to devise packages that are optimized for targeted performance
specifications.
"People can no longer easily design some of the high-speed systems or
technologies they do without taking the package into close
consideration with regard to how the chip operates," Hoffman said.
The custom nature of multichip solutions has led Amkor to restructure
part of its business, add new services, and invest heavily in new
design tools and manufacturing equipment, Hoffman said.
To date, Amkor has invested $26 million in its SiP capability. The
company has installed SMT (surface-mount technology) production lines
with an output of 400,000 units per week, as well as ceramic assembly
capability with a similar capacity. A capital expansion is under way
that will produce "multiple millions" of units per week by the end of
the year, according to the company.
Amkor is also investing in RF-design and -simulation tools, RF
characterization hardware, and a module prototype line installed at its
Chandler factory. In addition, the company has beefed up its
interactive design services and is adding RF and memory designers.
More than just a new line of business, the SiP model is a completely
new approach to the market for a volume-IC-packaging house. Issues like
supply-chain management, for example, are suddenly of primary concern.
While packaging contracts used to require a small number of materials,
SiP engagements require a specific mix of products, Hoffman said.
"If any one of those doesn't make it to the manufacturing line, we
can't build this part," he said. "This requires us to be much more like
an EMS provider or system manufacturer in the way we manage our
relationships."
The company recently implemented a supply-chain management initiative
that deals with vendor-managed inventory, automated data exchange,
co-performance monitoring, and supplier-management programs. Gary
Swinden was tapped to head the effort.
Amkor is also adding value-added services such as drop ship,
labeling, mechanical assembly, and programming, and is building
relationships with large distributors to leverage their global
supply-chain management capabilities, Hoffman said.
That its new business direction is leading it into the path of
contract electronics manufacturers is not lost on Amkor. Hoffman
acknowledged that the line is blurring between what Amkor does and what
CEMs are beginning to do at the module level.
Analysts concur that there's less distinction now between
IC-packaging and -assembly and board-level manufacturing services; yet
CEMs said the division is clear.
"Amkor's modules will have volume applications, whereas ours will
address a product segment, [and will be] customer-specific," said
Srinivas Rao, vice president of technology at Solectron Corp.,
Milpitas, Calif. "We will always see electronics technologies in
multiple companies, but we will never see the blurring of HP and Epson
just because they both do printers."
Large CEMs like Solectron and Toronto-based Celestica Inc. are now
offering a range of contract manufacturing services from chip design
through system build. One of the major challenges for a packaging house
accustomed to dealing only with chip-to-board connections will be
suddenly dealing with the entire system, said Jenny Ryan, general
manager of Celestica's Chelmsford, Mass., design center.
Meanwhile, the industry as a whole isn't well prepared to handle the
shift toward multichip packaging, Amkor admits. The manufacturing
infrastructure is in place, as is the chip-attach technology. But
today, there's a gap between chip-level and board-level design tools.
Amkor said it's partnering with EDA companies to further the
development of these tools, but declined to provide specifics.
In addition, substrate yields are inadequate, and what is available
is largely unsuited for the high-performance RF technology Amkor will
target, Hoffman said.
For example, RF can't accommodate electroplated substrates, but few
suppliers can do nonelectroplated substrates well. Substrates have to
be wire-bondable, and the combination of these needs requires further
development of the infrastructure, observers said.
Additional reporting by Mark LaPedus
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By: Crista Souza
Copyright 2000 CMP Media Inc.
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