To: unclewest who wrote (12615 ) 1/7/1999 9:39:00 PM From: unclewest Respond to
service of Semiconductor Business News, CMP Media Inc. Story posted 4:30 p.m.EST/1:30 p.m., 1/7/99 Sharp licenses Micro BGA TOKYO--Sharp Corp. here has become the latest chip maker to license the Micro BGA chip-scale packaging (CSP) technology from Tessera Inc. About 16 companies have licensed the Micro BGA format, including 10 major IC and systems houses, according to Tessera. The San Jose-based company said its Micro BGA packages can save up to 80% of the board space required for high-pin count semiconductors compared to older packaging formats. For the past several years, a number of CSP technologies have been vying in the marketplace as semiconductor suppliers and chip users look for ways to reduce the size of surface-mount components. Chips-scale packages house ICs in a format that's slightly larger than the silicon die itself. With the addition of Sharp, Tessera said it now has licensed Micro BGA packages 10 large semiconductor and electronics systems manufacturers and a half dozen chip-assembly foundries. "The addition of Sharp as a licensee further establishes Tessera's Micro BGA as the packaging technology of choice for memory applications -- including flash, DRAM, SRAM, RDRAM [Rambus DRAM] -- and for non-memory products, such as logic and application-specific integrated circuits," said John Smith, president and CEO of nine-year-old Tessera. Tessera said its Micro BGA licensees now include Advance Micro Devices, Amkor Electronics, Hitachi, Hyundai, Intel, LG Semicon, Samsung, Siemens, ST Microelectronics, and Texas Instruments.
