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    Intel To Use Glass Substrates To Allow 10x Interconnect Density For Multi-Die Processors

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    It doesn’t matter what, it is clear at this level that the best way ahead for the semiconductor trade is chiplets, or “tiles” in Intel nomenclature. Piling a number of items of a processor onto one bundle brings numerous challenges, although. A kind of is the meeting of the chiplet bundle itself. Sometimes, producers use natural substrates as they’ve for greater than twenty years. Nonetheless, Intel says the subsequent step is glass.

    The corporate simply launched supplies at this time asserting its achievement of “electrically-functional” glass-core substrate designs after a decade of analysis on the subject. The corporate says that it has a “totally built-in glass R&D line with over $1B funding,” and that making ready for the transition has required shut work with gear and supplies companions. Apparently, it has taken “over 600 innovations” to get so far.

    If it was such a tough achievement, what does Intel have to point out for it? Effectively, glass substrates are apparently higher than natural substrates in numerous methods. They tolerate increased temperatures higher, they usually additionally provide improved dimensional stability. Which means they’re in a position to obtain extraordinarily tight tolerances that natural substrates could not.

    Maybe most significantly, Intel says that they assist ten instances the interconnect density. It’s possible you’ll recall that interconnect density was additionally an necessary topic of analysis for AMD and its “Infinity Fanout” utilized in its RDNA 3 GPUs. It appears like a glass substrate might neatly sidestep numerous the problems that the home of Radeon confronted when placing collectively these elements.

    Intel additionally notes that the improved mechanical properties of glass allow “ultra-large form-factor packages with very excessive meeting yields.” One of many large advantages of chiplet design is that you could create bigger processors than could be sensible with monolithic fabrication, however this was offset by the extra complexity of assembling big processor packages. With Intel’s new advance, that concern could also be a factor of the previous.
    A completed bundle utilizing a glass substrate.

    Because of this growth, Intel’s chip architectures will be capable of use extra chiplets in a smaller footprint on a single bundle, and it additionally will enable drastically-improved efficiency for the interconnects between the chiplets and likewise regardless of the bundle is related to, like PCIe 6.0 or 7.0 and future CXL variations. In essence, this expertise permits scaling to proceed.

    Do not get too excited but, although. Intel hasn’t truly introduced any merchandise with glass substrates, but, and it will not for a while. The corporate says that the brand new methodology will discover its solution to merchandise with superior packaging “later this decade.” It is solely 2023, so it might be so long as seven years earlier than this expertise truly makes its solution to market.

    https://hothardware.com/news/intel-glass-substrates-announcement

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