Active Packaging is a technology direction combining active circuits, passive elements
and packaging. The trend towards smaller, higher performance devices with greater
functionality compels integration techniques such as package-on-package or PoP. Active
Packaging takes PoP and System-in-Package techniques a big step further by providing symbiotic
functionality within the package that amplifies the utility and performance of a component
or system while minimizing substrate real-estate use and cost.
An embodiment of Active Packaging is shown in the figure. Here an active circuit
is chip-scale packaged with an interdigitated capacitor(s) to form an 'active
capacitor'. This assembly is then stacked onto a microprocessor package or a
system board for a portable electronics device. This architecture facilitates a)
storage of charge on the capacitor at a higher voltage, thus increasing, quadratically,
energy stored in the capacitor, b) minimization of parasitics between silicon circuits
and the capacitor(s), increasing operational bandwidth, c) same area used on the substrate
as the original capacitor, and d) sharing of thermal dissipation functionality with the
load device. This embodiment of Active Packaging assists greatly in power and power integrity
management in VLSI devices, providing symbiotic functionality between the load device and the
power integrity management device, which, through this architecture, can be on different
optimized fabrication processes. Embodiments of this architecture may be combined with
additional passive elements forming stacked active passive integration, or SAPI, which is
an advanced form of PoP based electronics integration that enables continued scaling.
ComLSI’s Active Packaging technology has been investigated in feasibility studies
for DC to DC buck converters of an order of magnitude higher frequency, using off-the-shelf
components at acceptable efficiency. The technology addresses the high-performance microprocessor
and SoC market with a potential TAM exceeding $2B. The full patent may be accessed at
Active Packaging primary US Patent 7291896
More information at the
Stacked Active Passive Integration patent sale listing
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