A silicon-on-silicon field programmable multichip module (FPMCM) integrating FPGA and MCM technologies

Multichip module technology can dramatically increase the capability of field programmable logic devices (FPLD's) and field programmable systems (FPS). We present the special advantages that MCM's offer FPLD's and the design of our first-generation field programmable multichip module (FPMCM). Our prototype is the first silicon-on-silicon FPMCM and has a maximum capacity of 40 K gates and 256 user IO, achieving a factor of four increase in capacity over the FPLD family with which it was designed. Our FPMCM has bean demonstrated in a system that can deliver 200 MOP's of computing power for image processing applications. FPMCM's can cost-effectively deliver 4-8 times the capacity of the largest FPLD's and provide even larger reductions in the area of PCB-based field programmable systems. The upper capacity limits for FPMCM are determined mainly by the cost and defect density of the substrate technology. As CMOS processes move into the deep-submicron range, FPMCM's will even faster and denser substrates.<
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