Future Development in Electronic Systems is Impacted Both by Semiconductor Technology and IC Assembly Techniques

As integrated circuit processing technology progresses to deep submicron lithographies, designers increasingly adopt superintegrated approaches where several complex functions are combined on one die. At the same time, however, designers are now faced with choices in the approach to packaging: mixed IC technology and multichip packaging. This paper reviews these trends, presenting typical integrated circuits that exemplify each approach and compare their relative merits.