Issues in chip-package codesign with MCM-D/flip-chip technology

By distributing on-chip global power, ground, and clock planes on a thin film MCM, the IC can be made smaller, faster, and less noisy while consuming less power. These advantages are demonstrated by a number of case studies: two demonstrator ICs and an analysis of the DEC Alpha 21264 clock distribution scheme. However, there are a number of practical issues that need to be addressed, including process variations and test. In this paper, we present the case studies and a treatment of these practical issues.