2.5D and 3D Heterogeneous Integration: Emerging applications

The next decade will usher in a new era of technological innovation where compute, communications, and intelligence will converge. The number of connected devices is estimated to reach 500 billion by 2030, which is 59× larger than the expected world population
[1]
. Instead of humans dominating the use of wireless networks, objects or things will become the dominant users. Networks will incorporate intelligent compute to enable new types of applications such as cyberphysical worlds that replicate reality. These applications will require distributed intelligent compute platforms, as processing terabytes of data at a single edge device will be near impossible. Future 6G systems are currently being defined to meet these needs, as shown in
Figure 1
, and the essential components of all 6G systems will be intelligence and security
[2]
. These new wireless systems will need to leverage a distributed compute network that is part of the wireless network so that the edge device can employ a high-performance compute platform that is in close proximity to itself. Such a network device must incorporate flexibility and programmability at low latency while also supporting network and connectivity functions. Heterogeneous integration in 2.5D and 3D can efficiently enhance existing compute platforms such as processors, application-specific integrated circuits, and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to address emerging applications such as intelligent compute-communicate systems at lower cost with faster time to market. This article presents an overview of 2.5D and 3D heterogeneous technologies and how they can be leveraged to create new intelligent-compute-communicate platforms to enable emerging applications