Because the demand for high-performance semiconductors increases with the bogus intelligence (AI) boom that began with the ‘ChatGPT’ craze, ‘Chiplets’, a semiconductor packaging technology, is within the limelight.

It’s because it could actually quickly reply to the needs of AI corporations with technology that connects semiconductors with different functions. Some predict that China can use ‘chiplet’ technology as a breakthrough in making advanced semiconductors to avoid US semiconductor export regulations.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the tenth (local time) that semiconductor manufacturers are accelerating the event of chiplets that connect multiple chips into one like Lego blocks as a result of the AI ​​craze.

The change within the semiconductor market was triggered by the arrival of AI. Demand for semiconductors from data center and server corporations has increased significantly as a result of the chat GPT craze that derives results by learning large-scale data. As well as, the necessity for semiconductors with higher performance and lower power consumption has begun to grow.

Within the meantime, the semiconductor industry has focused on miniaturization by reducing the road width of integrated circuits to make chips smaller and reduce power consumption. Nonetheless, because the physical limit for reducing the road width was reached, it became difficult to make it smaller, and the gap between circuits became closer, leakage current flowed, and the method difficulty increased, so another was needed.

In consequence, semiconductor manufacturers have paid attention to chiplets, a back-end packaging technology that reduces costs by connecting multiple chips into one.

A chiplet is a technology that mixes chips with multiple functions right into a single chip. If the prevailing system-on-chip (SoC) structure is made by combining multiple functions right into a single chip, chiplet is a technology that makes chips with different functions into one package.

The largest advantage of chiplets is that semiconductors with the identical performance will be produced at a much lower cost. As well as, if chiplet technology is used, yield will be improved through a technique of connecting dies after division production into small dies.

Generally, when multiple circuits are put right into a single semiconductor, it’s advantageous to enhance yield by making the semiconductor smaller in order that even a single defect causes a defect.

Above all, it’s also a strength that development is efficient. Chips are divided by function, so you should purchase and use chips aside from chips with core technologies. In other words, individual corporations can focus more on developing core technologies.

Chiplets will be designed and manufactured quickly because GPU, CPU, memory, power and control devices are combined as needed.

Global corporations are already introducing products with chiplet technology. Intel recently introduced a processor called ‘Ponte Vecchio’ with 47 chipsets to be utilized in powerful supercomputers, and AMD also accelerated generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC), resembling large language models (LLM), on the thirteenth. unveiled the ‘Instinct MI300X’ GPU, a server chip for The product combines 12 chiplets produced within the TSMC 5-nano class (N5) process.

Recently, TSMC can be reported to have began operating a factory in Taiwan answerable for advanced chiplet post-processing. On this plant, manufacturing lines specialized for advanced system semiconductors resembling HPC, AI, and application processors (APs) are operated.

The chiplet market can be a significant battleground within the ‘semiconductor war’ between the US and China.

Market research firm Yole Group predicts that by 2027, chiplet-style designs can be utilized in 80% of microprocessors. But the issue the US is facing is the incontrovertible fact that Asian corporations are dominating the packaging technology. The US accounts for about 12% of world semiconductor production, but only 3% if it is restricted to packaging.

In response, the US is pushing related industries as a policy. A typical example is the inclusion of support for advanced packaging factories within the CHIPS Act passed last yr. Commerce Secretary Gina Lamondo said in February, “As chips get smaller, the packaging that arranges them becomes more vital. We now have to do it within the US.”

The Department of Commerce is currently accepting applications for semiconductor law grants that include packaging plants, and can be allocating funding for a research program on advanced packaging. Some packaging corporations are moving quickly to get funding, and Integra Technology, which has announced a $1.8 billion (about 2.5 trillion won) plant expansion plan and is appealing for the necessity for subsidies, is one in every of them.

China can be turning its eyes to chiplets as miniaturization of the semiconductor process is blocked by the US check.

VeriSilicon, China’s No. 1 semiconductor IP company, recently supplied a lot of semiconductor design assets (IP) to Blue Ocean, a neighborhood AI semiconductor startup. The supplied IP is characterised by adopting a chiplet structure with a general-purpose central processing unit (GPGPU) and a neural network processing unit (NPU) because the fundamental axes.

Blue Ocean plans to develop high-performance AI semiconductor chips with a chiplet structure. The AI ​​semiconductor developed by Blue Ocean is estimated to be around 10 nanometers when it comes to easy process.

Chinese fabless Longson can be developing chiplet-based CPUs, and Chinese startup Byren Technology has also developed chiplet-based GPUs.

The accelerated development of chiplets by Chinese corporations will be read as an try and break through the US check. Although the USA imposed massive restrictions on China’s high-tech semiconductor processes, there are relatively few sanctions on design and packaging.

It’s analyzed that high-performance chips can’t be developed with advanced processes, in order that they are attempting to make a breakthrough with chiplets.

If China achieves tangible results with its chiplet technology, there may be a high possibility that the US will impose sanctions on advanced packaging as well.

China has also prepared its own chiplet standard to organize for this, and has begun to reply. China formed its own alliance called the ‘China Chiplet League’ and invited domestic integrated semiconductor corporations (IDM), IP, and packaging corporations to participate.

The important thing goal is to develop China’s own chiplet standard in response to ‘UCIe’, a chiplet standards group formed by Intel, Google, ARM, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and TSMC. Recently, ‘ACC 1.0’, an independent chiplet connection interface standard, has been announced.

China-based TF International Securities evaluated in a report in March that “from China’s perspective, chiplets is usually a key solution to interrupt through the bottleneck.”

Reporter Park Chan cpark@aitimes.com