TSMC launches 3Dblox 2.0

Last year, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) heralded the inception of the 3DFabric Alliance. This pioneering consortium in the semiconductor domain, in collaboration with its partners, is geared toward expediting the 3D IC ecosystem, furnishing comprehensive, premier solutions and services for semiconductor design, memory modules, substrate technology, testing, manufacturing, and packaging.

In the previous year, TSMC introduced the 3Dblox open standard, crafted with the intent to modularize and streamline the semiconductor industry’s 3D IC design solutions. It has now evolved into a pivotal catalyst for the future development of 3D integrated circuits. At this year’s OIP forum, TSMC unveiled the novel 3Dblox 2.0 open standard, imbued with nascent 3D IC design capabilities to further augment design efficiency. Furthermore, TSMC will inaugurate the 3Dblox committee, conceived as an autonomous standard-setting entity, with the ambitious objective of formulating a sector-wide specification enabling system designs to incorporate microchips from any vendor.

3Dblox 2.0, through its innovative early-stage design solutions, avails feasibility studies for 3D architectural exploration. For the first time in the industry, it juxtaposes power specifications with 3D physical structures within a cohesive milieu, simulating the entire 3D IC system’s power and thermal dynamics. Additionally, 3Dblox 2.0 supports chip design reuse capabilities, such as chip mirroring, to further enhance design efficacy. Currently, 3Dblox 2.0 has garnered the endorsement of TSMC’s primary EDA partners, spawning design solutions fully compatible with all TSMC 3DFabric offerings.

Over the past year, the 3DFabric Alliance has flourished at a brisk pace, perpetuating advancements in storage, substrate, testing, manufacturing, and integrated packaging, thereby facilitating its comprehensive 3D chip stacking and avant-garde packaging techniques for wider clientele utilization. Presently, TSMC remains ardently committed to proffering holistic, mature solutions and services to its clientele, and the roster of 3DFabric Alliance partners has expanded from an initial nineteen to a robust twenty-one.