1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to multi-layer system-on-chip (SoC) module structures and, more particularly, to a multi-layer SoC module structure applicable to SoCs.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic products play an important role in our daily lives and have a bigger market share each year. In order to grab consumers' attention and claim an early market share, it is necessary for manufacturers to continuously develop a variety of electronic products that suit consumers' habit of use. More importantly, product development must be completed in a short time frame.
In an attempt to shorten product development cycles and reduce costs, it is common practice for SoC modules in different products to be designed with basic structures that have the same specifications. For instance, the SoC-based fundamental-frequency components of portable communication products of different models may use elements having the same specifications, such as microcontrollers, digital signal processors, buses, digital-analog converters, codecs, modulators, and so on. After the basic structures are selected, system designers design and add extended functions to the basic structures according to market needs and cost considerations, so as to form portable communication products with different powers.
During the aforesaid development and design stages of SoC modules, system designers may select the basic structures on their own or use the basic structures provided by manufacturers. It is also possible to introduce silicon intellectual property from external design teams. In either case, however, the designed SoC modules must be fabricated and verified. Therefore, even though system designers have participated in the entire design process, the subsequent fabrication and verification still require high labor costs.
If the design process can be further extended into and integrated with fabrication and verification, that is, if certain elements of a packaged SoC modules are pre-fabricated and verified products, then system designers will be allowed to focus only on the design, fabrication, and verification of those elements with the additional extended functions. Thus, the time required for developing and testing SoC modules can be significantly shortened, and design errors are minimized, thereby lowering the development costs. Moreover, as consumers strongly prefer compact electronic products, with the volume of the SoC module effectively reduced, the finished electronic products are far more likely to satisfy consumers.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a multi-layer SoC module structure wherein each connector module layer is configured to electrically connect two circuit board module layers. Thus, the SoC module structure is constructed as a three-dimensional structure and allows system designers to design SoC module structures in a highly flexible manner.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a multi-layer SoC module structure wherein connector modules are configured to allow the addition of circuit board modules according to practical needs, thereby facilitating the function-extension ability of SoC modules.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a multi-layer SoC module structure wherein circuit board modules in the circuit board module layers can be fabricated and verified in advance so as to shorten the verification time of SoC modules.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a multi-layer SoC module structure which allows system designers to combine circuit board modules of different functions and thus form various SoC modules.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a multi-layer SoC module structure wherein circuit board modules can be fabricated and verified in advance such that system designers only have to design extended functions for special specifications, thus saving the time and costs of development.
To achieve the above and other objectives, the present invention provides a multi-layer SoC module structure which includes: at least two circuit board module layers, each circuit board module layer being composed of at least one circuit board module, wherein each circuit board module includes a first circuit board, at least one preset element provided on and electrically connected to the first circuit board, and at least one first connection interface provided on and electrically connected to the first circuit board and electrically connected to the said preset element; and at least one connector module layer composed of at least one connector module, wherein each connector module layer is sandwiched between two of the circuit board module layers such that the first connection interfaces of the two multi-layer circuit board module layers are electrically connected to each other.
Implementation of the present invention involves at least the following inventive steps:
1. With each connector module layer electrically connecting two circuit board module layers, the SoC module structure is constructed as a three-dimensional structure, thus increasing the structural flexibility of SoC modules.
2. The provision of the connector modules allows the circuit board modules to be added as appropriate. Thus, the functions of SoC modules can be easily extended.
3. As the circuit board modules in the circuit board module layers can be fabricated and verified beforehand, the verification time of SoC modules can be shortened to reduce the time and cost of development.
4. System designers may combine circuit board modules of different functions so as to form a diversity of SoC modules.
A detailed description of further features and advantages of the present invention is given below so that a person skilled in the art is enabled to understand and implement the technical contents of the present invention and readily comprehend the objectives and advantages thereof by reviewing the disclosure of the present specification and the appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
With reference to
The preset elements 212 may include at least one die or a plurality of dies or non-die elements. As the dies are bare dies, the circuit board module 210 further includes an encapsulation 220 for encapsulating the dies and preventing the dies from being affected by moisture or damaged by external force. On the other hand, non-die elements can be electrically connected to the first circuit board 211 using a stacked package technique (not shown) such that the preset elements 212 of the circuit board module 210 includes stacked package elements. The preset elements 212 may also include at least one chip or a plurality of chips, wherein the chips are packaged chips (not shown).
Each preset element 212 can be a processor element, a memory element, an input/output element, a wireless device element, a power management element, a sensor element, a heat dissipation element, a display element, etc. Depending on the types and functions of the preset elements 212, the circuit board module 210 can be a processor sub-module, a memory sub-module, an input/output sub-module, a wireless device sub-module, a power management sub-module, a power supply sub-module, a sensor sub-module, a heat dissipation sub-module, a display sub-module, a connecting and wiring sub-module, or a combination thereof.
The first connection interfaces 213 are provided on and electrically connected to the first circuit board 211 and electrically connected to the preset elements 212. The first connection interfaces 213 can be a plurality of solder pads or solder balls, wherein the solder balls may form ball grid arrays. The first connection interfaces 213, which may be provided on the first surface 215 alone or on both the first surface 215 and the second surface 216, are electrically connected to the corresponding first circuit layers 214.
For example, as shown in
As shown in
Referring back to
The second circuit board 311 is composed of at least two second circuit layers 313, wherein the outermost second circuit layers 313 form a third surface 314 and a fourth surface 315, respectively. The third surface 314 is depicted as an upper surface of the second circuit board 311, and the fourth surface 315 as a lower surface of the second circuit board 311. Likewise, each of the second circuit layers 313 has an independent circuit design, and the second circuit layers 313 are electrically connected to one another, thus allowing a high-density circuit structure to be built in the second circuit board 311.
The second connection interfaces 312 are provided on the third surface 314 and the fourth surface 315 of the second circuit board 311, respectively, and are electrically connected to the corresponding second circuit layers 313. Each second connection interface 312 can be a ball grid array, as shown in
Referring again to
Referring to
System designers may interconnect the common-element circuit board modules 210a by means of the connector modules 310 and then add the functional-element circuit board modules 210b according to the desired functions, thus easily extending the functions of the SoC module structure 100. Since all the circuit board modules 210 can be fabricated and verified in advance, the verification time of the SoC module structure 100 can be shortened substantially to reduce the time and costs of development.
For example, with reference to
Preferably, the first connection interfaces 213 of the circuit board modules 210 match the second connection interfaces 312 of the connector modules 310 in specification. Thus, system designers may add more circuit board modules 210 via the connector modules 310 wherever and whenever desired and may connect the circuit board modules 210 in many different ways. For example, referring to
As shown in
In the SoC module structure 120 shown in
As shown in
The foregoing embodiments are illustrative of the characteristics of the present invention so as to enable a person skilled in the art to understand the disclosed subject matter and implement the present invention accordingly. The embodiments, however, are not intended to restrict the scope of the present invention. Hence, all equivalent modifications and variations made in the foregoing embodiments without departing from the spirit and principle of the present invention should fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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098136383 | Oct 2009 | TW | national |