There are challenges in addressing escalating power integrity requirements for high performance computing devices. Due to package and motherboard mechanical warpage concerns, corner glue and/or edge glue may be introduced on mobile platforms to enhance system stiffness. This may lead to additional printed circuit board (PCB) keep-out-zone (KOZ) requirements, which may impose restrictions on platform component placements as well as power delivery design. No platform component may be allowed within the corner glue and/or edge glue KOZ. Hence, PCB capacitors may be placed at least 2 mm further from a package edge, resulting in power integrity loadline and Vmin performance degradation as well as system form factor tradeoff due to increased board area.
Current solutions to address the above-mentioned challenges include:
The disadvantages of the above-mentioned solutions may include, but not limited to, increased system/silicon Bill of Materials (BOM) costs, increased package and/or PCB form-factor and increased device z-height profile (thickness) that prohibit device miniaturization.
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. The dimensions of the various features or elements may be arbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In the following description, various aspects of the present disclosure are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific details and aspects in which the present disclosure may be practiced. These aspects are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present disclosure. Various aspects are provided for devices, and various aspects are provided for methods. It will be understood that the basic properties of the devices also hold for the methods and vice versa. Other aspects may be utilized and structural, and logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The various aspects are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some aspects may be combined with one or more other aspects to form new aspects.
Present disclosure attempts to address the power integrity loadline and Vmin performance degradation as well as system form factor tradeoff due to increased board area.
Technical advantages of the present disclosure may include, but not limited to:
The present disclosure generally relates to a device, e.g., an electronic assembly. The electronic assembly may include a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall. The electronic assembly may also include a printed circuit board coupled to the second surface of the semiconductor package. The electronic assembly may further include at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the printed circuit board and the passive component array may be attached to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
The present disclosure also generally relates to a computing device. The computing device may include a printed circuit board and an electronic assembly coupled to the printed circuit board. The electronic assembly may include a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall, wherein the second surface of the semiconductor package may be coupled to the printed circuit board. The electronic assembly may also include at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the printed circuit board and the passive component array may be attached to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
The present disclosure further generally relates to a method. The method may include forming a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall. The method may also include coupling the second surface of the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board. The method may further include forming at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal. The method may also further include coupling the first terminal of the passive component to the printed circuit board and attaching the passive component array to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
To more readily understand and put into practical effect the present disclosure, particular aspects will now be described by way of examples and not limitations, and with reference to the drawings. For the sake of brevity, duplicate descriptions of features and properties may be omitted.
The term “multichip package” generally refers to an electronic assembly that may include two or more dies, chips, or chiplets (interchangeably used herein) that may be arranged laterally along the same plane.
In various aspects, the electronic assembly 100 may include a semiconductor package including a package substrate 102. In various aspects, the package substrate 102 may be, e.g., an organic substrate or a ceramic substrate. The package substrate 102 may include a first surface 102a and an opposing second surface 102b. The package substrate 102 may include contact pads, electrical interconnects and routings, and other features, which may or may not be shown in any of the present figures and which are conventional features known to a person skilled in the art.
The electronic assembly 100 may further include a printed circuit board (PCB) 104. The PCB 104 may be coupled to the second surface 102b of the package substrate 102 via a ball grid array (BGA) 106 including an array of electrically conducting balls.
In various aspects, the electronic assembly 100 may further include a stiffener 108. The stiffener 108 may be disposed on or coupled to the first surface 102a of the package substrate 102. In the aspect shown in
Various other components may be disposed on or coupled to the first surface 102a of the package substrate 102. In the aspect shown in
In various aspects, the electronic assembly 100 may further include one or more package edge capacitor arrays 114 for improved power integrity (PI) performance and device miniaturization. The package edge capacitor array 114 may be positioned in close proximity or next to an edge of the package substrate 102. In the aspect shown in
In various aspects, the package edge capacitor array 114 may include one or more capacitor components 116. The capacitor component 116 may be at least partially embedded in a mold layer 118. In the aspect shown in
In various aspects, the capacitor component 116 may include a first terminal 120a and an opposing second terminal 120b. In the aspect shown in
In various aspects, the electronic assembly 100 may further include a binding material 134, e.g., a glue, located on and adhered to the PCB 104 at one or more corners of the package substrate 102 to enhance stiffness of the electronic assembly 100. The binding material 134 may at least partially encapsulate the package edge capacitor array 114. Unlike a conventional electronic assembly, by attaching the capacitor array 114 to the stiffener 108, capacitor components 116 may be located within the corner glue keep-out-zone, thereby enhancing power integrity performance and device miniaturization. Examples of suitable glue materials may include, but not limited to, light curable acrylics, cationic epoxies, thermal curable acrylates, polyester resin, or polyurethane resin.
In an aspect, the second terminal 120b may extend away from the PCB 104 by a first height ranging from 150 μm to 500 μm.
In an aspect, the stiffener 108 may be configured away from the PCB 104 by a second height ranging from 100 μm to 400 μm.
In various aspects, the first terminal 120a may be coupled to a voltage regulator 128 and to the package substrate 102 through a board routing, solder layer and/or solder ball (collectively, 130) for a reduced AC loop inductance and/or noise mitigation for the power delivery to the one or more chiplets (112a, 112b). In an aspect, the first terminal 120a may be associated with a power supply voltage (Vcc), e.g., a 0.5V supply, a 1.0V supply, or a 3.3.V supply. In further aspects, the voltage regulator 128 may be further coupled to the first terminal 120a of the capacitor component 116 and to the second surface of the package substrate 102.
In various aspects, the second terminal 120b and the stiffener 108 may be associated with a ground reference voltage (Vss). The stiffener 108 may be coupled to the ground reference voltage (Vss) plane in the package substrate 102 through one or more package contact pads and a conductive layer, e.g., a solder layer or a conductive adhesive layer (collectively, 132).
It is to be understood and appreciated that while the present discussion may relate to an array including one or more capacitor components, other passive components such as resistors and inductors for signal termination or noise LC filtering purposes may likewise be used. In other words, in addition to a package edge capacitor array, a package edge resistor array or a package edge inductor array may also be used.
In the aspect shown in
In this top view, the footprint of the package edge capacitor arrays 114 may fall within the perimeter of the binding material 134. In other words, each package edge capacitor array 114 may be encapsulated by a respective binding material 134. Each package edge capacitor array 114 may be seen to at least partially surround a periphery of the package substrate 102. The second terminal 120b may be coupled to the second solder layer 126.
The footprints of the package substrate 102, stiffener 108, base die 110, first and second chiplets (112a, 112b), package edge capacitor arrays 114, mold layer 118, second terminal 120b, second solder layer 126, voltage regulator 128, and binding material 134 may all fall within the perimeter of the PCB 104.
In the aspect shown in
In an aspect, the package edge capacitor arrays 214 may be attached to the side wall of the stiffener 208 through the second solder layer 226 prior to the attachment of the package substrate 202 onto the PCB 204 (
Aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented into a system using any suitable hardware and/or software.
Depending on its applications, computing device 300 may include other components that may or may not be physically and electrically coupled to the motherboard 302. These other components may include, but are not limited to, volatile memory (e.g. DRAM), non-volatile memory (e.g. ROM), flash memory, a graphics processor, a digital signal processor, a cryptoprocessor, a chipset, an antenna, a display, a touchscreen display, a touchscreen controller, a battery, an audio codec, a video codec, a power amplifier, a global positioning system (GPS) device, a compass, a Geiger counter, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a speaker, a camera, and a mass storage device (such as hard disk drive, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), and so forth). In another aspect, the processor 304 of the computing device 300 may be packaged in an electronic assembly as described herein, and/or other semiconductor devices may be packaged together in an electronic assembly as described herein.
The communication chip 306 may enable wireless communications for the transfer of data to and from the computing device 300. The term “wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc. that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some aspects they might not. The communication chip 306 may implement any of a number of wireless standards or protocols, including but not limited to Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standards including Wi-Fi (IEEE 502.11 family), IEEE 502.16 standards (e.g., IEEE 502.16-2005 Amendment), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) project along with any amendments, updates, and/or revisions (e.g., advanced LTE project, ultra-mobile broadband (UMB) project (also referred to as “3GPP2”), etc.). IEEE 502.16 compatible BWA networks are generally referred to as WiMAX networks, an acronym that stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, which is a certification mark for products that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE 502.16 standards.
The communication chip 306 may also operate in accordance with a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved HSPA (E-HSPA), or LTE network. The communication chip 306 may operate in accordance with Enhanced Data for GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), or Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). The communication chip 306 may operate in accordance with Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), derivatives thereof, as well as any other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, and beyond. The communication chip 306 may operate in accordance with other wireless protocols in other aspects.
The computing device 300 may include a plurality of communication chips 306. For instance, a first communication chip 306 may be dedicated to shorter range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and a second communication chip 306 may be dedicated to longer range wireless communications such as GPS, EDGE, GPRS, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Ev-DO, and others.
In various implementations, the computing device 300 may be a laptop, a netbook, a notebook, an ultrabook, a smartphone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an ultra-mobile PC, a mobile phone, a desktop computer, a server, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, an entertainment control unit, a digital camera, a portable music player, or a digital video recorder. In an aspect, the computing device 300 may be a mobile computing device. In further implementations, the computing device 300 may be any other electronic device that processes data.
At operation 402, the method 400 may include forming a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall.
At operation 404, the method 400 may also include coupling the second surface of the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board.
At operation 406, the method 400 may include forming at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal.
At operation 408, the method 400 may further include coupling the first terminal of the passive component to the printed circuit board.
At operation 410, the method 400 may further include attaching the passive component array to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
It will be understood that the above operations described above relating to
Example 1 may include an electronic assembly. The electronic assembly may include a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall. The electronic assembly may also include a printed circuit board coupled to the second surface of the semiconductor package. The electronic assembly may further include at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the printed circuit board and the passive component array may be attached to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
Example 2 may include the electronic assembly of example 1 and/or any other example disclosed herein, further including a binding material adhering to a corner of the semiconductor package, wherein the binding material may at least partially encapsulate the passive component array.
Example 3 may include the electronic assembly of example 2 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein the semiconductor package may further include a stiffener coupled to the first surface of the semiconductor package, the stiffener including a side surface that may be proximal to the side wall of the semiconductor package, and wherein the second terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the side surface of the stiffener.
Example 4 may include the electronic assembly of example 1 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein the electronic assembly may include 4 passive component arrays.
Example 5 may include the electronic assembly of example 1 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein each passive component array may include 3 passive components.
Example 6 may include the electronic assembly of example 5 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein the one or more passive components may include one or more capacitors.
Example 7 may include the electronic assembly of example 2 and/or any other example disclosed herein, further including a voltage regulator coupled to the printed circuit board, wherein the voltage regulator may be further coupled to the first terminal of the passive component and to the second surface of the semiconductor package.
Example 8 may include the electronic assembly of example 2 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein the voltage regulator may be further coupled to the first terminal of the passive component via a board routing in the printed circuit board.
Example 9 may include the electronic assembly of example 1 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein the first terminal of the passive component may be associated to a power supply reference voltage (Vcc), and the second terminal of the passive component may be associated to a ground reference voltage (Vss).
Example 10 may include the electronic assembly of example 1 and/or any other example disclosed herein, further including one or more electronic components coupled to the first surface of the semiconductor package, wherein the first terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the one or more electronic components through the second surface of the semiconductor package.
Example 11 may include the electronic assembly of example 10 and/or any other example disclosed herein, wherein the one or more electronic components may include a central processing unit, a system-on-chip, a graphic processing unit, a deep learning processor, or a neural network processor.
Example 12 may include a computing device. The computing device may include a printed circuit board and an electronic assembly coupled to the printed circuit board. The electronic assembly may include a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall, wherein the second surface of the semiconductor package may be coupled to the printed circuit board. The electronic assembly may also include at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the printed circuit board and the passive component array may be attached to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
Example 13 may include the computing device of any one of examples 1 to 12 disclosed herein, further including a binding material adhering to a corner of the semiconductor package, wherein the binding material may at least partially encapsulate the passive component array.
Example 14 may include the computing device of any one of examples 1 to 13 disclosed herein, wherein the semiconductor package may further include a stiffener coupled to the first surface of the semiconductor package, the stiffener including a side surface that may be proximal to the side wall of the semiconductor package, and wherein the second terminal of the passive component may be coupled to the side surface of the stiffener.
Example 15 may include the computing device of any one of examples 1 to 14 disclosed herein, wherein the one or more passive components may include one or more capacitors.
Example 16 may include the computing device of any one of examples 1 to 15 disclosed herein, further including a voltage regulator coupled to the printed circuit board, wherein the voltage regulator is further coupled to the first terminal of the passive component and to the second surface of the semiconductor package.
Example 17 may include a method. The method may include forming a semiconductor package including a first surface, an opposing second surface, and a side wall. The method may also include coupling the second surface of the semiconductor package to a printed circuit board. The method may further include forming at least one passive component array including one or more passive components at least partially embedded in a mold layer, each passive component further including a first terminal and a second terminal. The method may also further include coupling the first terminal of the passive component to the printed circuit board and attaching the passive component array to the side wall of the semiconductor package.
Example 18 may include the method of example 17 and/or any other example disclosed herein, further including adhering a binding material to a corner of the semiconductor package to at least partially encapsulate the passive component array.
Example 19 may include the method of example 18 and/or any other example disclosed herein, further including coupling a stiffener to the first surface of the semiconductor package, the stiffener including a side surface that may be proximal to the side wall of the semiconductor package, and coupling the second terminal of the passive component to the side surface of the stiffener.
Example 20 may include the method of example 17 and/or any other example disclosed herein, further including coupling a voltage regulator to the printed circuit board, and further coupling the voltage regulator to the first terminal of the passive component and to the second surface of the semiconductor package.
The term “comprising” shall be understood to have a broad meaning similar to the term “including” and will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or operation or group of integers or operations but not the exclusion of any other integer or operation or group of integers or operations. This definition also applies to variations on the term “comprising” such as “comprise” and “comprises”.
The term “coupled” (or “connected”) used herein may be understood as electrically coupled or as mechanically coupled, e.g., attached or fixed or mounted, or just in contact without any fixation, and it will be understood that both direct coupling and indirect coupling (in other words, coupling without direct contact) may be provided.
While the present disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to specific aspects, it should be understood by persons skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The scope of the present disclosure is thus indicated by the appended claims and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced.