A system in a package (SiP) or system-in-package is a number of

integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

s enclosed in one or more

chip carrier In electronics, a chip carrier is one of several kinds of surface-mount technology packages for integrated circuits (commonly called "chips"). Connections are made on all four edges of a square package; compared to the internal cavity for moun ...

packages that may be stacked using package on package. The SiP performs all or most of the functions of an

electronic system Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

, and is typically used inside a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

, digital music player, etc.

Die Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

s containing integrated circuits may be stacked vertically on a substrate. They are internally connected by fine

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...

s that are bonded to the package. Alternatively, with a

flip chip Flip chip, also known as controlled collapse chip connection or its abbreviation, C4, is a method for interconnecting dies such as semiconductor devices, IC chips, integrated passive devices and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), to extern ...

technology, solder bumps are used to join stacked chips together. A SiP is like a

system on a chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memor ...

(SoC) but less tightly integrated and not on a single semiconductor die. SiP dies can be stacked vertically or tiled horizontally, unlike less dense

multi-chip module A multi-chip module (MCM) is generically an electronic assembly (such as a package with a number of conductor terminals or "pins") where multiple integrated circuits (ICs or "chips"), semiconductor dies and/or other discrete components are in ...

s, which place dies horizontally on a carrier. SiP connects the dies with standard off-chip wire bonds or solder bumps, unlike slightly denser

three-dimensional integrated circuit A three-dimensional integrated circuit (3D IC) is a MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) integrated circuit (IC) manufactured by stacking as many as 16 or more ICs and interconnecting them vertically using, for instance, through-silicon vias (TSVs) or ...

s which connect stacked silicon dies with conductors running through the die. Many different 3D packaging techniques have been developed for stacking many fairly standard chip dies into a compact area. An example SiP can contain several chips—such as a specialized

processor Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) **Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit (I ...

DRAM Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...

flash memory Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both use ...

—combined with

passive components Passivity is a property of engineering systems, most commonly encountered in analog electronics and control systems. Typically, analog designers use ''passivity'' to refer to incrementally passive components and systems, which are incapable of p ...

—

resistor A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active e ...

s and

capacitor A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals. The effect of ...

s—all mounted on the same substrate. This means that a complete functional unit can be built in a multi-chip package, so that few external components need to be added to make it work. This is particularly valuable in space constrained environments like

MP3 players A portable media player (PMP) (also including the related digital audio player (DAP)) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. The data is typically stored o ...

and

mobile phones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

as it reduces the complexity of the

printed circuit board A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich str ...

and overall design. Despite its benefits, this technique decreases the yield of fabrication since any defective chip in the package will result in a non-functional packaged integrated circuit, even if all other modules in that same package are functional. SiPs are in contrast to the common

(''SoC'')

architecture which integrates components based on function into a single circuit die. An SoC will typically integrate a CPU, graphics and memory interfaces, hard-disk and USB connectivity,

random-access Random access (more precisely and more generally called direct access) is the ability to access an arbitrary element of a sequence in equal time or any datum from a population of addressable elements roughly as easily and efficiently as any othe ...

and read-only

memories Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembered, ...

and secondary storage and/or their controllers on a single die, whereas a SiP would connect these modules as

discrete components An electronic component is any basic discrete device or physical entity in an electronic system used to affect electrons or their associated fields. Electronic components are mostly industrial products, available in a singular form and are no ...

in one or more chip carrier packages. A SiP resembles the common traditional

motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

-based PC

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, which separates components based on function and connects them through a central interfacing circuit board. A SiP has a lower grade of integration in comparison to a SoC. Hybrid integrated circuits are somewhat similar to SiPs, however they tend to use older or less advanced technology (tend to use single layer circuit boards or substrates, not use die stacking, use wire bonding for connecting dies/devices or Small outline integrated circuit packages instead of flip chip or BGA, use Dual in-line packages, or Single in-line packages for interfacing outside the Hybrid IC instead of BGA, etc.) SiP technology is primarily being driven by early market trends in

wearables A wearable computer, also known as a body-borne computer, is a computing device worn on the body. The definition of 'wearable computer' may be narrow or broad, extending to smartphones or even ordinary wristwatches. Wearables may be for general ...

, mobile devices and the

internet of things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other com ...

which do not demand the high numbers of produced units as in the established consumer and business SoC market. As the internet of things becomes more of a reality and less of a vision, there is innovation going on at the

and SiP level so that microelectromechanical (MEMS) sensors can be integrated on a separate die and control the connectivity. SiP solutions may require multiple packaging technologies, such as

wire bonding Wire bonding is the method of making interconnections between an integrated circuit (IC) or other semiconductor device and its packaging during semiconductor device fabrication. Although less common, wire bonding can be used to connect an IC ...

, wafer-level packaging and more.By Tech Search International and Chip Scale Review Staff, Chip Scale Review. �
Major OSATs positioned for growth opportunities in SiP
” May/June Issue. Retrieved June 22, 2016.

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Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...

Amkor Technology Amkor Technology, Inc. is a semiconductor product packaging and test services provider. The company has been headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, since 2005, when it was moved from West Chester, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1968 and, , ha ...

Atmel Atmel Corporation was a creator and manufacturer of semiconductors before being subsumed by Microchip Technology in 2016. Atmel was founded in 1984. The company focused on embedded systems built around microcontrollers. Its products included mi ...

* AMPAK Technology Inc. * NANIUM, S.A. *

ASE Group Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (), also known as ASE Group (), is a provider of independent semiconductor assembling and test manufacturing services, with its headquarters in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Overview The company was founded in 1984 ...

* CeraMicro * ChipSiP Technology *

Cypress Semiconductor Cypress Semiconductor was an American semiconductor design and manufacturing company. It offered NOR flash memories, F-RAM and SRAM Traveo microcontrollers, PSoC programmable system-on-chip solutions, analog and PMIC Power Management ICs, Ca ...

* STATS ChipPAC Ltd *

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, ...

Renesas is a Japanese semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, initially incorporated in 2002 as Renesas Technology, the consolidated entity of the semiconductor units of Hitachi and Mitsubishi excluding their dynamic random-access memo ...

SanDisk SanDisk is a brand for flash memory products, including memory cards and readers, USB flash drives, solid-state drives, and digital audio players, manufactured and marketed by Western Digital. The original company, SanDisk Corporation was acquir ...

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

Silicon Labs Silicon Laboratories, Inc. (Silicon Labs) is a fabless global technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors, other silicon devices and software, which it sells to electronics design engineers and manufacturers in Internet of Th ...

* Octavo Systems *

Nordic Semiconductor Nordic Semiconductor (formerly Nordic VLSI) is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Trondheim, Norway, and focused on low-power wireless communications devices. Overview The company specializes in ultra-low-power performance wireles ...

* JCET

References

{{System on a chip Packaging (microfabrication) Integrated circuits Electronic design Microtechnology Computer systems

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See also

References