Qualcomm to bring Monolithic 3D IC tech to smartphones
Keywords:Qualcomm? Monolithic 3D? 3DV? smartphone?
As early as next year, Qualcomm is looking to leverage Monolithic 3D IC technology to gain market share in the $8 billion smartphone market, noted Karim Arabi, VP of engineering at Qualcomm. The company now calls it "3DV" and plans to use it for future scaling.

"Our 3D VLSI technology, which we call 3DV, enables die size to be shrunk in half, while simultaneously increasing yields...The final advantage of 3DV chips," Arabi said, "is that you only need to use the most expensive and latest node technology on the bottom layer. For instance, the bottom layer housing the CPU, GPU and other high-speed devices can be fabricated at 10nm to 14nm, whereas the higher layers housing less critical functions can be fabricated at a less expensive relaxed node of, say, 28nm."

Related Articles | Editor's Choice |
Visit Asia Webinars to learn about the latest in technology and get practical design tips.