SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. plans to introduce its 64-bit Itanium microprocessor this year in a multichip-module package-and move to a radically new package for next-generation Willamette, Foster, and McKinley processors, according to industry sources.
It won't be the first time Intel has adopted an MCM for its processors, which entails mounting various bare die inside a package substrate. Intel's Pentium Pro used an MCM until it was succeeded by the monolithic Pentium II processor, which together with the Pentium III and Celeron now ship in flip-chip plastic ball-grid-array (FC-PBGA) packages.
In fact, Intel's said to be following the same strategy with Itanium by bonding bare die in the package until the functions can be integrated onto a single chip. Sources said the move lends credence to an assumption held by many industry insiders that Itanium, Intel's first 64-bit processor, is a market-opening device that will soon be succeeded by the monolithic McKinley chip in a new package.
While Intel has contended that Itanium is a full-production device, a company spokesman declined to comment on the package selection.
Of more interest to OEMs are reports from sources that the next-generation 64-bit McKinley and upcoming 32-bit Willamette and Foster processors will use a new FC-PBGA package with a revolutionary form of heat dissipation, more substrate layers, a new epoxy material, and new technology to form the substrate's vias. The new package will also use sockets on the motherboard, as Intel moves away from Slot 1 board attachment.
Sources said Intel will use a new heat-dissipation material for the next-generation packages, a substance derived from technology developed for the NASA space program.
One packaging-industry executive, who asked not to be named, said Intel has made minority investments in several small-materials companies, which have adapted the NASA heat-dissipation technology for semiconductors. The precise heat-dissipating material wasn't known.
Packaging analyst Jan Vardaman with TechSearch International Inc. in Austin, Tex., had no knowledge of Intel's plans, but said "thermal dissipation is probably the biggest packaging challenge facing high-performance microprocessor producers today. As processor chips get larger, add functions, and run faster, the manufacturers have to find new ways to get rid of the excessive heat created," she said.
According to sources, the package substrate will also use a new epoxy material that's less expensive than the epoxy used today.
Intel has been exploring a wide variety of new laminate substrates that can cut the cost of chips, especially for its flash memory and the new low-cost Timna PC processor. Intel said it remains committed to laminate substrates for all new processors and most of its other chips. Archrival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is using a ceramic package for Athlon, since the ceramics cost has been drastically cut by its key supplier, Kyocera Corp. of Japan.
The next-generation package will also continue a trend of adding more interconnect layers to the substrate. The latest Pentium III processors use 8-layer substrates, but sources believed the next generation MPUs may have substrates with 12 to 14 layers, which they said represents a significant packaging challenge.
Intel's new packages are also said to be using a different method to form vias in the substrate. Sources said the company has told customers it has developed a new technique that does not require the use of a mechanical drill or lasers, although details of the alternative remain sketchy. Some sources said plasma drilling has been investigated in some packaging labs, but it wasn't known if Intel was adopting this approach.
