Semiconductor Packaging Is No Longer 'Standard'

2/11/2014 01:45 PM EST

Do you remember the days when a semiconductor product was multi-sourced and presented in standard packaging? Standard packaging used to be basic through-hole products like DIPs and PGAs. In the 1990s, surface mount packaging became the new volume packaging, but components were still available in standard packaging configurations and, many times, were multi-sourced. When component engineers or supply chain personnel would order a semiconductor product, the packaging options were understood and well-known by everyone. This held true until about 10 years ago when flip-chip packaging came into play; as a result, products are no longer multi-sourced.

The flagship products of the two leading FPGA vendors (Xilinx and Altera) have been entirely flip-chip for the past decade. Intel, AMD, TI, NVidia, and Freescale have all gone flip-chip with their leading processors. Each of these products has a distinctive flip-chip BGA substrate, where the cost is entirely carried by the unique product. No other semiconductor company shares in the expense or the volume justification of any flip-chip BGA substrate. Flip-chip packaging has enabled much of the advanced data rates and power resolution for these leading products. Without the bond wires of the old product, we see 10 GB data rates and 40 W of power that can be dissipated on some of these advanced products.

Package obsolescence is becoming common today and will only increase in the future. At Rochester Electronics, we have seen many cases where the silicon can still be manufactured, but packaging must be re-created or brought back on-line. In more and more cases, original component manufacturers' (OCMs') end-of-life (EOL) and obsolescence decisions are based more on the packaging cost/availability than the availability of the silicon. It's the economics of unique/differentiated packaging. The semiconductor OCM's turned to flip-chip based on market demands for their feature set. The result is that "standard packaging" is no more, and package obsolescence will drive product EOL at a more frequent rate going forward.