SYSTEM IN A PACKAGE (SIP)

A system in package or SIP is a way of grouping two or more integrated circuits into a single package. This is in contrast to system-on-a-chip, or SoC, where the functions of these chips are built into a single chip.

SiP has existed as a multi-chip module since the 1980s. Instead of placing chips on a circuit board, they can be combined into a single package to reduce cost or reduce the distance electrical signals have to travel. Previously, connections were made using wired connections.

While SiP found limited acceptance in its early forms, much work has recently been done to improve the concept with 2.5D and 3D ICs, as well as box packages and flip-flop chips. There are several key factors behind these changes:

1. Analog IP does not shrink from one process node to another as easily as digital circuitry, making it excessively time-consuming and costly to transfer an IC design from one process node to another according to Moore's Law. In older process geometry, being able to reduce only digital components and keep them analog is becoming more attractive, but this also requires sophisticated communication between matrices.

2. Longer and thinner cables are needed to reduce properties and add more functionality to semiconductors, increasing the time taken for signals to travel on the chip. By packing together different chips, which are connected via an interlever or a silicon path, these signals can be accelerated by shorter cable distances and wider lines.

3. The need to extend battery life in mobile devices requires ways to reduce the amount of energy needed to drive signals. Decreasing the distance signals must travel, especially in and out of memory, and increasing the width of the lines has a direct effect on the amount of energy used to drive the signals.