SiliconPipe licenses Supercharged Copper™ interconnect technology that:

• Extends performance of copper interconnect systems beyond 100Mbps.
• Reduces power requirements for high-performance systems.
• Reduces time-to-market for high-performance systems
• Reduces design cost for high-performance systems.

The Case for the Supercharged Copper Interconnect System

SiliconPipe’s Supercharged Copper interconnect system simplifies design and extends the performance of copper interconnects from 100Mbps up to 25Gbps and beyond. Systems designed using Supercharged Copper technology move data chip-to-chip at higher speeds using less power. Because SiliconPipe architecture reduces the complexity of key interconnect components, Supercharged Copper interconnect systems require less lead time than conventional systems.

The Value Proposition for Supercharged Copper

Extends the Performance of Copper-Based Interconnections

Package to Package Supercharged Copper interconnects have the capability to provide performance comparable to native on-chip interconnects. Structures based on Supercharged Copper have been modeled to perform at up to 25Gbps over a 75cm path with excellent noise margins.

Lowers Power Requirements in Any System

In addition to extending performance, Supercharged Copper technology allows designers to build simple, constant -impedance data paths that bring a significant reduction in power requirements to any system. Actual tests of a demonstration system confirmed a 60 percent noise margin for a 100mV I/O, at up to 10Gbps, over a 75cm IC-to-IC path, through two connectors and a backplane.

Reduces Time-to-Market and Design Development Costs

Supercharged Copper technology is based on modifications to standard IC packages, connectors, PCBs and backplanes, making development times relatively short. Supercharged Copper interconnect structures are fundamentally simple and symmetric, allowing Supercharged Copper solutions to scale economically across a wide performance range while remaining highly likely to work the first time.

Manufacturable within the current state-of-the-art

Because IC packages, PCBs and connector that use Supercharged Copper technology are modifications of existing products, they do not require the ancillary development of new equipment, materials or processes. Components that adopt Supercharged Copper technology can be developed and provided by existing suppliers of standard components.

Here’s how Supercharged Copper works:

First, separate high-speed signals from other signals…

SiliconPipe interconnect designs modify standard IC packages, connectors, PCBs and backplanes so that high-speed signals are separated from control signals, power and ground.

Second, eliminate all vias and stubs from the high-speed signal path…

SiliconPipe IC packages contain no vias in the high-speed signal path. Off-The-Top takes high-speed signals directly to the top of a substrate layer and out to a flex cable where the high-speed signal path connects directly to another IC or connector.

Third, take further steps to insure constant characteristic impedance for the high-speed signal path…

SiliconPipe technology also includes methods to reduce loading of high-speed data lines, including low-load ESD protection and techniques for embedding passive components into PCB structures.