We are investigating 2.5D/3D integration of heterogeneous systems with varying system characteristics and power profile as a technology enabler for energy-efficient systems. We have developed techniques to address design challenges for 3D integrations. Currently, our research is focussed on understanding architectural implications of 3D/2.5D integration to enable orders of magnitude scaling in energy-efficiency for different applications. Our research includes :
Physical Interactions in 3D Stack: We are characterizing the impact of TSV-to-Device stress and electrical field coupling on device performance in 3D die-stacks. We are studying the die-to-die coupling of temperature and supply noise in 3D die-stacks and characterizing the impact of this effect on reliability as well as performance of 3D die-stacks.
Variation Tolerant 3D Design: We are exploring circuit and physical design methods to address die-to-die signal communication, clock delivery, and power delivery, noise coupling, and thermal coupling challenges. Our focus is to design process variation tolerant 3D die-stacks using adaptive supply and body-bias. The adaptive 3D architecture to tolerate dynamic and transient variations are also need to be characterized.
Applications: We are investigating applications of 2.5D/3D integrations for enabling orders of magnitude improvement in system level energy-efficiency. The application domains include high-performance sensors, specialized in-memory accelerators, and high-performance processors. Moreover, potential of 3D in addressing key design challenges, for example, power delivery and voltage regulation, are being explored.