Research Article
Through Silicon Via-Based Grid for Thermal Control in 3D Chips
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-642-04850-0_14, author={Jos\^{e} Ayala and Arvind Sridhar and Vinod Pangracious and David Atienza and Yusuf Leblebici}, title={Through Silicon Via-Based Grid for Thermal Control in 3D Chips}, proceedings={Nano-Net. 4th International ICST Conference, Nano-Net 2009, Lucerne, Switzerland, October 18-20, 2009. Proceedings}, proceedings_a={NANO-NET}, year={2012}, month={5}, keywords={}, doi={10.1007/978-3-642-04850-0_14} }- José Ayala
Arvind Sridhar
Vinod Pangracious
David Atienza
Yusuf Leblebici
Year: 2012
Through Silicon Via-Based Grid for Thermal Control in 3D Chips
NANO-NET
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-04850-0_14
Abstract
3D stacked chips have become a promising integration technology for modern systems. The complexity reached in multi-processor systems has increased the communication delays between processing cores, and an effective way to diminish this impact on communication is the 3D integration technology and the use of through-silicon vias (TSVs) for inter-layer communication. However, 3D chips present important thermal issues due to the presence of processing units with a high power density, which are not homogeneously distributed in the stack. Also, the presence of hot-spots creates thermal gradients that impact negatively on the system reliability and relate with the leakage power consumption. Thus, new approaches for thermal control of 3D chips are in great need. This paper discusses the use of a grid and non-uniform placement of TSVs as an effective mechanism for thermal balancing and control in 3D chips. We have modelled the material layers and TSVs mathematically using a detailed calibration phase based on a real 5-tier 3D chip stack, where several heaters and sensors are manufactured to study the heat diffusion. The obtained results show interesting conclusions and new in- sights in the area of thermal modeling and optimization for 3D chips using TSVs.
