Dual Paths Down the Cost Curve: Scaling and 3D

Joe Sawicki, VP and GM of the Design-to-Silicon Division for Mentor Graphics, joined us at the Semico Summit on Tuesday to discuss scaling and the conversion to 3D.  He focused on a motto of “Willful Optimism” for the future.

Moore’s Law has been a cornerstone of our industry for 40 years, and a trend the speakers at the 2011 Summit were discussing was “More than Moore,” an idea that we are moving away from density to integration.  Joe Sawicki addressed this idea by discussing how scaling can only get us so far with advancing our speed and storage capabilities.  By 2026, he said, if we hold to Moore’s Law, we’ll be holding half a year’s movie collection on our phone.

In the future, Mentor Graphics believes we may be seeing the “e-Cube,” where we’ll have cubes of semiconductors instead of a die.

In discussing transitioning to 3D, there are cost and thermal issues, regardless of the advantages.  As a stepping stone, the industry can obtain many of the advantages of 3D by using 2.5D, a cost effective method to swing into the next generation.

For Mentor Graphics, the question becomes how ICs will be created in the future to continue the advancements we’ve seen under the last 40 years with Moore’s Law – and they have some interesting ideas on how to get there – but we’ll need standards to accomplish their innovative ideas.

Michell Prunty

SR Consumer Analyst