How Intel Took EMIB From Science Fiction to High Volume: Intel Foundry's Ravi Mahajan

Intel's EMIB technology represents a scalable, cost-effective advanced packaging solution that now serves as a core strategic differentiator for its foundry services. Ravi Mahajan, a distinguished engineer at Intel Foundry, joins Austin to detail EMIB's 20-year journey from a "science fiction" concept to a high-volume manufacturing reality. They discuss the principle behind EMIB, interconnect where you need it and only where you need it: small silicon bridges carry the fine-pitch die-to-die signals, while the organic substrate's thick metal still delivers power and everything else. They also cover its manufacturing advantages over CoWoS and Intel's forward-looking roadmap for active bridges and top-side optics.

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"When first envisioned, this was almost science fiction because the bridge I was talking about is roughly half the thickness of an A4 sheet of paper. So imagine being able to manipulate tiny strips of silicon like that."
— Ravi Mahajan, Intel Foundry

Key Takeaways:

- EMIB was invented to outpace organic packages, whose wire escape density at the die edge improved only about 10% per generation. The principle Ravi keeps returning to is interconnect where you need it and only where you need it: fine-pitch silicon in small local patches at the die edges, with the organic substrate's thick metal still carrying power and everything else. Fine wires are a poor way to deliver power anyway, and small bridges cut from a wafer keep the silicon cost down.

- Bringing EMIB from concept to production required the convergence of five distinct technologies, including a custom 4-layer silicon process and handling dies half the thickness of an A4 sheet of paper.

- Intel strategically chose HBM as EMIB's first driver, betting that if it could solve for the highest-performance memory interconnect, the technology could then "waterfall down" to all other less demanding applications.

- EMIB's advantage over CoWoS is manufacturing scale. Silicon only where you need it means small bridges instead of a full-sized silicon interposer, avoiding its high cost and poor wafer utilization, which is critical for large, multi-reticle AI packages.

- The EMIB portfolio was planned from the start. The original patent included EMIB-T, which uses TSVs to solve the "torturous" power delivery path of routing power around the bridge instead of through it.

- EMIB is an Intel Foundry exclusive. Packaging dies from other foundries is logistically straightforward, positioning advanced packaging as a key strategic differentiator for Intel's services.

- Intel's future roadmap includes top-side optics, using the top surface of the package for optical I/O to complement the electrical I/O on the bottom, dramatically increasing total package bandwidth.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro: Ravi Mahajan
1:44 Pathfinding & The HIR Roadmap
7:58 The Two Drivers of EMIB
15:15 Decoupling I/O and Power
16:27 The 'Science Fiction' of EMIB
20:36 HBM as the Killer App
25:06 EMIB vs. CoWoS
31:44 Chiplets, UCIe, and Packaging Tiers
34:08 The EMIB Portfolio: T, M, Active
37:01 An Intel Foundry Exclusive
41:21 AI's Role in Packaging
43:26 Future: Top-Side Optics

Mentioned in this episode:

- NEW EPISODE: Synopsys’s Amazon Deal and GPT-Synopsys: Ravi Subramanian (Semi Doped episode): https://daily.semidoped.com/p/new-episode-synopsys-will-take-a

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