Abstract
The 3-D Computer [1]–[4] is a unique implementation of a cellular array processor. We have developed two radically new technologies which enable massive numbers of communication channels both between silicon wafers and through them. A parallel processor (single instruction-multiple data stream cellular array processor) has been designed and built to demonstrate the potential of this technological approach. While the 3-D Computer which has been built and operated in a small scale implementation relative to the long-term aims of this technology, it is nevertheless an extremely powerful computer. The current feasibility demonstration 3-D Computer is a 32×32 array of processors partitioned over five wafers stacked one on top of another. The throughput of this current machine is >600 million operations per second (MOPS) with a 10 MHz clock, while the projected throughput of a full scale machine is >100 billion operations per second (BOPS), again with a 10 MHz clock. The extension of the level of circuit integration beyond that of VLSI and WSI, which is made possible by the 3-D technologies of wafer feedthroughs and microbridges, enable us to achieve these enormous throughputs in a very compact form and at very low power. The small size and low power attributes of the 3-D Computer result from the elimination of the chip level and board level packaging and the intraboard wiring required by conventional levels of circuit integration.
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M.J. Little, R.D. Etchells, J. Grinberg, S.P. Laub, J.G. Nash, and M.W. Yung, “The 3-D Computer,”Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Wafer Scale Integration, San Francisco, 1989.
J.M. Kallis, L.B. Duncan, S.P. Laub, M.J. Little, L.M. Miani, and D.C. Sandkulla, “Reliability of the 3-D Computer under Stress of Mechanical Vibration and Thermal Cycling,”Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Wafer Scale Integration, San Francisco, 1989.
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Little, M.J., Etchells, R.D., Grinberg, J. et al. The 3-D Computer. J VLSI Sign Process Syst Sign Image Video Technol 2, 79–87 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00934998
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00934998