A technique has been identified that will enable ultra high-density electronic packaging connectivity: chip to package; package to socket; and board to board (connector). Named "AC coupled interconnect", this approach has the potential to enable a massive increase in the functional density of connections across all layers of electronic packaging and permit pin counts to continue scaling. This technique will allow microprocessor chips to have thousands of pins, instead of the hundreds enabled today. It will allow connectors and sockets to also support thousands of pins. This will lead to faster computers, networking systems, etc.
The central thesis is this effort hinges on the recognition that the DC component of a digital signal carries no information, and that non-contacting AC connections can be built a lot denser and simpler than DC connections. An array of non-contacting structures is inherently denser, more compliant and more mechanically robust than an array of contacting structures. By imposing direct contacts only where DC current transfers are needed, this approach will allow very high density interconnects to be realized and alleviate the compliance and rework problems encountered in other high density interconnect technologies. The AC connections can be inductive, capacitive, or a combination of the two.
