RF/wireless interconnect for inter- and intra-chip communications

Recent studies showed that conventional approaches being used to solve prob lems imposed by hard-wired metal interconnects will eventually encounter fu ndamental limits and may impede the advance of future ultralarge-scale inte grated circuits (ULSIs). To surpass these fundamental limits, we introduce a novel RF-wireless interconnect concept for future inter- and intra-ULSI c ommunications. Unlike the traditional "passive" metal interconnect, the "ac tive" RF/wireless interconnect is based on low loss and dispersion-free mic rowave signal transmission, near-field capacitive coupling, and modern mult iple-access algorithms. In this paper, we address issues relevant to the si gnal channeling of the RF/wireless interconnect and discuss its advantages in speed, signal integrity, and channel reconfiguration. The electronic ove rhead required in the RF/wireless-interconnect system and its compatibility with the future ULSI and MCM (multi-chip-module) will be discussed as well .