CAD tools for designing 3D integrated systems

Expectations of consumer for future consumer electronics devices put significant strain on conventional design and manufacturing processes. Integrating more functionality in a smaller form factor with lower power consumption and cost is pushing traditional semiconductor technology scaling to its limits. Three dimensional chip stacking is touted as the silver bullet technology that can keep Moore´s momentum and fuel the next wave of consumer electronics products. This paper outlines a generic methodology to design 3D systems.