The use of multichip module technology in system miniaturisation

Application examples of miniaturisation are presented, and indicate that the most effective way to capitalise on the advantages offered by hybrid and Multi-Chip Module (MCM) technologies is to begin the design process at the system design stage. Typically 40% of all costs of manufacture of electronic systems is spent on board to board connections, with backplanes, connectors, and packaging, and this can be dramatically reduced if the system is optimised and costed as a whole. The analogue world is not as easy to integrate as the digital counterpart, largely due the difficulty of providing enough functions on the same chip, and obtaining the accuracy of resistors and values of capacitance needed. In these circumstances hybrid technology-the ability to mix devices of all types onto a single substrate-offers the best route to reducing unnecessary packaging and interconnect, leading to savings in manufacture that far outweigh the tooling costs