Active solid-state devices (e.g. – transistors – solid-state diode – Housing or package – Multiple housings
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-25
2003-07-15
Cao, Phat X. (Department: 2814)
Active solid-state devices (e.g., transistors, solid-state diode
Housing or package
Multiple housings
C257S777000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06593646
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to packages for integrated-circuits and, more particularly, to an integrated-circuit package which contains two similar integrated-circuit chips positioned back-to-back to increase the capacity of the package.
2. Prior Art
A typical integrated-circuit chip has bonding-pads located around its edges. To connect each bonding-pad to an exterior package pin, a lead frame has bonding fingers, the ends of which are located adjacent to the bonding-pads of the chip and which are connected to external package leads or pins. To connect the bonding-pads on the integrated-circuit chip to the bonding fingers of the lead frame, short, thin bonding wires are connected, or wire-bonded, between each bonding-pad and an adjacent bonding finger. It should be understood that, when the same chips with identical wire-bonding-pads are placed back-to-back in a package, the bonding-pads of one of the chips are reversed with respect to the bonding fingers on the lead frame. However, for an integrated-circuit package with back-to-back chips, it is a requirement that certain external package pins and their corresponding bonding fingers be shared in common. This is difficult to obtain because, in order to connect the reversed bonding-pads to the common bonding fingers of a lead frame, certain bonding wires would have to extend across the chip to reach corresponding reversed bonding-pads on the opposite side of the chip These thin bonding wires would be very long and consequently subject to a number of problems, including, for example, shorting and wire wash as the chips are encapsulated with a viscous encapsulation material.
To increase the capacity of an integrated-circuit package, two integrated-circuit chips, or chips, can be placed back-to-back. For example, the storage capacity of a memory type of integrated-circuit package can be doubled by using two of the same memory chips in a common package. Certain address pins, output pins, and power pins are common to both chips and can be tied together.
The same integrated-circuit chip cannot be used in a back-to-back package configuration. In a back-to-back configuration, the chips are reversed with respect to each other and same chip pads cannot be connected the same bonding fingers and package pins. As a consequence, if two back-to-back chips are to be used in a package, one of the chips must have a reversed bonding-pads layout. This requires that two different mask sets be used to fabricate two different integrated-circuit chips with different bonding-pad layouts. As the line widths for integrated-circuit processes get smaller and smaller, the corresponding mask sets are significantly increasing in cost, so that having two different mask sets for a back-to-back package of similar integrated-circuits is an expensive undertaking.
What is needed is a cost-effective technique for providing integrated-circuit packages with back-to-back chips which can share common package pins.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a cost-effective technique for providing an integrated-circuit chip assembly which has back-to-back chips which are adapted to share common package pins and which are fabricated with the same masks.
In accordance with this and other objects of the invention, a double-sized chip assembly for two back-to-back integrated-circuit chips is provided with a single integrated-circuit layout and a single mask sets. This is accomplished by providing an electrically selectable bonding-pad connection option which provides for a first bonding-pad layout and a second bonding-pad option. One option provides a standard bonding-pad layout and the other option provides a reversed bonding-pad layout.
A double-sized, back-to-back, wire-bonded integrated-circuit chip assembly and method includes a pair of integrated-circuit chips, each having one or more reversible wire-bonding-pads. The chips are adapted to be centrally mounted back-to-back within a lead frame having inwardly-extending bonding fingers. One of the chips has its wire-bonding-pads electrically reversed such that the pads for similar functions are located ear each other for wire-bonding to a common bonding finger of a lead frame.
A bonding-option wire-bonding-pad has an external voltage applied to it to indicate whether the integrated-circuit chip is to provide a standard pattern for the reversible wire-bonding-pads, or a reversed option RO pattern for the reversible wire-bonding-pads. A voltage sensor circuit senses the voltage applied to the bonding-option wire-bonding-pad and alternatively generates either a standard NRO gate control signal or a non-standard, reversed RO gate control signal from the voltage state of the bonding-option wire-bonding-pad.
Two or more bonding-option wire-bonding-pads and voltage sensor circuits generate various bonding option logic signals. A logic circuit generates standard NRO and non-standard, reversed RO gate control signals from the one or more bonding option logic signals.
The gate circuits include a complementary-transistor output amplifier.
A double-sized, back-to-back, wire-bonded integrated-circuit chip assembly uses identical chips which are fabricated with the same mask sets. When mounted back-to-back, one of the pair of identical chips has some of its wire-bonding pads reversed to provide connections to commonly used bonding fingers of a lead frame.
An integrated-circuit chip is provided with one or more pairs of reversible wire-bonding-pads to alternatively provide either a standard pattern for the reversible wire-bonding-pads or a non-standard, reversed wire-bonding pattern for the reversible wire-bonding-pads. The chip includes a first wire-bonding-pad and a second wire-bonding-pad. First and second common signal lines are provided on the integrated-circuit chip. Two gate circuits are provided for each wire-bonding-pad. An output signal terminal of each gate circuit is connected to either a first or a second common signal line. A standard wire-bonding configuration control NRO signal operates one of the gate circuits on each wire-bonding pad to provide a standard pattern for the first wire-bonding-pads,. The standard pattern connects one of the wire-bonding-pad to a first common signal line and the second wire-bonding pad to a second wire-bonding pad.
A non-standard, reversed wire-bonding configuration control RO signal operates the other gate circuits on each wire-bonding pad gate circuit to alternatively provide a non-standard, reversed pattern for the wire-bonding-pads.
The NRO signal provides a predetermined standard bonding-pad configuration for the integrated-circuit chip and the RO signal provides a predetermined alternative reversed bonding-pad configuration for the integrated-circuit chip.
A plurality of pairs of first and second wire-bonding-pads can be switched to respective pairs of common signal lines.
A bonding-option wire-bonding-pad is used to program the connections to the bonding-wire pads prior to encapsulation of the chips. A voltage sensor circuit senses the voltage applied to the bonding-option wire-bonding-pad and alternatively generates either a standard NRO gate control signal or a non-standard, reversed RO gate control signal from the voltage state of the bonding-option wire-bonding-pad.
Two or more bonding-option wire-bonding-pads are used for a number of control options, two of which are the NRO and the RO options. Corresponding voltage sensor circuits are provided for respectively sensing the voltage applied to the respective bonding-option wire-bonding-pads. A bonding option logic signal array generates one or more bonding option logic signals and a logic circuit generates standard NRO and non-standard, reversed RO gate control signals from the one or more bonding option logic signals.
One specific embodiment of the invention includes three bonding-option wire-bonding-pads each of which are adapted to having an external voltage applied thereto such that the logic circuit for generating standard NRO and non-standa
Cao Phat X.
King Patrick T.
Nanoamp Solutions Inc.
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