The market potential and development trend of SiP technology in the field of 5G communication are receiving extensive attention from the industry. With the commercialization of 5G technology, there is an increasing demand for high-performance, low-power, and miniaturized packaging, and SiP technology has become one of the key technologies in the 5G era because it can integrate multiple functional chips in one package to achieve better performance and space-saving characteristics.
The packaging requirements of 5G millimeter wave devices have given rise to the development of heterogeneous and heterogeneous integration technologies. This technology can integrate high-performance millimeter-wave active devices based on new semiconductor materials such as GaAs and GaN, radio frequency (RF) microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS), passive devices, and silicon-based circuit modules into a fully functional two-dimensional or three-dimensional integrated circuit, giving full play to the advantages of dissimilar materials/dissimilar structural devices.
SiP technology addresses the need for a high degree of integration of 5G systems by integrating RF, analog, digital functions, and passives, as well as other system components, within a single package module. 2.5D/3D SiP technology is regarded as an important breakthrough in 5G system packaging due to its high integration.
5G packaging puts forward more stringent requirements for substrate materials, including low loss, high heat dissipation, and excellent electrical performance. Currently, low-loss laminates, low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCCs), and glass substrates are the mainstream substrate materials in 5G packages.
In order to meet the high level of integration requirements of 5G packaging, traditional wire bonding technologies have been gradually replaced by advanced interconnect technologies such as flip form, through-silicon via (TSV), and fan-out packaging. TSV technology has a wide range of applications in vertical package stacking, which enables the integration of different functional chips through silicon channels vertically through different chips or layers.
Figure: Trends in the use of SiP in 5G devices
Market potential
Growing demand for 5G handsets: The rollout of 5G handsets has driven the demand for SiP technology, especially the integration of mmWave 5G handsets, which is expected to increase the use of SiP modules.
Wearables: With the hot sales of wearable devices such as Apple's AirPods, the application of SiP technology in these devices is also showing strong growth momentum, which is expected to further drive the market.
RF front-end modules: 5G mobile phones need to integrate more RF front-end and other components, and the application of SiP technology in RF front-end modules will become an important driver for market growth.
Trends
Technological advancements: SiP technologies are moving towards higher performance and higher levels of integration, including 2.5D/3D SiP technologies and chiplet-based SiP technologies, which will further advance the development of 5G system devices.
Industry chain cooperation: With the development of SiP technology, the cooperation between the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain has become closer, including wafer fabs, packaging and testing fabs, IC design companies, etc., to jointly promote the progress and application of SiP technology.
Application field expansion: In addition to 5G mobile phones and wearable devices, the application of SiP technology is expanding to more fields, such as high-performance computing, automotive electronics, industrial automation, etc., showing broad market prospects.
