In the rapid development of the semiconductor industry, Broadcom's latest technology, 3.5D F2F packaging technology, has become the focus of attention in the industry with its excellent performance improvement and power consumption reduction. This technology not only represents a new height in packaging technology, but also heralds a new breakthrough in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) chips. China Exportsemi will conduct an in-depth analysis of how Broadcom's 3.5D packaging technology will help Fujitsu's 2nm MONAKA processor, and the impact of this cooperation on the future AI chip market.
1. Technological innovation: Broadcom 3.5D F2F packaging technology
Broadcom's 3.5D XDSiP platform technology, as the industry's first 3.5D F2F packaging technology, has the core advantage of being able to integrate more than 6,000 square millimeters of silicon chips and up to 12 HBM memory stacks in a single package. This technology goes beyond the traditional 2.5D packaging technology and realizes the direct connection of the upper and lower metal layers on top of the chip, i.e., 3D hybrid copper bonding technology, which provides minimal electrical interference and superior mechanical strength.
In contrast to the traditional "back-to-back" vertical stacking of chips, the 3.5D XDSiP platform uses a "face-to-face" approach the connection has up to 7 times the signal density. This design minimizes the latency between components in the 3D chip stack and reduces the power consumption of the planar chip-to-chip PHY interface by 90%. This significant reduction in power consumption is significant for AI applications that need to process large amounts of data and complex calculations.
Figure: Broadcom's 3.5D packaging technology powers Fujitsu's 2nm MONAKA processor
2. A breakthrough in performance and power consumption
The performance improvement and power consumption reduction of Broadcom's 3.5D F2F packaging technology is a major breakthrough in the field of AI chips. According to Frank Ostojic, senior vice president and general manager of Broadcom's ASIC product division, advanced packaging technologies are critical to the development of next-generation XPU clusters as the limits of Moore's Law become apparent. By stacking chip components vertically, Broadcom's 3.5D platform enables chip designers to select the most appropriate manufacturing process for each component while reducing the interposer and package size, resulting in significant improvements in performance, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
3. Application of Fujitsu's 2nm MONAKA processor
Fujitsu's 2nm MONAKA processor is an important use case for Broadcom's 3.5D F2F packaging technology. Fujitsu has made it clear that it will use this platform in its 2nm Arm server processor, FUJITSU-MONAKA. The design of the MONAKA processor not only reflects the advantages of Broadcom's 3.5D F2F packaging technology, but also demonstrates Fujitsu's deep strength in the field of high-performance computing.
Fujitsu's MONAKA processors use an innovative 3D many-core architecture, in which the 2nm process is used only for the core chip (top-level chip), achieving high performance and low power consumption. All the final caches are in a 5nm SRAM chip (the underlying chip), tightly coupled to the core chip via TSV. This 3D many-core architecture enables more cores, low latency, and high throughput. The 2nm region is less than 30% of the total chip area, contributing to cost efficiency.
4. Market impact and future outlook
Broadcom said that most of its "consumer AI customers" have already adopted the 3.5D XDSiP platform technology, and six 3.5D products based on the platform are already in development, and production and shipments are expected to begin in February 2026. This cooperation not only demonstrates Broadcom's leading position in 3.5D packaging technology, but also indicates that the AI chip field will rely more on advanced packaging technology to meet the growing performance requirements in the future.
With the continuous advancement of AI technology and the expansion of application fields, the demand for high-performance, low-power AI chips is also growing. The combination of Broadcom's 3.5D F2F packaging technology and Fujitsu's MONAKA processor not only provides a new solution for the AI chip market, but also points out the direction for the development of the entire industry. We have reason to believe that this technological innovation will further improve the performance of AI chips, while reducing power consumption, and contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society.
5. Conclusion
Broadcom's 3.5D F2F packaging technology is a major progress in semiconductor packaging technology, and in the view of China Exportsemi, it can not only meet the current needs of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, but also provide a new direction for the development of future technology. By working closely with partners such as Fujitsu, Broadcom is driving the industry toward higher performance and lower power consumption. With the application and promotion of this technology, we have reason to believe that the semiconductor market will be more exciting in the future.
