Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of transferring data in a three-dimensional (3-D) integrated circuit device, the method comprising: encoding two or more data bits into a multi-bit symbol representing the two or more data bits, wherein encoding the two or more data bits comprises encoding the two or more data bits into a multi-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signal, wherein the multi-level PAM signal comprises an 8-PAM signal; transferring, for redundancy of communication, the same multi-bit symbol through two or more of a plurality of vertical connectors formed through a die of the 3-D integrated circuit device, wherein transferring the multi-bit symbol comprises transferring the 8-PAM signal via four of the plurality of vertical connectors; and decoding the transferred multi-bit symbol into the two or more data bits.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein transferring comprises transferring the multi-bit symbol redundantly by way of through-silicon vias.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein decoding comprises detecting a signal level of the multi-bit symbol.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: providing the two or more data bits from a first integrated circuit on or above the die before encoding the two or more data bits; and providing the two or more data bits decoded from the multi-bit symbol to a second integrated circuit below the die after decoding the multi-bit symbol.
5. A method of transferring data in a three-dimensional (3-D) integrated circuit device, the method comprising: encoding two or more data bits into a multi-bit symbol representing the two or more data bits; transferring, for redundancy of communication, the same multi-bit symbol through two or more of a plurality of vertical connectors formed through a die of the 3-D integrated circuit device; decoding the transferred multi-bit symbol into the two or more data bits; providing the two or more data bits from a first integrated circuit on or above the die before encoding the two or more data bits; and providing the two or more data bits decoded from the multi-bit symbol to a second integrated circuit below the die after decoding the multi-bit symbol.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein encoding the two or more data bits comprises encoding the two or more data bits into a multi-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signal.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the multi-level PAM signal comprises a 4-PAM signal, and wherein transferring the multi-bit symbol comprises transferring the 4-PAM signal via two of the plurality of vertical connectors.
8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising transferring a second multi-bit symbol from the second integrated circuit to the first integrated circuit.
9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising buffering the multi-bit symbol before transferring the multi-bit symbol.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein transferring the multi-bit symbol comprises transferring the multi-bit symbol through only non-defective ones of the two or more of the plurality of vertical connectors when any of the two or more vertical connectors is defective.
11. The method of claim 5 , wherein decoding comprises detecting a signal level of the multi-bit symbol from among more than two signal levels.
12. The method of claim 5 , wherein the die is a silicon die, and wherein transferring comprises transferring the same multi-bit symbol through two or more through-silicon vias formed through the die.
13. The method of claim 5 , wherein encoding is performed on a first die and decoding is performed on a second die, and wherein the first die and the second die are stacked on one another.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first die and the second die are encapsulated within the same package.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising transferring a second multi-bit symbol redundantly through the two or more vertical connectors from the second die to the first die.
16. The method of claim 5 , further comprising, after transferring, detecting a signal level of the multi-bit symbol using comparators.
Unknown
February 23, 2016
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