Tessera licenses chip-scale package to Taiwanese assembly firm Meicer

Tessera licenses chip-scale package to Taiwanese assembly firm Meicer
By Semiconductor Business News
May 17, 2000 (12:35 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20000517S0019

SAN JOSE -- Tessera Inc. here has added another Taiwanese contract assembler to its list of MicroBGA chip-scale packaging (CSP) licensees, with the signing of a technology agreement with Meicer Semiconductor Industries Ltd., a test and assembly company in Jung Li Industrial Park, Taiwan.

Under the terms of the agreement, Tessera will transfer its patented Zinger 4.0 process to Meicer's manufacturing facilities in Taiwan, and its Licensing Services Group will assist in the definition and installation of Meicer's MicroBGA assembly line. Meicer expects its line to be set up and ready for volume production later in the second quarter of 2000 -- which would make Meicer the first Taiwanese assembler capable of offering volume MicroBGA production.

Other contract assemblers in Taiwan that have licensed the MicroBGA include ASE, Siliconware, and ChipMOS.

"Taiwan is experiencing a steady increase in demand for CSP technology as the Internet drives dev elopment of smaller and higher performance communications and Internet access devices," said William Yueh, president of Meicer Semiconductor. "Tessera's MicroBGA technology is ideal for these types of applications. Tessera is also helping Meicer build a dedicated Zinger 4.0 line for Rambus DRAM, the first one of its kind in Taiwan."

Meicer is ramping up its MicroBGA production capabilities to meet growing industry demand for MicroBGA package technology in next-generation memory devices, including Flash, SRAM, Rambus DRAM and Double-Data-Rate SDRAM, as well as other high-performance ICs.

Tessera's Licensing Services Group recently started offering a "turnkey" service that enables IC assemblers to get hands-on support from Tessera's engineers throughout the installation of the line, guaranteeing specific levels of yield and reliability. The expanded services include equipment and material selection, facility and floorplan definition, staffing plan creation, equipment installation, and process startup.

"Over the last 10 years, Tessera has built and sustained a growing infrastructure for its technology, which includes over 30 licensees to date," said Bruce McWilliams, president and CEO of Tessera. "By broadening its offerings beyond technology licensing to include complete licensee support services, such as turnkey line development, Tessera is enabling Meicer and other licensees to drastically reduce their time-to-market by quickly installing their production lines and guaranteeing high yields and reliability."