Putting 3D interconnection technologies into perspective from chip to system

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical perspective and framework for appreciating the evolution of 3D interconnection technologies from past to present.Design methodology approach - A literature and patent search was performed to find the origins of 3D interconnections to find and credit work that was performed in the early electronics industry which presaged the development of the current generation 3D solutions.Findings - The origins of 3D interconnections have roots that date to the beginnings of electronic interconnections if the earlier solutions are viewed in proper perspective. For example, early telegraphy and telephony interconnections strung from pole to pole across large expanses of terrain were clearly 3D interconnections on a very macro scale but those solutions scaled down are not that dissimilar to what is being done today in some advanced interconnection technologies.Research limitations implications - The pioneers of the electronics industry broke a trail which has been widened, paved and branched by all who have followed them. Granted that the branches have led to new high-worth discoveries but acknowledging the past and taking instruction from it is important, even necessary, to assure that future developments do not continually "reinvent the wheel".Originality value - The paper traces, in brief fashion, the history of 3D interconnections providing examples of solutions which predate some of the current generation solutions which appear, in some cases, quite similar to those developed or proposed nearly half century ago. Knowing the past is vital to understanding and shaping the future.