Chiplets: 8 best practices for engineering multi-die designs

Semiconductor design is in the midst of a structural shift. For decades, performance gains were achieved by packing more transistors into single, monolithic dies. But the physical limitations of these dies—and the process technologies used to create them—are at odds with the ever-increasing compute, memory, and I/O demands of modern workloads. In other words, process technology advances alone are not enough to keep up with modern workloads.

Stepping in to address these demands are multi-die designs, which combine several smaller dies (known as chiplets) inside a single standard or advanced package. These multi-die architectures are reshaping how engineers build everything from AI accelerators to automotive ADAS systems. By disaggregating compute, memory, and I/O, teams can mix and match chiplets—often from different process nodes—to optimize performance, energy efficiency, size, or cost.

However, multi-die designs introduce new engineering complexities and design considerations, spanning packaging, verification, thermal dynamics, and more.

Here are eight best practices for developing chiplet designs.

1. Leverage the ecosystem

Chiplet design is evolving through collaboration. Standards bodies such as the UCIe Consortium and JEDEC are defining interoperability, test, and reliability specifications. Research organizations like imec and ASRA are shaping automotive-grade chiplet guidelines. Leveraging this ecosystem reduces integration risk and helps ensure long-term compatibility.

Partnering with experienced IP and packaging vendors is also recommended. These providers can help teams fill resource and expertise gaps, focus on meaningful differentiation, and accelerate time to market.

2. Partition with purpose

Every successful chiplet design for multi-die systems begins with smart partitioning. This means dividing the system into functional domains—such as compute, memory, and I/O—and determining the best process technology for each. Advanced nodes typically provide the highest performance and density, while mature nodes can often be used for less demanding functions to help reduce cost.

Establishing a partitioning strategy early in the design process helps prevent late-stage trade-offs and simplifies future upgrades. And using standards-based interfaces between chiplets keeps the architecture scalable, allowing future upgrades (using newer chiplets) without major redesign.

3. Match node to function

The newest process node isn’t always the right one. Memory may not benefit from extreme scaling the way logic does, and analog or mixed-signal blocks often perform better on proven geometries. Selecting process nodes strategically—based on power, area, and yield targets—balances performance with manufacturability.

Design topology should also be considered. In 3D stacking, compute functionality based on the most advanced process nodes is typically placed on the top die, while I/O and SRAM functionality based on older, more cost-effective process nodes are placed on the bottom die. This approach lowers interconnect latency and power consumption but increases thermal complexity. Conversely, a 2.5D design—where chiplets are placed side-by-side—simplifies cooling and routing but often results in higher interconnect latency and power consumption.

4. Treat packaging as part of the design

The package is no longer a container—it’s part of the circuit—and teams must choose from several options. Organic substrates, silicon interposers, and full 3D stacks offer varying levels of signal density, cost, and yield. As such, they should be evaluated alongside system architecture in the earliest phases of design exploration.

Testing and yield must also be considered. Each chiplet should be thoroughly validated as a known good die (KGD) prior to integration to ensure reliability. Incorporating hierarchical test features within each chiplet enables effective post-packaging verification.

Additionally, designing die-to-die interfaces with built-in redundancy and repair capabilities can help recover yield during assembly and address potential link failures throughout the product’s lifecycle. Because packaging materials and lead times vary among suppliers, early and proactive coordination with the supply chain is key to avoiding unexpected delays and ensuring a smooth production process.

5. Engineer the interconnect like a subsystem

In multi-die designs, the communication between dies often defines overall performance. Die-to-die connectivity, bandwidth, latency, and signal integrity should be planned long before layout.

While standards such as UCIe are emerging to guide interoperability, each implementation faces unique physical challenges—including optimizing the “beachfront” area for micro bump placement, ensuring precise clock alignment, and managing routing density constraints.

6. Verify the entire system

Traditional block-level verification is insufficient for multi-die designs. Integration across process nodes, tool flows, and packaging layers demands system-level verification from the outset. Multi-physics analysis should be performed on the die and complete multi-die system in a package.

Hardware-assisted verification, emulation, and fast simulation environments can reveal timing or interoperability issues that static tests miss. Hierarchical testing validates individual dies, then re-verifies the assembled system to confirm consistent performance. Adding thermal and crosstalk analysis closes the loop between electrical and mechanical design domains.

7. Secure every interface

Multiple dies mean multiple entry points. Each chiplet must authenticate itself to the system and protect its data links. Embedding a root of trust (RoT) in a main or system chiplet can enable secure key management and firmware validation.

Encrypting traffic between chiplets prevents tampering, while a secure boot sequence ensures the system initializes only trusted code. Designing these controls at the architecture stage is far more effective than stitching them in later.

8. Design for control and reliability

Complex packages benefit from a dedicated control and management subsystem, a small processor that handles initialization, telemetry, and security functions. This control layer also manages reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS), gathering data from sensors across chiplets to detect issues before they escalate.

Telemetry from this subsystem helps engineers tune performance and maintain uptime, especially in data center and automotive environments where predictability is everything.

From integration to innovation

As the semiconductor industry transitions from monolithic dies to multi-die architectures, engineering teams must adopt new strategies to address the unique challenges and opportunities of chiplet-based designs. By leveraging industry ecosystems, partitioning systems purposefully, matching nodes to functions, treating packaging as integral to the design, engineering robust interconnects, verifying at the system level, securing every interface, and implementing dedicated control and reliability measures, organizations can maximize the benefits of chiplets—achieving enhanced performance, flexibility, and scalability.

Embracing these best practices will not only accelerate innovation but also ensure that multi-die solutions meet the demands of tomorrow’s complex applications.

Rob Kruger is product management director for multi-die strategy at Interface IP Product Management Group of Synopsys.

Special Section: Chiplets Design

• What the special section on chiplets design has to offer
• Chiplet innovation isn’t waiting for perfect standards
• Scoping out the chiplet-based design flow
• Demystifying 3D ICs: A practical framework for heterogeneous integration

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