July 14, 2008 – Wireless fabless developer Qualcomm is the first fabless IC company to participate in European R&D consortium IMEC’s industrial affiliation program on 3D integration, the firms say. Their joint research will strive to understand and develop ways to use 3D technologies, mainly 3D wafer-level packaging and 3D stacked ICs, in future wireless products.

With the addition of Qualcomm to its 3D program, “we have all the major supply chain players working together,” said IMEC CEO Luc Van den hove, in a statement. “We are confident that strong industry collaboration among foundries, IDMs, packaging and assembly companies, and equipment suppliers at IMEC will push the development of innovative 3D products forward.”

Incorporating 3D designs into its wireless products will create “superior features and performance in our products,” added Jim Clifford, SVP/GM of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, noting in particular a desire to leverage IMEC’s R&D expertise to accelerate 3D implementation in its product designs.

Other partners in IMEC’s 3D integration program include: Amkor, Infineon, Intel, Micron, NEC, NXP, Panasonic, Qimonda, Samsung, ST Microelectronics, Texas Instruments, and TSMC.