Applying RBT to Evaluate the 3D IC Strategies of CMOS Image Sensor IDMs

Chia-Hua Chang

Because of the ever increasing demand of the lower power consumption, lower cost and higher performance in consumer electronic industry, the Moore’s Law almost came to its end. Most of the integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) of CMOS Image Sensor (CIS), such as Sony and OmniVision, had then already put 3D IC (Three Dimensioned Integrated Circuits) applying Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology in their roadmaps to resolve the upcoming challenges. Under such manner, for helping analyze the current situation of applying 3D IC concept in CIS industries, this research proposed a novel two-level evaluation model, where the long-term strategies were structured at the top level, and their corresponding short-term tactics were constructed at the bottom. Besides, Resource Based Theory (RBT) was also applied in the proposed model to help review and evaluate the resulted competitive advantage. In order to consolidate the proposed model, the data from the related market sections was retrieved and analyzed for modeling. For conducting the experiments, three significant IDMs were carefully selected for case studies in order to compare their current strategic competitiveness after introducing 3D IC related technologies in their roadmaps.