Rapid technological advances in electronic systems technologies are placing increasingly severe demands on interconnection media. One primary driving force is the evolutionary advance in the scale of integration in silicon with its inherent cost and performance advantages. A second key driving force is the revolutionary development of photonics which is rapidly integrating into most levels of the interconnection heirarchy. The performance of large scale electronic systems will be increasingly dominated and limited by their interconnection environment. To sustain the present rate of growth in the performance of future systems, new technology directions in interconnection will be necessary.

This paper will explore the traditional levels of interconnection from IC chip packages to the frame level. It will be shown how the various levels of interconnection interrelate and how all levels must be improved simultaneously to achieve the full performance and cost benefits offered by device advances and photonics. The first major step in this evolution is well underway with the rapid transition to surface mounting of devices. This places new demands on materials and assembly technologies which will be discussed. However, the demands of this first step may eventually appear to be minor compared to those yet to come if current trends continue. Several scenarios for this future will be considered and related to the challenges placed on interconnection technology hardware and materials in terms of performance characteristics such as density, speed and heat dissipation.