Three-Dimensional Spatial Packaging of Interconnected Systems with Physical Interactions

Spatial packaging of interconnected components with coupled physical interactions (thermal, hydraulic, electromagnetic, etc.) or SPI2 (pronounced “spy-two”), plays a vital role in the functionality, operation, energy usage, and life cycle of practically all engineered systems, from chips to ships to aircraft. SPI2 problems involve tight coupling between 3D packing, interconnect routing, and physics evaluation. These highly nonlinear spatial packaging problems, governed by coupled physical phenomena transferring energy through intricate and highly complex geometric interconnects, have largely resisted design automation, and can quickly exceed human cognitive abilities at even moderate complexity levels. The current state-of-the-art in defining an arrangement of these functionally heterogeneous artifacts still largely relies on human intuition and manual spatial placement, which limits system sophistication and can result in biased human errors and delayed delivery of critical engineering systems. For more details, please visit our SPI2 research website.   If you have any questions or are considering being part of this SPI2 research ecosystem, please contact Prof. James Allison.