Patent ID: 8405998

Claim:
A three-dimensional very-large-scale integration (VLSI) device, comprising: a processor layer coupled, via a first set of coupling devices, to at least one signaling and input/output (I/O) layer; and a heat sink coupled, via a second set of coupling devices, to the processor layer, wherein: the heat sink comprises a plurality of grooves on one face, each groove in the plurality of grooves provides either a path for power or a path for ground to be delivered to the processor layer, the heat sink is dedicated to only delivering power and does not provide data communication signals to the elements of the three-dimensional VLSI device, and the at least one signaling and input/output (I/O) layer is dedicated to only transmitting the data communication signals to and receiving the data communications signals from the processor layer and does not provide power to the elements of the processor layer.