Patent ID: 6933602

Claim:
A semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) package comprising: a substrate including at least one electrical ground plane and having a plurality solder balls formed on a surface thereof, said solder balls including a set of thermal solder balls comprising the outermost row of solder balls positioned near the perimeter of the package wherein the set of thermal solder balls is electrically connected to said at least one electrical ground plane; an integrated circuit die mounted to the substrate such that the die is electrically connected with some of the solder balls; and a heat spreader mounted on the package such that the heat spreader is in thermal communication with the die and also in thermal communication with the outermost row of solder balls of the package thereby enabling a portion of the heat generated by the die to be dissipated from the die through the heat spreader into the outermost row of solder balls and wherein the heat spreader, the at least one electrical ground plane, and the outermost row of solder balls are arranged so that heat generated by the die can be dissipated from the die through the heat spreader into the at least one electrical ground plane and into the outermost row of solder balls.