IBM, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, and others are teaming up on the development of next-generation chip technology for small, low-power devices with one wary eye on Intel, which is expediting its move to chips with smaller geometries.
(Credit:
IBM)
IBM and its semiconductor technology alliance partners are announcing the availability of 28-nanometer (nm) chip technology, a little more than a generation beyond the 45nm technologies currently used by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices in their latest chips.
The first products using chips based on this technology are expected in the second half of 2010, an IBM spokesman said. Devices will include smartphones and consumer electronics products.
The largest, single countervailing force to the IBM-led group is Intel. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant's chief executive, Paul Otellini, said Tuesday in a first-quarter earnings conference call that Intel is "pulling in" the release of "Westmere" chips based on 32nm technology and will ship silicon later this year.
Generally, the smaller the geometry, the faster and more power efficient the chip is.
The IBM alliance--which also includes the AMD manufacturing spin-off Globalfoundries, Chartered Semiconductor, and Infineon Technologies--are jointly developing the 28nm chipmaking process based on the partners' "high-k metal gate" (which minimizes current leakage), low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.
The technology "can provide a 40 percent performance improvement and a more than 20 percent reduction in power, in a chip that is half the size, compared with 45nm technology," IBM said in a statement. "These improvements enable microchip designs with outstanding performance, smaller feature sizes and low standby power, contributing to faster processing speed and longer battery life in next-generation mobile Internet devices and other systems."
IBM said customers can begin their designs now using 32nm technology and then transition to 28nm for density and power advantages without the need for a major redesign.
One prominent customer is U.K.-based ARM, whose basic chip design has been used in billions of devices all over the world. ARM is collaborating with the IBM alliance to develop a design platform for 32nm and 28nm technology and is tuning its Cortex processor family and future processors to exploit the technology's capabilities, IBM said.
IBM has added NEC to its growing list of allied companies doing research on next-generation chip manufacturing technology.
On Thursday, IBM and NEC Electronics signed an agreement for joint development of next-generation semiconductor manufacturing process technology, which includes participation in an IBM-led effort focused on 32-nanometer chips and, later, 22-nanometer chips. Currently, companies like Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are bringing 45-nanometer chips to market.
Generally, as geometries get smaller, chips get faster and more power-efficient.
IBM has accumulated a large, eclectic group of chipmakers at its semiconductor fabrication facility in East Fishkill, N.Y., and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany, State University of New York.
The area is becoming a hub for chip research that, in essence, is trying to counter the huge multibillion dollar R&D budget of chip giant Intel. Not coincidentally, this isn't far from Advanced Micro Devices' proposed $3 billion chip facility in Malta, NY. AMD also does joint R&D with IBM.
Other members are Singapore-based Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Freescale (formerly part of Motorola), Infineon Technologies, Samsung, STMicroelectronics, and Toshiba.
NEC currently co-develops 45nm and 32nm CMOS process technology with Toshiba and is now extending that scope of collaboration to include the 32nm and finer nodes with IBM and its alliance partners, the Japanese company said.
Specifically, NEC intends to work with the IBM research alliance to develop a common process platform and strengthen development and design ability for system-on-a-chip (SOC) technology--highly integrated silicon typically used in cell phones and consumer electronics devices.
"The new agreement with IBM means that NEC Electronics will develop a common semiconductor process with industry leaders, allowing us to focus on being first to market in areas of eDRAM products and SOC solutions that provide our customers with the added value, such as high reliability and low power consumption," Toshio Nakajima, president and CEO of NEC Electronics, said in a statement.
eDRAM, or embedded DRAM, is high-speed memory usually integrated onto the same piece of silicon as the main processor. This contrasts with traditional DRAM that is external to the processor. eDRAM can be used, for example, in system-on-a-chip designs.
Earlier this year, IBM and its partners unveiled "high-k/metal gate" on silicon manufactured at IBM's 300-millimeter semiconductor fabrication facility in East Fishkill--a technique that Intel also uses.
By implementing high-k/metal gate technology into its leading edge 32-nm technology, the alliance claims performance improvements in circuits of up to 35 percent over 45nm technology at the same operating voltage. The 32nm power reduction over 45nm can be as much as 30 percent to 50 percent depending on the operating voltage, according to IBM.
Chartered Semiconductor, which builds chips for companies like IBM and Samsung, says it is looking at a bleak economic picture for the coming months.
Update: Infineon Technologies, a German chipmaker, announced Friday that it would lay off 3,000 workers due to the "levels of risk in the current market conditions."
Chartered CEO Chia Song Hwee issued a cautionary statement when the company announced earnings late Thursday afternoon. "We continue to be cautious about the worsening economic situation," he said, adding that Chartered is "dealing with the challenges of...crude oil price increases" and "a weaker U.S. dollar." Chartered is one of the largest contract chip manufacturers in the world and competes with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Chartered partners with IBM in chip manufacture and development
(Credit: Chartered Semiconductor)Energy-related costs are negating cost-saving efforts, according to Chia. "Cost increases in items such as chemicals, process gases, and supplies are nullifying the results of our cost reduction and productivity improvement efforts," he said.
Chartered is looking to customers to help it defray costs. "Due to the unprecedented situation and limited opportunities to offset such increases through internal cost reduction measures in the near term, we have initiated discussions with our customers to share the cost increases," said Chia.
This is coming at an inopportune moment because Chartered is moving from its current 65-nanometer manufacturing technology to a more advanced 45-nanometer process. "We are at a point where we can no longer defer enabling 45nm capacity," he said. The company will need an additional capital expenditure of $160 million for the year to support "early customers at 45nm in 2009" as well as for rebalancing the mix between 65nm and 45nm, Chia said.
Chartered reported gross profit of $69.9 million for the second quarter, or 15.3 percent of revenue, compared with a gross profit of $60.2 million, or 18.6 percent of revenue in the year-ago quarter. This is also up from $64.6 million in the first quarter of this year.
IBM's research facility in Albany, N.Y., is working toward the ability to build chip features based on 22-nanometer manufacturing technology--and drawing expertise from a diverse group of engineers and scientists.
East Fishkill IBM chip fab
(Credit: IBM)When future generations of chips reach feature sizes in the realm of a billionth of a meter, IBM says, it will take a global village of chip companies, including Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung, Singapore-based Chartered Semiconductor, and Germany-based Infineon, to carry out development and manufacturing.
Currently, IBM and its partners are in the initial stages of 45-nanometer production. (Intel is already in commercial production of 45-nanometer processors.) This will be followed by the 32-nanometer generation and then the 22-nanometer one. The latter presents special challenges because radically new manufacturing processes may be needed. The 22-nanometer generation of chips are expected reach the market in three to five years.
"We now have the capability to do full manufacture to 22 nanometer and beyond in a research facility," said Bernard Meyerson, an IBM fellow, vice president, and chief technologist in the Systems & Technology Group. This will allow IBM and its partners to build "bleeding edge" chip features very early in the process, Meyerson said.
Cooperation keeps members--like AMD and Chartered--competitive with a chip juggernaut like Intel. "We practice an ecosystem strategy. We behave and act as one team. It's not unusual to have an AMD team member leading one team...and Chartered to be leading another," he said. The basic formula is to bring the best and brightest to the United States and headquarter them at IBM's facilities at Yorktown, Fishkill, and Albany, Meyerson said.
In the more immediate future, IBM is also providing AMD (for a considerable fee, of course) with know-how for AMD's 45-nanometer generation of processors that were showcased at CeBit. These processors are due out in the second half of this year. AMD's chips use technologies such as immersion lithography and strained silicon, both developed jointly with IBM.
IBM added Hitachi to its list of collaborators on Monday when the two companies announced a two-year joint semiconductor research agreement in order to speed the pace of semiconductor innovation. The agreement marks the first time Hitachi and IBM have collaborated on semiconductor technology.
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