Globalfoundries On A Roll With 7nm And 5nm Announcements

While the 5nm process is still in the test phases, Globalfoundries 7nm is much further along. In fact, today, Globalfoundries is announcing that their 7LP ... Skiptocontent Fab8inSaratogaCounty,NewYork,where7nmwillbemanufactured Recently,thefabwarsstartedtoheatupbetweentheworld’sleadingchipmanufacturersnamely,Globalfoundries,Intel,SamsungandTSMC.Globalfoundrieshasbeenmakingalotofmajorannouncementsincludingtheir22FDXexpansioninChinainconjunctionwiththeChengdugovernment.However,theChengdupartnershipdoesn’treallycoverleadingedgenodes,butmoremainstreamnodesthatareoptimizedforcostandflexibilityataspecificperformanceandpowerlevel. Hotontheheelsofthe5nmannouncementinpartnershipwithIBMResearchandSamsung,Globalfoundriesismakingtwoannouncementsaroundits7nmmanufacturingprocess.Whilethe5nmprocessisstillinthetestphases,Globalfoundries7nmismuchfurtheralong.Infact,today,Globalfoundriesisannouncingthattheir7LP(Leading-Performance)processandFX-7ASICplatformareavailabletodayforpartnerstostartplanningtoutilizewithdesignkits. Geometryimportantbutnoteverything OnethingImustmentionfirst- whilegeometryisstillimportant,itisbutonlyoneofmanyfactorsindeterminingaqualityfabtechnology.Intheend,whatmattersishittingthedesiredpowerandperformancemetricsatthelowestpossiblecost,regardlessifit’saleadingnodeornot.Inadditiontogeometry,peopleshouldalsoconsiderdieperwafer,dieareascaling(i.e.finpitch,gatepitch,interconnectpitch,cachecellsize),transistorperformanceandleakage,logicareascaling,costpertransistor,andyield,measuredbygooddieperwafer. 7nm,7LP(LeadingPerformance)FinFET Globalfoundries7nmLPFinFETprocesscouldprovetobebeneficialforsomeofGlobalfoundriesbiggestcustomerslikeAMDwhoneedthehighestperformanceanddensitylogicandcachememories.AdvancedMicroDevicesiscurrentlyusingGlobalfoundries14nmFinFETprocesstobuildtheirnewandimpressiveRyzenCPUsandAPUs.AsAMDstartstodeliverhighperformanceCPUsandGPUsonasinglechiptheywillneedtohaveasmuchdieareatoworkwithandaslowpowerastheycouldpossiblyget.7nmFinFETwouldhelpcompanieslikeAMDcontinuetocompeteandofferthecutting-edgeproductsthattheircustomersarealreadystartingtoexpectfromthem. The7LPprocessisacontinuationofGlobalfoundrieslowpowerworkinpreviousnodeslike14nmwithafocusoncostandpower.However,withtheintroductionof7LP,Globalfoundriesistoutinga40%deviceperformanceimprovementover14nmwhilealsotalkingaboutreducingpowerbyupto60%. Globalfoundries7LPprocessusesopticallithography,butisEUV“compatible”ifacustomer’sdesignsrequireitforonereasonoranother.Globalfoundriesalsoclaimsanover30%reductionindiecostwithanover45%reductionintargetsegments.7LPisstilla7nmFinFETtechnology,withanexpectationthatthecompanywillcommercializeitin2018,whichisn’tfaroff,likelythankstothestrongearlycustomerengagementthey’veseenonit.ThisprocessreallyhaspotentialtosteallowerpowerSoCbusinessfromGlobalfoundriescompetitorslikeTSMCthatarealsovyingforleading-edgenodebusiness. Productsexpectedtolaunchin1H2018,rampingvolumein2H18. 7nmFX-7forASICS Inadditionto7LPforhigh-performancelogicandcaches,GlobalfoundriesalsoannouncedinitialcustomeravailabilityofFX-7forASICs.FX-7isafollow-onforFX-14whichhasaleading56GSerDes.Thisprocesswouldbeusedtobuildchipsforhyper-scaledatacenteracceleration,automotive,5Gnetworkingandmachinelearninganddeeplearningapplications.ASICsareshortfor“ApplicationSpecificIntegratedCircuit”,whichyoumaybefamiliarwithrelatingtoaudioandvideodecodingandevenmachinelearninglikeGoogle’sTPU.Designkitsareavailablenowwithvolumeproductionexpectedin2019. 5nmtestchipnewslastweek Inadditiontothe7nmFX-7and7LPnews,GlobalfoundriesinpartnershipwithIBMandSamsungresearchteamstogetherattheVLSITechnologyandCircuitsconferenceinKyoto,Japan,announcedthefeasibilityof5nmwithafunctioning5nmchip.ThisisabigdealforGlobalfoundriesandtheirpartnersbecausethereweremajordoubtsthatanythingunder7nmwouldbepossibleorcominganytimesoon.However,theresearchandtestingconductedusingExtremeUltraviolet(EUV)lithographytechnology.UsingEUValongwithstackednanosheettechnologiesIBMinpartnershipwithSamsungandGlobalfoundriesbuiltafunctioning5nmtestchip. Wrappingup Thecombinationof22FDXexpansion,FX-7,7LPand5nmareallveryimpressiveGlobalfoundriesannouncements. Whiletherealrubbermeetstheroadwhenitcomestorealcustomercommitmentsandsuccessfulproduction,thisisaverygoodstart.GivenGlobalfoundriessuccesswithbothAMDandQualcomm,itraisesmyconfidenceforthefutureasnotonlydoestheroadmaplookbetter,butitappearsexecutionhasimprovedaswell.Idon’tthinkverymanywouldhavecalledthatGlobalfoundrieswouldbeonabitofarollrightnow,includingme. Nicejob. 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