Semiconductors
Optical connectivity – and especially silicon photonics – is expected to become a crucial technology to enable connectivity for next-generation datacenters, particularly those designed HPC applications. With ever-increasing bandwidth requirements needed to keep up with (and keep scaling out) system performance, copper signaling alone won't be enough to keep up. To that end, several companies are developing silicon photonics solutions, including fab providers like TSMC, who this week outlined its 3D Optical Engine roadmap as part of its 2024 North American Technology Symposium, laying out its plan to bring up to 12.8 Tbps optical connectivity to TSMC-fabbed processors. TSMC's Compact Universal Photonic Engine (COUPE) stacks an electronics integrated circuit on photonic integrated circuit (EIC-on-PIC) using the company's SoIC-X packaging technology. The foundry says that usage...
Broadcom-Qualcomm Takeover Blocked By White House on National Security Grounds
Stepping into the increasingly wild saga that has been Broadcom’s efforts to purchase Qualcomm, the US government is now weighing in by issuing a new order to block the...
52 by Ryan Smith on 3/12/2018
Samsung Preps to Build Another Multi-Billion Dollar Memory Fab Near Pyeongtaek
Samsung has begun preparations to build another semiconductor production facility near Pyeongtaek, South Korea. The fab will produce various types of memory as the market demands, and if unofficial...
16 by Anton Shilov on 3/1/2018
The GlobalFoundries Fab 8 Tour and a Junior Editor's Thoughts
For those who haven’t noticed the anti-contaminant “bunny suit” pictures floating around Twitter, this past weekend Ian and I took part in a tour of GlobalFoundries Fab 8 in...
18 by Nate Oh on 2/8/2018
Intel Appoints New CTO, Confirms Establishment of Product Assurance & Security Group
Intel this week named Michael Mayberry its new Chief Technology Officer effective immediately. The new CTO will be responsible for Intel’s global research and technology development efforts. In addition...
19 by Anton Shilov on 2/2/2018
TSMC Starts to Build Fab 18: 5 nm, Volume Production in Early 2020
TSMC last week held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Fab 18 phase 1 production facility. The fab will produce chips using TSMC’s 5 nm process starting from early 2020...
27 by Anton Shilov on 1/31/2018
Samsung Starts Mass Production of Chips Using 10nm Low Power Plus (10LPP) Process Tech
Samsung Foundry on Wednesday revealed that it has started mass production of SoC products using its second generation 10 nm Low Power Plus (10LPP) fabrication technology. The new manufacturing...
10 by Anton Shilov on 11/29/2017
Qualcomm Rejects Broadcom Offer to Buy the Company for $105 Billion
Qualcomm has announced today that the Board of Directors has rejected Broadcom’s proposal to acquire the company for around $105 billion. The BOD believes that Broadcom’s offering undervalues Qualcomm...
14 by Anton Shilov on 11/13/2017
Broadcom Makes Unsolicited $105 Billion Bid for Qualcomm
Broadcom on Monday said that it had proposed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Qualcomm for $105 billion in total for cash and stock. If the buyout...
12 by Anton Shilov on 11/7/2017
Samsung’s 8LPP Process Technology Qualified, Ready for Production
Samsung this week announced that its 8LPP fabrication process, which it formally introduced earlier this year, had passed qualification tests. The manufacturing technology will be used to produce advanced...
35 by Anton Shilov on 10/19/2017
Samsung Details 11LPP Process Technology: 10 nm BEOL Meets 14 nm Elements
Samsung has added a new manufacturing technology into its roadmap. The 11LPP fabrication process is designed for mainstream and higher-end smartphone SoCs. The technology will come online next year...
23 by Anton Shilov on 9/29/2017
GlobalFoundries Weds FinFET and SOI in 14HP Process Tech for IBM z14 CPUs
GlobalFoundries this week formally introduced its new custom process technology that will be used to manufacture IBM's z14 CPUs, which in turn were announced earlier this year. The 14HP...
31 by Anton Shilov on 9/22/2017
GlobalFoundries Adds 12LP Process for Mainstream and Automotive Chips; AMD Planning 12LP CPUs & GPUs
GlobalFoundries on Wednesday announced its new 12LP (leading performance) fabrication process. The new manufacturing technology was designed to increase transistor density and improve frequency potential compared to GlobalFoundries’ current-gen...
32 by Anton Shilov on 9/21/2017
TSMC Teams Up with ARM and Cadence to Build 7nm Data Center Test Chips in Q1 2018
TSMC has announced plans to build its first test chips for data center applications using its 7 nm fabrication technology. The chip will use compute cores from ARM, a...
12 by Anton Shilov on 9/14/2017
GlobalFoundries Details 7 nm Plans: Three Generations, 700 mm², HVM in 2018
Keeping an eye on the ever-evolving world of silicon lithography, GlobalFoundries has recently disclosed additional details about its 7 nm generation of process technologies. As announced last September, the...
76 by Anton Shilov on 6/23/2017
Samsung and TSMC Roadmaps: 8 and 6 nm Added, Looking at 22ULP and 12FFC
Samsung and TSMC have made several important announcements about the present and future of their semiconductor manufacturing technologies in March. Samsung revealed that it had shipped over 70 thousand...
89 by Anton Shilov on 5/5/2017
GlobalFoundries to Expand Capacities, Build a Fab in China
GlobalFoundries has announced plans to expand manufacturing capacities for its leading edge and mainstream production technologies in the U.S., Germany and Singapore. After the upgrades of the fabs are...
49 by Anton Shilov on 2/11/2017
Intel to Equip Fab 42 for 7 nm
Intel this week announced plans to bring its Fab 42 online to produce semiconductors using a 7 nm fabrication process. It will take three to four years, and the...
24 by Anton Shilov on 2/9/2017
Samsung Foundry Announces 10nm SoC In Mass-Production
Today Samsung announced mass production of a SoC built on its third-generation 10nm "10LPE" manufacturing node. It was only this January that Samsung announced mass production of its 14LPP...
92 by Andrei Frumusanu on 10/17/2016
GlobalFoundries Updates Roadmap: 7 nm in 2H 2018, EUV Sooner Than Later?
GlobalFoundries recently announced the first details about its next generation 7 nm manufacturing technology, which is being developed in-house, and revealed plans to start production of chips using the...
76 by Anton Shilov on 10/3/2016
ARM Announces 10FF "Artemis" Test Chip
Today in collaboration with TSMC, ARM's physical IP division is announcing the tapeout of a 10nm test chip demonstrating the company's readiness for the new manufacturing process. The new...
24 by Andrei Frumusanu on 5/18/2016
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