ARM Expects 20-Nanometer Processors By Late 2013 73
angry tapir writes "ARM chips made with an advanced, 20-nanometer manufacturing process could appear in smartphones and tablets by as soon as the end of next year, the head of ARM's processor division said Monday. The more advanced chips should allow device makers to improve the performance of their products without reducing battery life, or offer the same performance with longer battery life."
Re:Hmm... (Score:4, Informative)
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4229820/ARM-TSMC-design-20-nm-A15-processor
from way back in 10/18/2011
ARM said it would now optimize its physical IP to the TSMC 20-nm process for power, performance and area and produce a specification for a Cortex-A15 processor optimization pack (POP). It did not say how soon this would be completed.
"This first 20-nm ARM Cortex-A15 tape out paves the way for the next generation of SoC integration and performance," said Mike Inglis, general manager of ARM's processor division, in a statement. These SoCs will be suitable for smartphones, tablet computers, digital home systems, servers and wireless infrastructure, ARM said.
Don't forget Taiwan and South Korea (Score:4, Informative)
TSMC, UMC and Samsung are some of the biggest players in the field. And almost all the DRAM is manufactured in South Korea.
Re:Some background (Score:5, Informative)
Everyone knows everything comes from China. Including semiconductors. Well, actually, no. There's a nice list of plants at wikipedia. You'll see a lot of US addresses. Yes you can probably buy a knock off 555 or 741 from China, but they have almost no small scale plants at all. Pretty much processors come from the USA and a scattering of small time players around the globe.
You're pretty much exactly wrong. The US was, as of 2009, in fourth place for semiconductor manufacturing with a 14% share. Ahead were Japan (25%), Taiwan (18%), and Korea (17%). The largest independent semiconductor manufacturer in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, is based in (appropriately enough) Taiwan.
When I look at all the different chips in my home and where they were made, pretty much only my Intel processor/chipset was made in the US. The rest? Asia.
Re:So ARM are investing in multi-billion chips fab (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not sure you understand how ARM's business model works. They don't manufacture chips themselves, and they don't even hire somebody else to manufacture chips for them. They also don't design chips for a specific process node. They just produce a design and leave it up to a company like Texas Instruments to figure out how to build them at a certain process node (or hire some fab company to do it).
The 20nm statement is just a prediction. They're saying they expect their customers to get 20nm parts out in 2013.
Re:Hmm... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4088580/TSMC-skips-22-nm-rolls-20-nm-process
"Mark LaPedus
4/13/2010 1:30 PM EDT
TSMC skips 22-nm, rolls 20-nm process
(TSMC) is putting a new spin on its strategy: After the 28-nm node, it plans to skip the 22-nm ''full node'' and will move directly to the 20-nm ''half node.''
At its technology conference here, the world's largest silicon foundry also provided details about its 20-nm CMOS process, which will be the company's main technology platform after the 28-nm node. TSMC will also not offer an 18-nm process.
TSMC's 20-nm process is a 10-level metal technology based on a planar technology. It will feature a high-k/metal gate scheme, strained silicon and newfangled ''low-resistance'' copper ultra-low-k interconnects--or what it calls ''low-r.
'' For the 20-nm node, it will only offer a high-k/metal-gate scheme for the gate stack--and not a silicon dioxide option.
TSMC (Hsinchu) will continue to use 193-nm immersion lithography at 20-nm, but it will also deploy a double-patterning and source-mask optimization schemes.
Unlike its previous processes in recent times--which focused on low power first--TSMC's initial 20-nm process will be a high-performance technology. Following that process, it will roll out a low-power technology.
With the announcement, TSMC is seeking to gain an edge over its leading-edge rivals, such a GlobalFoundries, Samsung and UMC.