TSMC and Global Foundries Plan Risky Process Jump As Intel Unveils 22nm SoC 60
MrSeb writes with news on the happenings with next generation fabrication processes. From the article: "... Intel's 22nm SoC unveil is important for a host of reasons. As process nodes shrink and more components move on-die, the characteristics of each new node have become particularly important. 22nm isn't a new node for Intel; it debuted the technology last year with Ivy Bridge, but SoCs are more complex than CPU designs and create their own set of challenges. Like its 22nm Ivy Bridge CPUs, the upcoming 22nm SoCs rely on Intel's Tri-Gate implementation of FinFET technology. According to Intel engineer Mark Bohr, the 3D transistor structure is the principle reason why the company's 22nm technology is as strong as it is. Earlier this year, we brought you news that Nvidia was deeply concerned about manufacturing economics and the relative strength of TSMC's sub-28nm planar roadmap. Morris Chang, TSMC's CEO, has since admitted that such concerns are valid, given that performance and power are only expected to increase by 20-25% as compared to 28nm. The challenge for both TSMC and GlobalFoundries is going to be how to match the performance of Intel's 22nm technology with their own 28nm products. 20nm looks like it won't be able to do so, which is why both companies are emphasizing their plans to move to 16nm/14nm ahead of schedule. There's some variation on which node comes next; both GlobalFoundries and Intel are talking up 14nm; TSMC is implying a quick jump to 16nm. Will it work? Unknown. TSMC and GlobalFoundries both have excellent engineers, but FinFET is a difficult technology to deploy. Ramping it up more quickly than expected while simultaneously bringing up a new process may be more difficult than either company anticipates."
Marketing 14nm not, real 14nm (Score:5, Insightful)
If you read the announcements, you will weasel words like "14nm class". The bottom line is: these are not 14nm processes. It would be more accurate to call them 20nm with FinFets. Global Foundries process does reduce some parameters from their 20nm planer but there is nothing 14nm about it.
Re:Marketing 14nm not, real 14nm (Score:5, Insightful)
...there is nothing 14nm about it.
Add more Gs to it. That's what the telcos did. They bring a 2G, you bring a 3G. They bring a 3G, you bring a 4G. That's the chic--marketing way! Then we took that whole gigabyte thing with harddrives and just rounded down. Asking companies to compete based on actual specifications instead of marketing bullshit is communist. If you support that kind of commie non-sense then you're the reason we're losing jobs to China. Blah blah blah... *barfs*