I recently took a look at the current status and future direction of FinFET based logic processes in my Leading Edge Logic Landscape blog. I thought it would be interesting to take a similar look at FDSOI and to compare and contrast the two processes. My Leading Edge Logic Landscape blog is available here.… Read More
GLOBALFOUNDRIES Extends the FDSOI Roadmap
On September 8, 2016 GLOBALFOUNDRIES (GF) announced their 12nm FDSOI technology node. On September 12th I had a chance to interview Greg Bartlett, GF Senior Vice President for the CMOS Business Unit (as a side note, GF has: RF SOI, ASIC and CMOS business units).… Read More
GlobalFoundries Roadmap Update 2016!
I attended a lunch yesterday with GlobalFoundries CEO Sanjay Jha (formerly of Qualcomm), SVP Gregg Barltlett (Motorola/GF), and CTO Gary Patton (IBM). Having followed GF from the very beginning I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that GF has transformed from a collection of companies (AMD, Chartered, IBM) to a fully integrated… Read More
TSMC 16nm, 10nm, 7nm, and 5nm Update!
Word on the street is that TSMC is on schedule with 16FFC, 10nm and 7nm, which is a very big deal for the fabless semiconductor ecosystem. As Scotten Jones has illustrated in the graphic below, for the first time in the history of the semiconductor industry a pure-play foundry (TSMC) will have the process lead over Intel. And this is… Read More
Is AMD for Sale?
AMD has been artificially pumping up their stock of late so the question I have is; why? What is with the short term strategy? The only answer that I deem noteworthy is that AMD is trying to get acquired and there is a strong case emerging to support that. Also note that AMD CEO Lisa Su is currently the largest single AMD stock holder which… Read More
The 2016 Leading Edge Semiconductor Landscape
The leading edge semiconductor logic landscape has in recent years collapsed to just four companies. The following is a summary of what is currently known about each company’s plans and how they compare. ASML has analyzed many logic nodes and developed a formula that normalizes processes to a “standard node”.… Read More
AMD Zen and the Art of Microprocessor Maintenance
AMD is a fantastic company with highly talented people, but for some reason just hasn’t managed to put a winning streak of microprocessor architectures back-to-back. It’s frustrating to watch: they ride like mad to catch up to or even pull slightly ahead of Intel, then fall back in the pack when they have to make an extended pit stop,… Read More
Semi execs look at IoT tradeoffs a bit differently
What happens when you get a panel of four executives together with an industry-leading journalist to discuss tradeoffs in IoT designs? After the obligatory introductions, Ed Sperling took this group into questions on power, performance, and integration.… Read More
SEMICON West – Globalfoundries Update
On Wednesday of SEMICON West I got to sit down with Gary Patton, CTO of GlobalFoundries and get an update on what has been going on with them.
Gary started the interview by pointing out that it has now been a year since the GlobalFoundries purchase of many of IBM’s semiconductor assets and they have hit every commitment they made.… Read More
One transistor for the future of mmWave?
We’ve heard recently from several sources that millimeter wave radios, once the exclusive realm of defense and satellite use, are now finding homes in applications such as automotive radar and 5G networks. Therein lies a significant opportunity for digital design: moving frequency conversion and filtering from the analog … Read More
The Intel Common Platform Foundry Alliance