TSMC
When TSMC initially introduced its N2 (2 nm class) process technology earlier this month, the company outlined how the new node would be built on the back of two new cutting-edge fab techniques: gate-all-around transistors, and backside power rails. But, as we've since learned from last week's EU symposium, TSMC's plans are a bit more nuanced than first announced. Unlike some of their rivals, TSMC will not be implementing both technologies in the initial version of their N2 node. Instead, the first iteration of N2 will only be implementing gate-all-around transistors, with backside power delivery to come with a later version of the node. So far, TSMC has mentioned two distinctive features of N2: nano sheet gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, and backside power rails. GAA transistors...
2023 Interposers: TSMC Hints at 3400mm2 + 12x HBM in one Package
High-performance computing chip designs have been pushing the ultra-high-end packaging technologies to their limits in the recent years. A solution to the need for extreme bandwidth requirements in the...
35 by Andrei Frumusanu on 8/25/2020TSMC Expects 5nm to be 11% of 2020 Wafer Production (sub 16nm)
One of the measures of how quickly a new process node gains traction is by comparing how many wafers are in production, especially as that new process node goes...
13 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 8/25/2020TSMC’s Version of EMIB is ‘LSI’: Currently in Pre-Qualification
Whilst process node technologies and Moore’s Law are slowing down, manufacturers and chip designers are looking to new creative solutions to further enable device and performance scaling. Advanced packaging...
19 by Andrei Frumusanu on 8/25/2020TSMC Teases 12-High 3D Stacked Silicon: SoIC Goes Extreme
I’ve maintained for a couple of years now that the future battleground when it comes to next-generation silicon is going to be in the interconnect – implicitly this relies...
15 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 8/25/2020TSMC Details 3nm Process Technology: Full Node Scaling for 2H22 Volume Production
At TSMC’s annual Technology Symposium, the Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer detailed characteristics of its future 3nm process node as well as laying out a roadmap for 5nm successors in the...
58 by Andrei Frumusanu on 8/24/2020TSMC Confirms Halt to Huawei Shipments In September
TSMC on Thursday has confirmed that it had stopped processing new orders from Huawei back on May 15th. The news is the first official statement from the company on...
73 by Andrei Frumusanu on 7/17/2020AMD Succeeds in its 25x20 Goal: Renoir Crosses the Line in 2020
One of the stories bubbling away in the background of the industry is the AMD self-imposed ‘25x20’ goal. Starting with performance in 2014, AMD committed to itself, to customers...
83 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 6/25/2020Ampere’s Product List: 80 Cores, up to 3.3 GHz at 250 W; 128 Core in Q4
With the advent of higher performance Arm based cloud computing, a lot of focus is being put on what the various competitors can do in this space. We’ve covered...
19 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 6/23/2020New #1 Supercomputer: Fugaku in Japan, with A64FX, take Arm to the Top with 415 PetaFLOPs
High performance computing is now at a point in its existence where to be the number one, you need very powerful, very efficient hardware, lots of it, and lots...
46 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 6/22/2020Russia’s Elbrus 8CB Microarchitecture: 8-core VLIW on TSMC 28nm
All of the world’s major superpowers have a vested interest in building their own custom silicon processors. The vital ingredient to this allows the superpower to wean itself off...
92 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 6/1/2020TSMC To Build 5nm Fab In Arizona, Set To Come Online In 2024
In a big shift to their manufacturing operations – and a big political win domestically – TSMC has announced that the company will be building a new, high-end fab...
100 by Ryan Smith on 5/15/2020AMD Clarifies Comments on 7nm / 7nm+ for Future Products: EUV Not Specified
As part of AMD’s Financial Analyst Day 2020, the company gave the latest updates for its CPU and GPU roadmap. A lot of this we have seen before, with...
37 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 3/5/2020AMD Discusses ‘X3D’ Die Stacking and Packaging for Future Products: Hybrid 2.5D and 3D
One of AMD’s key messages at its Financial Analyst Day 2020 is that the company wants to remain on the leading edge when it comes to process node technology...
12 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 3/5/2020TSMC & Broadcom Develop 1,700 mm2 CoWoS Interposer: 2X Larger Than Reticles
With transistor shrinks slowing and demand for HPC gear growing, as of late there has been an increased interest in chip solutions larger than the reticle size of a...
18 by Anton Shilov on 3/4/2020TSMC Boosts CapEx by $1 Billion, Expects N5 Node to Be Major Success
TSMC is on track to begin high-volume production of chips using its 5 nm technology in the coming months, the company said in its conference call last week. While...
40 by Anton Shilov on 1/22/2020An Interview with AMD’s CTO Mark Papermaster: ‘There’s More Room At The Top’
On the back of a very busy 2019, AMD is gaining market share and is now a performance leader in a lot of CPU segments. The company has executed...
68 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 12/30/2019Early TSMC 5nm Test Chip Yields 80%, HVM Coming in H1 2020
Today at the IEEE IEDM Conference, TSMC is presenting a paper giving an overview of the initial results it has achieved on its 5nm process. This process is going...
62 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 12/11/2019AMD Q4: 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X, Threadripper Up To 32-Core 3970X, Coming November 25th
AMD is set to close out the year on a high note. As promised, the company will be delivering its latest 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X processor, built with two...
171 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 11/7/2019GlobalFoundries and TSMC Sign Broad Cross-Licensing Agreement, Dismiss Lawsuits
GlobalFoundries and TSMC have announced this afternoon that they have signed a broad cross-licensing agreement, ending all of their ongoing legal disputes. Under the terms of the deal, the...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/28/2019TSMC: 5nm on Track for Q2 2020 HVM, Will Ramp Faster Than 7nm
TSMC’s 5 nm (N5) manufacturing technology is projected to provide significant benefits when it comes to performance, power, and area scaling, which is why the contract maker of semiconductors...
27 by Anton Shilov on 10/23/2019