14 DAY TRIAL // GlobalFoundries is working hard on improving its role in the mobile space and has just announced that it has reached an important milestone for the company since it taped out a SoCs based on ARM’s Cortex-A9 core built using the 20nm process technology.
The device taped out by the foundry is actually a Technology Qualification Vehicle (TQV) which has the goal of developing process technology that is optimized for Cortex-A series processors.
According to the company’s estimates, its next-generation 20nm platform should improve performance of chips built using it by up to 35%, while power consumption can be reduced to half that of designs using 28nm technologies.
This represents an important step for GlobalFoundries, which tries to attract more ARM chip makers to use its production facilities.
“We continue to work closely with ARM to leverage our TQV strategy as an integral part of 20nm process technology development,” said Mojy Chian, senior vice president of design enablement, GlobalFoundries.
“This enables our customers to rapidly ramp up their next-generation designs based on ARM Cortex-A series processors to high-volume production,” concluded the company’s CEO.
In electronics design, the “tape out” term is used to describe the final result of the design cycle of a chip and means that the integrated circuit can be sent to the foundry for manufacturing the first physical samples.
These will then go through a number of spins as the design is further refined to eliminate any potential flaws that made their way into the integrated circuit.
This is usually quite a lengthy process and none of the two companies mentioned when the final design of this processor will be ready for mass production.
GlobalFoundries’ rival, TSMC, has announced the tape out of its first ARM cores based on the 20nm process in mid-October and these are based on the Cortex A15 design.