Companies to deliver silicon-proven complex IP blocks for advanced interface solutions

Santa Clara, Calif., February 5, 2013 — At today’s Common Platform Technology Forum, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, and Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), the innovative technology solutions company, unveiled plans to collaborate for the development of a broad portfolio of complex semiconductor intellectual property (IP) optimized for GF’s leading-edge process technology. This collaboration will enable seamless integration of Rambus’ enhanced standard interface solutions into the next generation of electronics for faster time-to-market. These silicon-proven IP blocks will address the growing needs in applications ranging from high-performance computing to smart mobile devices.

Rambus will develop a range of high-speed memory and chip-to-chip serial link interfaces optimized for GF processes, including the new 14nm-XM technology, which is the industry’s first 14nm offering based on a modular FinFET technology architecture. This new work will build on past collaboration on several 28nm test chips that demonstrate the capabilities of Rambus’ interfaces for both mobile and server-based applications.

“Our new foundry model of Collaborative Device Manufacturing (CDM) relies on early collaboration across the semiconductor ecosystem in order to deliver innovative solutions at the leading edge,” said Mike Noonen, executive vice president of marketing, sales, design and quality at GF. “This extension of our partnership with Rambus will give customers a faster path to take advantage of Rambus’ advanced interface solutions on our new 14nm-XM technology, opening up new avenues for chip designers to innovate on our process technology.”

“As the industry continues its relentless drive to more advanced technologies, deep technology engagements are required to deliver the innovative solutions necessary to bring invention to market,” said Kevin Donnelly, senior vice president and general manager of the Memory and Interfaces Division at Rambus. “By engaging early with GF on their advanced 14nm process, we can combine our high speed, mixed signal design expertise with FinFET technology, enabling a broad portfolio of silicon-proven complex IP blocks in advance of customer needs.”

GF’s 14nm-XM offering is based on a modular technology architecture that uses a 14nm FinFET device combined with elements of GF’s 20nm-LPM process, which is well on its way to production. Technology development is already underway, with test silicon running through GF’s Fab 8 in Saratoga County, N.Y. The XM stands for “eXtreme Mobility,” and it is the industry’s leading non-planar architecture that is truly optimized for mobile system-on-chip (SoC) designs, providing a whole product solution from the transistor all the way up to the system level. The technology is expected to deliver a 40-60% improvement in battery life when compared to today’s two-dimensional planar transistors at the 20nm node.

About Rambus

Rambus is the innovative technology solutions company that brings invention to market. Unleashing the intellectual power of our world-class engineers and scientists in a collaborative and synergistic way, Rambus invents, licenses and develops solutions that challenge and enable our customers to create the future. While best known for creating unsurpassed semiconductor memory architectures, Rambus is also developing world-changing products and services in security, advanced LED lighting and displays, and immersive mobile media. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

About GF

GF is the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry with a truly global footprint. Launched in March 2009, the company has quickly achieved scale as the second largest foundry in the world, providing a unique combination of advanced technology and manufacturing to more than 160 customers. With operations in Singapore, Germany and the United States, GF is the only foundry that offers the flexibility and security of manufacturing centers spanning three continents. The company’s three 300mm fabs and five 200mm fabs provide the full range of process technologies from mainstream to the leading edge. This global manufacturing footprint is supported by major facilities for research, development and design enablement located near hubs of semiconductor activity in the United States, Europe and Asia. GF is owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). For more information, visit https://www.globalfoundries.com.

Partnership Will Enable GLOBALFOUNDRIES Customers to Realize SoCs with Class-Leading Performance and Power-Efficiency in 28nm through Cyclos Resonant Clock Mesh Technology

Santa Clara, Calif., February 5, 2013 — At today’s Common Platform Technology Forum, GF and Cyclos Semiconductor, the inventor and only supplier of resonant clock mesh (RCM) technology for commercial IC designs, announced plans to implement Cyclos’ low-power semiconductor intellectual property in ARM® CortexTM-A15 processors using 28nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) process technology from GF.

The partnership will enable GF’s customers to design next-generation SoCs with class-leading performance and power efficiency. It also reflects Cyclos’ commitment to ensure the broadest possible availability of its RCM IP technology for reducing power consumption.

Cyclos RCM IP is a unique and differentiating technology that reduces the power consumed in clock meshes, the clock distribution networks that have been used in high-performance processors for years. Cyclos employs on-chip inductors to create an electric pendulum, or “tank circuit,” formed by the large capacitance of the clock mesh and the Cyclos inductors. The Cyclos inductors and clock control circuits “recycle” clock power instead of dissipating it on every clock cycle like in a conventional clock network implementation, which results in a reduction in total IC power consumption.

Implementing inductors on-chip to resonate a clock mesh is a simple idea with complex implementation requirements. Cyclos has commercialized over 10 years of research to produce resonant clock mesh design solutions that meet all the testability, reliability, dynamic frequency scaling, and quality assurance requirements of today’s ICs.

GF and Cyclos are now partnering to make RCM technology available for the first time ever to the ARM ecosystem. The low clock-skew, power-saving clock distribution technology from Cyclos will be deployed to achieve uniquely differentiating power, performance and area (PPA) metrics on ARM Cortex-A15 processors based on GF 28nm-SLP and 28nm-HPP process technologies to serve both the high-end mobility and low-power micro-server segments.

“Cyclos’ advanced clock mesh technology has already been used to demonstrate reduced power consumption while maintaining high clock speeds with our HKMG process,” said Srinivas Nori, director of SoC innovation at GF. “Now the powerful combination of our 28nm HKMG process and Cyclos’ RCM technology will be available to a broader customer base, thereby enabling them to push the envelope of PPA efficiency for ARM processor-based SoC designs at the leading edge.”

“Our customers demand continuous improvements in the performance of their ARM processor-based SoCs, while maintaining leadership in energy efficiency,” said Dr. Krisztián Flautner, vice president of research and development at ARM. “We are excited that GF is developing future power and performance scaling options for leading-edge applications.”

“This partnership represents a major milestone for Cyclos Semiconductor,” said Marios Papaefthymiou, founder and President of Cyclos Semiconductor. “We believe that RCM design will be a key enabler for GHz+ embedded processor IP blocks in next-generation SoCs that also require ultra-low power consumption. We are looking forward to making this technology available to GF’s customers through the development of RCM-based ARM Cortex-A15 cores. We are also eager to expand RCM deployment into SoC designs via design automation tools currently under development at Cyclos.”

About GF

GF is the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry with a truly global footprint. Launched in March 2009, the company has quickly achieved scale as the second largest foundry in the world, providing a unique combination of advanced technology and manufacturing to more than 160 customers. With operations in Singapore, Germany and the United States, GF is the only foundry that offers the flexibility and security of manufacturing centers spanning three continents. The company’s three 300mm fabs and five 200mm fabs provide the full range of process technologies from mainstream to the leading edge. This global manufacturing footprint is supported by major facilities for research, development and design enablement located near hubs of semiconductor activity in the United States, Europe and Asia. GF is owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC).For more information, visit https://www.globalfoundries.com.

About Cyclos Semiconductor

Cyclos is the inventor and only commercial provider of resonant clock mesh technology for IC designs. The company is a spin-out of the University of Michigan via their Technology Transfer Office. Based in Berkeley, CA and Ann Arbor, MI, Cyclos delivers resonant clock mesh semiconductor IP, design automation tools, and design consulting services for resonant clock mesh design solutions. For more information, visit https://www.cyclos-semi.com.

Company expects 14nm-XM to deliver more than twice the energy efficiency of 28nm-SLP at only half the chip area

Santa Clara, Calif., February 5, 2013 — At today’s Common Platform Technology Forum, GLOBALFOUNDRIES announced results from the industry’s first implementation of a dual-core ARM® Cortex™-A9 processor using three-dimensional 14nm-XM FinFET transistors. Based on the industry standard design implementation flows and sign-off simulations using real process data, GF expects that a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor manufactured on GF’s 14nm-XM technology will deliver more than twice the energy efficiency of a similar 28nm-SLP technology based design, while requiring only half the chip area.

GF used technical specifications from its 14nm-XM process design kit (PDK) combined with ARM Artisan® standard-cell libraries and memories to release a Graphic Database System (GDS) file that has been used to calculate expected performance, power and area metrics. The results were compared to a silicon implementation of a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor manufactured on GF’s 28nm-SLP technology.

The implementation clearly demonstrates the value proposition of the 14nm-XM FinFET technology for tomorrow’s mobile applications. Some of the salient aspects ascertained through the simulation are:

• High-performance, energy-efficient ARM processors implemented on 28nm-SLP typically use 12-track libraries. However at 14nm-XM FinFET technology, much higher performance and more energy-efficient ARM processors can be implemented using 9-track libraries resulting in further die-size reductions.
• At constant power, the frequency achieved with 14nm-XM technology based implementation (using 9-track libraries) is expected to be 61% faster than the frequency achieved with 28nm-SLP technology based implementation (using 12-track libraries).
• At constant frequency, the power consumed by 14nm-XM technology based implementation is expected to be 62% lower than the power consumed by 28nm-SLP technology based implementation.
• The performance-power efficiency of 14nm-XM technology based implementation (expressed as DMIPs/milliwatts) is anticipated to be more than twice that of the 28nm-SLP technology based implementation, while using half the silicon area.

“Our deep collaboration with ARM is continuing to pay off as we work together to optimize ARM IP for our leading-edge process technology,” said Mike Noonen, executive vice president of marketing , sales, design and quality at GF. “Our 14nm-XM FinFET technology is designed for the next generation of mobile devices, making it a perfect fit for ARM’s energy-efficient processor technology. Our mutual customers will benefit extensively from this partnership as they design a range of products for the mobile, tablet and computing applications of tomorrow.”

“These preliminary results illustrate the potential benefits of FinFET technology applied to an ARM processor-based system-on-chip (SoC),” said Dr. Dipesh Patel, executive vice president and general manager, Physical IP Division at ARM. “Early collaboration on manufacturing process technologies allows GF and ARM to identify and address SoC design challenges and reduce risks to adoption by our mutual customers.”

ABOUT GF

GF is the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry with a truly global footprint. Launched in March 2009, the company has quickly achieved scale as the second largest foundry in the world, providing a unique combination of advanced technology and manufacturing to more than 160 customers. With operations in Singapore, Germany and the United States, GF is the only foundry that offers the flexibility and security of manufacturing centers spanning three continents. The company’s three 300mm fabs and five 200mm fabs provide the full range of process technologies from mainstream to the leading edge. This global manufacturing footprint is supported by major facilities for research, development and design enablement located near hubs of semiconductor activity in the United States, Europe and Asia. GF is owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). For more information, visit https://www.globalfoundries.com.

Customers can leverage massively parallel multicore technology in SoCs for next-generation mobile devices

Santa Clara, Calif., February 5, 2013 — At today’s Common Platform Technology Forum, GLOBALFOUNDRIES announced a partnership with Adapteva to offer the company’s Epiphany IV microarchitecture to customers using GF’s leading-edge 28nm-SLP process technology. The agreement will allow chip designers to integrate Adapteva’s massively parallel multicore technology into their next-generation system-on-chip (SoC) designs, enabling server-level performance in mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Adapteva, a privately-held semiconductor technology startup, collaborated closely with GF to optimize the Epiphany IV design based on the 28nm Super Low Power (SLP) process, allowing Adapteva to become the first company to demonstrate a processor operating at 50 GFLOPS/Watt. Adapteva’s partnership with GF has allowed the company to dramatically improve energy efficiency over multiple generations, maintaining overall power consumption at just 2 Watts while moving from 16 cores at 65nm to 64 cores at 28nm.

GF’s 28nm-SLP technology is ideally suited for the next generation of smart mobile devices, enabling designs with faster processing speeds, smaller feature sizes, lower standby power and longer battery life. The technology is based on GF’s “Gate First” approach to High-k Metal Gate (HKMG), which has been in volume production for more than two years.

The Epiphany IV microarchitecture is Adapteva’s latest design, including 64 high-performance RISC cores operating at up to 800MHz while consuming less than two watts with maximum program activity. The technology is designed for use as low-cost and low-power co-processor for running massively parallel tasks in conjunction with an ARM or x86 CPU.

“At GF, we are constantly seeking opportunities to offer our customers innovative silicon solutions to help them get the most from their SoC designs,” said Mike Noonen, executive vice president of marketing, sales, design and quality at GF. “Adapteva’s Epiphany IV processor technology is a significant innovation in the realm of parallel computing, and we are excited to give our customers a chance to leverage this technology on our production-proven HKMG process.”

“Our close collaboration with GF is helping us bring a whole new class of multicore microprocessors to market,” said Andreas Olofsson, CEO at Adapteva. “The Epiphany IV technology is ideally suited for next-generation mobile SoC designs, and using GF’s 28nm-SLP process allows us to achieve excellent performance and energy efficiency.”

Over the past three years, Adapteva has successfully completed four generations of its Epiphany multicore IP at different process nodes at GF. In September 2012, the company began sampling its first Epiphany IV products based on a limited mask set.

ABOUT GF

GF is the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry with a truly global footprint. Launched in March 2009, the company has quickly achieved scale as the second largest foundry in the world, providing a unique combination of advanced technology and manufacturing to more than 160 customers. With operations in Singapore, Germany and the United States, GF is the only foundry that offers the flexibility and security of manufacturing centers spanning three continents. The company’s three 300mm fabs and five 200mm fabs provide the full range of process technologies from mainstream to the leading edge. This global manufacturing footprint is supported by major facilities for research, development and design enablement located near hubs of semiconductor activity in the United States, Europe and Asia. GF is owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). For more information, visit https://www.globalfoundries.com.

Executive’s leadership helping to improve the economy by expanding advanced technology and manufacturing capabilities in the U.S.

Milpitas, Calif., January 15, 2013 – GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced Alexie Lee, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs, was recognized by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte, University of Phoenix, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers with a Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Award for her excellence and leadership in manufacturing. Alexie Lee joins 121 other woman honorees, representing all levels of manufacturing from the factory floor to the C Suite.

“Since helping to launch GF in 2009, Alexie has exhibited a tremendous track record of execution and collaboration, helping to propel our company as one of the fastest-growing semiconductor companies in the world,” said GF CEO Ajit Manocha. “Her leadership is helping GF create thousands of new advanced manufacturing jobs in the U.S., and expand the high-tech manufacturing capabilities that will continue to pave the way for long-term economic growth in the U.S. We thank Alexie for her hard work and dedication and we are so proud to see her recognized with this prestigious award.”

“These 122 women are the faces of exciting careers in manufacturing,” said Jennifer McNelly, president, The Manufacturing Institute. “We chose to honor these women because they each made significant achievements in manufacturing through positive impact on their company and the industry as a whole.”

The STEP Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead initiative launched by The Manufacturing Institute, Deloitte, University of Phoenix, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, to examine and promote the role of women in the manufacturing industry through recognition, research, and best practices for attracting, advancing, and retaining strong female talent.

“The STEP Ahead initiative was founded to change perceptions of the manufacturing industry and create new opportunities for women in the sector,” said Latondra Newton, group vice president at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and chairwoman of the STEP Ahead initiative. “This initiative is the call for action to transform the face of today’s manufacturing talent and ensure that women can contribute to the future of this industry.”

A 2011 survey from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute found that nearly 70 percent of American manufacturing companies have a moderate to severe shortage of available, qualified workers. Manufacturing companies cannot fill as many as 600,000 skilled positions, even as unemployment numbers hover at historically high levels. Additionally, labor statistics show that women are underrepresented in the manufacturing workforce and in manufacturing leadership ranks – a situation that must be reversed to preserve and grow the industry.

On February 5, The Manufacturing Institute and its STEP Ahead initiative partners will recognize the 122 recipients of the STEP Awards at a reception in Washington, D.C. The STEP Awards program will highlight each honoree’s story, including their leadership and accomplishments in manufacturing.

View the list and profiles of all STEP Award honorees.

About the Manufacturing Institute

The Manufacturing Institute (the Institute) is the 501 (c) 3 affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers. As a non-partisan organization, the Institute is committed to delivering leading-edge information and services to the nation’s manufacturers. The Institute is the authority on the attraction, qualification, and development of world-class manufacturing talent. Visit www.themanufacturinginstitute.org

ABOUT GF

GF is the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry with a truly global footprint. Launched in March 2009, the company has quickly achieved scale as the second largest foundry in the world, providing a unique combination of advanced technology and manufacturing to more than 160 customers. With operations in Singapore, Germany and the United States, GF is the only foundry that offers the flexibility and security of manufacturing centers spanning three continents. The company’s three 300mm fabs and five 200mm fabs provide the full range of process technologies from mainstream to the leading edge. This global manufacturing footprint is supported by major facilities for research, development and design enablement located near hubs of semiconductor activity in the United States, Europe and Asia. GF is owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). For more information, visit https://www.globalfoundries.com.

Advanced RF technologies provide cost-effective and
lower-power SoC solutions for mobile market

Las Vegas, NV, January 9, 2013 – Today at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nitero, a fabless semiconductor company developing next-generation Wi-Fi solutions for mobile devices, demonstrated its innovative 60GHz Wi-Fi solution manufactured on GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ 65 nanometer (nm) Low Power Enhanced (LPe) RF platform optimized for mobile SoC applications.

Nitero’s 60GHz solution, which complements and completes today’s Wi-Fi solutions such as 802.11n and 802.11ac, eliminates the need for physical connectors and their cables, dramatically increasing ease-of-use in tablet and handset devices. The company’s multi-gigabit, ultra-low power Wi-Fi solution allows consumers to enjoy the same capabilities and flexibility of high-end notebook computers in the convenient portability of a mobile device. Compliant with the now IEEE ratified 802.11ad industry standard, the upcoming Nitero Wi-Fi solution sill support popular enabling technologies from the Wi-Fi Alliance such as Wi-Fi Direct™ and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Miracast^TM.

“We needed a collaborative partner who was fully committed to supporting the development of our cutting-edge solution and bringing it to market,” said Natalino Camilleri, vice president of RF Engineering and Operations at Nitero. “GF is the perfect fit because of its outstanding RF solutions at the 65nm-LPe process technology node and excellent customer service. GF provided us the right solution at the right time for our product.”

“Collaboration is the cornerstone of our customer relationships. We are delighted to partner with Nitero to help them bring their innovative Wi-Fi solution to market,” said Bruce Kleinman, vice president of product marketing at GF. “Our 65nm LPe RF solutions, which are built upon low-power and high-performance process technology, are optimized for mobile applications. With its vast array of device options, highly accurate silicon-validated RF models, and comprehensive design enablement tools, our customers enjoy a complete product solution with lower risk and faster time to market.”

GF’s 65nm LPe RF solution is a proven platform ideal for low-power and high-performance SoC solutions used in power-sensitive mobile applications such as GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE receiver, Mobile TV and Digital Radio. In 2012, the foundry shipped over 65,000 wafers on 65nm RF technology from its Singapore 300mm Fab 7 facility.

ABOUT GF

GF is the world’s first full-service semiconductor foundry with a truly global footprint. Launched in March 2009, the company has quickly achieved scale as one of the largest foundries in the world, providing a unique combination of advanced technology and manufacturing to more than 160 customers. With operations in Singapore, Germany and the United States, GF is the only foundry that offers the flexibility and security of manufacturing centers spanning three continents. The company’s three 300mm fabs and five 200mm fabs provide the full range of process technologies from mainstream to the leading edge. This global manufacturing footprint is supported by major facilities for research, development and design enablement located near hubs of semiconductor activity in the United States, Europe and Asia. GF is owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). For more information, visit https://www.globalfoundries.com.

Media Contact:

Jason Gorss
GF
(518) 305-9022 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (518) 305-9022 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting
jason.gorss@globalfoundries.com

Gina Wong
GF Asia Pacific
(65) 6670-8108
ginawong@globalfoundries.com