Peregrine Semiconductor Introduces Next-Generation Technology Platform with Industry’s Best RonCoff Performance January 25, 2017The 300 mm UltraCMOS® 12 Technology Platform Boasts a 25-Percent Improvement in RONCOFF Performance SAN DIEGO – Jan. 25, 2017 – Peregrine Semiconductor Corp., founder of RF SOI (silicon on insulator) and pioneer of advanced RF solutions, announces the UltraCMOS® 12 technology platform. Now in production, this next-generation RF SOI platform boasts the industry’s lowest RONCOFF performance level of 80 fs—a 25-percent improvement over the last generation. To develop the 300 mm UltraCMOS 12 platform, Peregrine collaborated with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, a leading full-service semiconductor foundry.
Mentor Graphics joins GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDXcelerator™ Partner Program December 24, 2016WILSONVILLE, Ore., December 22, 2016—Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDXcelerator™ Partner Program. FDXcelerator program partners support customers of GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDX™ technologies by providing a variety of design solutions, including approved design methodology, IP development expertise, hardware/software system integration expertise, and other critical software, services, and support. They participate in FDXcelerator Partner Program events, and receive early access to the GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDX roadmap and associated technology offerings.
Mentor Graphics公司加入格芯FDXcelerator合作伙伴计划 December 23, 2016WILSONVILLE, Ore., December 22, 2016—Mentor Graphics Corp. (NASDAQ: MENT) today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator™ Partner Program. FDXcelerator program partners support customers of GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDX™ technologies by providing a variety of design solutions, including approved design methodology, IP development expertise, hardware/software system integration expertise, and other critical software, services, and support. They participate in FDXcelerator Partner Program events, and receive early access to the GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDX roadmap and associated technology offerings.
格芯扩展合作伙伴计划，加快FDX™解决方案的上市时间 December 15, 2016增加支持确认FDXcelerator™计划在促进GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDX™ 产品组合的更广泛部署方面的关键作用。 加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉市 2016年12月15日 — 格芯今天宣布，在其增长的FDXcelerator计划中增加八个新的合作伙伴，包括Advanced Semiconductor Engineering，Inc.（ASE Group），Amkor Technology，Infosys，Mentor Graphics，Rambus，Sasken， Sonics和QuickLogic。这些新合作伙伴加入了Synopsys，Cadence，INVECAS，VeriSilicon，CEA Leti，Dreamchip和Encore Semi，提供一系列服务，使格芯的客户能够快速的将22FDX®片上系统（SoC）运用到低功耗的应用中去，这些运用包括物联网（IoT），移动，射频连接和网络市场。 FDXcelerator合作伙伴计划基于格芯的22FDX和12FDX™技术，这是替代基于FinFET技术的芯片，该芯片按照需求来提供相应的性能表现，并且能够高效的利用效率并降以成本。格芯的22FDX平台从诸如40nm和28nm等批量节点提供了一套低成本的迁移路径，允许客户设计出具有差异化，智能化和全面集成的系统解决方案。 FDXcelerator合作伙伴通过提供一套具体的解决方案和资源，在帮助提高FDX技术的设计效率和缩短客户的上市时间发挥了至关重要的作用。格芯与该计划的合作伙伴密切合作，帮助客户创造高性能的22FDX设计，同时通过接触到广泛的优质产品，特别是22FDX技术，最大限度地减少开发成本。合作伙伴生态系统使格芯能够加速其在市场上的牵引力，使格芯能够更有效地向更广泛的客户提供其FDX产品和服务。 合作伙伴计划扩大了FD-SOI生态系统的覆盖范围，并创建了一个开放的框架，允许选定的合作伙伴将他们的产品或服务整合到经过验证的即插即用设计解决方案目录中。该计划涵盖了FDX定制的解决方案和服务，包括： · EDA工具利用差异化的FD-SOI体偏特征，嵌入业界领先的设计流程。 · IP设计元素和完整的IP库，包括基础IP，接口和复杂的IP。这可以使代工客户能够通过验证的IP元素从而快速启动设计。 · 完整的22 FDX ASIC产品的ASIC平台。 · 新兴应用领域的参考解决方案和系统级专业知识可以加速上市时间。 · 外包组装和测试（OSAT）解决方案具有广泛的制造能力，以实现最先进的SoC交付。 · 专用于FDX技术的设计咨询以及其他服务。 格芯负责产品管理的资深副总裁Alain Mutricy表示：“随着FDXcelerator计划的不断扩大，合作伙伴在帮助服务于我们逐步增加的客户方面发挥了关键作用，并通过提供创新的FDX定制解决方案和服务来扩大FD-SOI生态系统的覆盖范围。这些新合作伙伴将有助于推动更深入的互动和技术合作，以及围绕质量，资格认证和开发方法进行更紧密的互联，这些能够为我们提供先进的22FDX SoC解决方案。” 格芯致力于与行业领导者建立强大的生态系统合作关系。通过FDXcelerator计划，格芯的合作伙伴和客户现在可以从更多的可用资源中受益，并加速FDX市场的发展。 要了解GF的FDXcelerator合作伙伴计划的更多信息，请访问我们的合作伙伴页面。 行业寄语 “随着快速发展的物联网和可穿戴应用领域的飞速发展，ASE很高兴被格芯选为值得信赖的合作伙伴，为IC组装和测试服务提供强大可靠的供应链，并最终加速产品上市时间。通过这种合作，ASE已经成功的实现了格芯的FDX技术平台和我们创新的电线键合，倒装芯片以及晶圆级封装技术成功结合。未来，我们很高兴进一步扩大与格芯的合作伙伴关系，以便有越来越多的客户使用我们的产品足组合，以及封装和测试能力中获益。所有这些也都正在开发中，以适应新兴市场需求。” ASE集团业务发展高级副总裁Rich Rice “Amkor Technology公司很高兴加入格芯的FDXcelerator合作伙伴计划。很多客户希望能从利用FD-SOI技术在那些FinFET非常难满足价格标准和复杂性的市场中获利，而这个生态系统联盟则正好为这类客户提供了加速上市的方法。在FinFET挣扎于复杂性和满足定价能力的领域中获益于FD-SOI技术的客户提供加速的上市时间。我们全力的支持生态系统联盟以及所有追求FDX价值主张的客户。” Amkor Technology 研发与技术战略 副总裁Ron Huemoeller “Infosys公司帮助客户加快我们的硅-系统工程服务的上市时间。作为格芯 FDXcelerator计划的合作伙伴，我们将能进一步增强了我们的硅工程产品，使我们获得独特的优势，以满足我们半导体客户的在技术上要求。 Infosys公司 高级副总裁兼全球工程服务负责人Sudip Singh “Mentor Graphics公司很高兴能与格芯一起合作，来为行业提供更多的芯片设计制程的选择。Mentor Graphics公司对FDXcelerator程序的支持不仅包括Calibre®平台，还包括来自数字IC设计的产品，Analog FastSPICE（AFS）™，Eldo®模拟/混合信号平台以及Tessent®测试套件。其结果是Mentor Graphics公司的产品可以让共同的客户充分利用格芯的 FDX流程的独特功能，并能自信的实现从设计到硅片生产的整个流程。 Mentor Graphic公司设计与硅部门副总裁兼总经理Joe Sawicki “我们很高兴成为FDXcelerator计划的一员，并能扩大与格芯的合作。通过参与此计划，我们的DPA防护安全核心将作为预先验证的22FDX™IP生态系统的一部分。该计划有助于扩展我们一流的安全核心的覆盖范围，并加速我们为客户提供服务的效率。“ Rambus安全部总经理Martin Scott博士 “Sasken公司对软件解决方案和过程有着深刻的了解，这可以帮助OEM跟上物联网，汽车，工业和新兴设备技术的发展的步伐。随着对定制及定制片上系统（SoC）解决方案，参考设计，和更新设备的日益增长的需求，FDXcelerator程序将实现快速的SoC生产并加快上市时间。 Sasken在完整产品（包括软件和硬件）实现方面的有非常卓越的表现。参与格芯的FDXcelerator伙伴合作计划将会帮助客户更快的实现设计解决方案。 Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd. 主席兼首席执行官Rajiv Mody “Sonics公司正在与格芯 FDXcelerator计划合作，因为我们承诺降低能耗并提高我们的SoC设计的性能。 Sonics在网络芯片（NoC）技术领域的领先地位使其成为业内最受信赖的片上通信解决方案提供商。现在，我们的新能源处理单元（EPU）技术在建筑层面提供了创新的片上能源管理功能，该功能具有最大的节能潜力。 Sonics很高兴利用22FDX的独特优势来桥接应用和硅片级功率控制。“ Sonics公司首席执行官Grant Pierce “非常高兴我们在格芯的成本和功耗优化的22 FDX流程上推出了超低功耗ArcticPro™eFPGA IP解决方案。这种合作伙伴关系利用了我们近三十年的FPGA经验，为格芯客户提供了经过验证的超低功耗解决方案，大大提高了SoC设计的灵活性。这种增加的灵活性可以显着拓宽SoC设计的市场，并加速半导体公司和使用eFPGA解决方案的OEM的产品上市时间。 QuickLogic公司总裁兼首席执行官Brian Faith 关于格芯 格芯是提供全方位服务的领先半导体晶圆制造商，为世界上最具创新意识的科技公司提供独特的设计，开发和制造服务。格芯的生产制造业务遍布全球三大洲。格芯使技术和系统转型成为可能，并且帮助客户拥有塑造市场的力量。 格芯是Mubadala Development Company旗下公司。欲了解更多信息，请访问公司官方网站 https://www.globalfoundries.com。 联系人： Jason Gorss 电话：（518）698-7765 [email protected]
GlobalFoundries Expands Partner Program to Speed Time-to-Market of FDX™ Solutions December 15, 2016 Increased support affirms FDXcelerator™ Program’s vital role in promoting broader deployment of GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDX™ portfolio Santa Clara, Calif., December 15, 2016 – GF today announced the addition of eight new partners to its growing FDXcelerator Program, including Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc. (ASE Group), Amkor Technology, Infosys, Mentor Graphics, Rambus, Sasken, Sonics, and QuickLogic. These new partners join Synopsys, Cadence, INVECAS, VeriSilicon, CEA Leti, Dreamchip, and Encore Semi to provide a suite of services that will enable GF customers to rapidly implement 22FDX® system-on-chip (SoC) designs in low-power applications spanning Internet-of-Things (IoT), mobile, RF connectivity, and networking markets. The FDXcelerator Partner Program builds upon GF’s 22FDX and 12FDX™ technologies, an alternative to FinFET-based technologies for chips that require performance on demand and energy efficiency at the lowest solution cost. GF’s 22FDX platform provides a lower-cost migration path from bulk nodes such as 40nm and 28nm, which allows customers to design differentiated, intelligent, and fully-integrated system solutions. FDXcelerator partners play a critical role by providing a set of specific solutions and resources that help increase design productivity on FDX technology and reduce time-to-market for its customers. GF works closely with program partners to help customers create high-performance 22FDX designs while minimizing development costs through access to a broad set of quality offerings, specific to 22FDX technology. The partner ecosystem allows GF to accelerate its traction in the market and more effectively offer its FDX products and services to a broader range of customers. The partner program extends the reach of the FD-SOI ecosystem, creating an open framework that allows selected partners to integrate their products or services into a validated, plug-and-play catalog of design solutions. The program encompasses FDX-tailored solutions and services, including: EDA tools that leverage differentiated FD-SOI body-bias features, built into industry-leading design flows;IP design elements and complete libraries, including foundational IP, interfaces and complex IP to enable foundry customers to start designs quickly with validated IP elements;ASIC platforms for a complete 22FDX ASIC offering;Reference solutions and system-level expertise in emerging application areas to speed time-to-market;Outsourced assembly and test (OSAT) solution featuring extensive manufacturing capacity to enable state-of-the art SoC delivery, and;Design consultation and other services dedicated to FDX technology. “As the FDXcelerator program continues to expand, partners play a critical role in helping to serve our growing number of customers and extend the reach of our FD-SOI ecosystem by providing innovative FDX-tailored solutions and services,” said Alain Mutricy, senior vice president of product management at GF. “These new partners will help drive deeper engagement and enhance technology collaboration, including tighter interlock around quality, qualification and development methodology, enabling us to deliver advanced 22FDX SoC solutions.” GF is focused on building strong ecosystem partnerships with industry leaders. With the FDXcelerator program, GF’s partners and customers can now benefit from a greater availability of resources to take advantage of the broad adoption and accelerating growth of the FDX market. To learn more about GF’s FDXcelerator partner program, please visit our Partners page. Supporting Quotes “With a fast-evolving IoT and wearables application landscape, ASE is pleased to have been selected by GF as a trusted partner to provide a robust and reliable supply chain for IC assembly and test services, ultimately accelerating time-to-market for our mutual customers. Through this collaboration, ASE has successfully qualified GF’s FDX technology platform using our innovative wire bond, flip chip and wafer level packaging technologies. Going forward, we are excited to further expand our partnership with GF so customers can increasingly draw from our complementary portfolios encompassing foundry and packaging & test capabilities, all of which are being developed to align with emerging market needs.” Rich Rice, Senior Vice President, Business Development, ASE Group “Amkor Technology is pleased to join GF’s FDXcelerator partner program. This ecosystem alliance provides an accelerated time-to-market approach for those customers desiring to benefit from the gains in FD-SOI technology in areas where FinFET struggles with complexity and ability to meet pricing objectives. We look forward to supporting the ecosystem alliance and all of our customers seeking to take advantage of the FDX value proposition.” Ron Huemoeller, Corporate Vice President, WW R&D and Technology Strategy, Amkor Technology “Infosys helps clients accelerate their time to market with our silicon to systems range of Engineering Services. Being a partner with GF FDXcelerator program, further enhances our silicon engineering offerings and puts us in a unique position to address technology requirements for our semiconductor clients.” Sudip Singh, SVP & Global Head of Engineering Services, Infosys “Mentor Graphics is pleased to be working with GF to provide the industry with more process options for chip design. Mentor’s support for the FDXcelerator program includes not only the Calibre® platform, but also participation from our Digital IC Design product offerings, the Analog FastSPICE (AFS)™ and Eldo® analog/mixed-signal platforms, and the Tessent® test suite. The result is a Mentor offering that allows mutual customers to fully leverage the unique capabilities of GF FDX processes, and move from design to silicon with confidence.” Joe Sawicki, Vice President and General Manager of the Design-to-Silicon Division at Mentor Graphics “We are pleased to be part of the FDXcelerator program and to broaden our collaboration with GF. Through our participation in this program, our DPA-resistant security cores will be made available as part of the pre-validated ecosystem of 22FDX™ IP. This program helps extend the reach of our best-in-class security cores and accelerates the time-to-market for our customers.” Dr. Martin Scott, General Manager of the Rambus Security Division “Sasken has a deep understanding of the software solutions and processes needed to help OEMs keep pace with the evolution of IoT, automotive, industrial and emerging devices technology. With the increasing demand for custom and bespoke system-on-chip (SoC) solutions, reference designs and newer devices, the FDXcelerator program will enable rapid SoC production and speed up time-to-market. Sasken’s excellence in complete product realization, which includes software and hardware, along with GF’s FDXcelerator Partnership Program will enable custom design solutions at a faster pace.” Rajiv Mody, Chairman, Managing Director, and CEO, Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd. “Sonics is partnering with GF FDXcelerator program because we share a commitment to lowering energy consumption and increasing performance for our SoC design customers. Sonics’ leadership in network-on-chip (NoC) technologies has made it the industry’s most trusted solution provider for on-chip communications. Now, our new energy processing unit (EPU) technology provides innovative on-chip energy management capabilities at the architecture level where the greatest potential for power savings is available. Sonics is excited to bridge application and silicon level power control leveraging the unique advantages of 22FDX.” Grant Pierce, CEO of Sonics “We are very excited to launch our ultra-low power ArcticPro™ eFPGA IP solution on GF’s cost- and power-optimized 22 FDX process. This partnership leverages our nearly three decades of FPGA experience to provide GF customers with a proven ultra-low power solution that dramatically increases the flexibility of a SoC design. This increased flexibility can significantly broaden the market for SoC designs and accelerate time to market for both semiconductor companies and the OEMs that use eFPGA solutions.” Brian Faith, President and CEO of QuickLogic Corporation About GF GF is a leading full-service semiconductor foundry providing a unique combination of design, development, and fabrication services to some of the world’s most inspired technology companies. With a global manufacturing footprint spanning three continents, GF makes possible the technologies and systems that transform industries and give customers the power to shape their markets. GF is owned by Mubadala Development Company. For more information, visit www.gf.com. Contacts:Erica McGillGF(518) 305-5978[email protected]
格芯在高级14nm FinFET工艺技术演示行业领先的56Gbps长距离SerDes December 13, 20162016年12月13日 经过验证的ASIC IP解决方案将为下一代高速应用提供显着的性能和功率效率 加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉市， 2016年12月13日 格芯今天宣布，公司的14nm FinFET制程在硅片上表现出真正的长距离56Gbps SerDes性能。作为格芯高性能ASIC产品的一部分，FX-14™的56Gbps SerDes专门设计用以满足要求最苛刻的长距离高性能应用，更能帮助客户改进性能并提高效率表现。 格芯的56Gbps SerDes内核可以支持PAM4和NRZ信号，具有能力稳定超过35dB的插入损耗，并且在目前最具挑战性的系统环境中去除了使用昂贵且耗电的中继器的必要性。凭借突破性的架构，56Gbps SerDes实现了市场领先的长距离性能，将超过新兴的50Gbps行业标准，如OIF CEI-56G-LR和IEEE 802.3cd。 FX-14产品提供广泛的高速SerDes（HSS）解决方案，并在公司成熟的，经生产验证的马耳他Fab 8晶圆厂的14nm FinFET（14LPP）平台上制造。同类最佳的高性能56Gbps架构提供业界领先的抖动防噪和均衡能力支持，可在广泛的高速接口标准下提升系统性能，并将为当前及未来的前沿网络，计算和存储应用提供高速连接和低功耗解决方案。 全球销售高级副总裁Mike Cadigan表示：“这一里程碑表明我们有能力设计出一流的ASIC解决方案，并以最具竞争力的电源和面积在最苛刻的网络和数据中心应用中以56Gbps的速度提供行业领先的性能。“格芯在SerDes的开发和ASIC专业经验方面上有长期的成功经验，加上格芯的14LPP技术，使我们的客户能够通过集成和高性能核心的方式将新的应用及时高效地推向市场。” “网络带宽的爆炸性增长继续推动了对业界领先的接口速度和密度的ASIC解决方案的需求”，Linley集团首席分析师Bob Wheeler说。“格芯已经提供了一个复杂的SerDes核心，可以快速地将一流的ASIC解决方案推向市场，从而提高下一代网络设备的带宽容量，可扩展性和电源效率。” 格芯的FX-14设计系统通过超高性能56Gbps SerDes，PCI Express和多个30Gbps SerDes设计，以及对各种外部存储器接口的支持，扩展了公司HSS的领先地位。 格芯的嵌入式内存解决方案包括业界最快，功耗最低的嵌入式TCAM。与之前的的产品相比，其性能提高了60％，泄漏量减少了80％，并配以密度和性能优化的SRAM。 客户目前正在使用56Gbps和其他FX-14 SerDes内核在14LPP制程技术上设计先进的ASIC解决方案。格芯目前正在客户渠道展示其56Gbps SerDes，并将于2017年第一季度初开始发布开发板。对于下一代数据通信网络，格芯正在开发先进的电气解决方案，便于移植，以及光学变体，实现在技术上广泛地达到并超过112Gbps。 欲了解有关格芯高性能ASIC解决方案的更多信息，请访问www.globalfoundries.com/ASIC。 关于格芯 格芯是提供全方位服务的领先半导体晶圆制造商，为世界上最具创新意识的科技公司提供独特的设计，开发和制造服务。格芯的生产制造业务遍布全球三大洲。格芯使技术和系统转型成为可能，并且帮助客户拥有塑造市场的力量。 格芯是Mubadala Development Company旗下公司。欲了解更多信息，请访问公司官方网站 https://www.globalfoundries.com。 联系人： Jason Gorss 电话：（518）698-7765 [email protected]
GlobalFoundries Demonstrates Industry-Leading 56Gbps Long-Reach SerDes on Advanced 14nm FinFET Process Technology December 13, 2016 Proven ASIC IP solution will enable significant performance and power efficiency improvements for next-generation high-speed applications Santa Clara, Calif., December 13, 2016 – GlobalFoundries today announced that it has demonstrated true long-reach 56Gbps SerDes performance in silicon on the company’s 14nm FinFET process. As a part of GF’s high-performance ASIC offering, FX-14™, the 56Gbps SerDes is designed for customers seeking to improve power and performance efficiency while handling the most demanding long-reach high-performance applications. The FX-14 offering provides a broad range of High-Speed SerDes (HSS) solutions and is manufactured on the company’s mature, production-proven 14nm FinFET (14LPP) platform at its Fab 8 facility in Malta, N.Y. The best-in-class architecture for high-performance 56Gbps delivers industry-leading jitter performance and equalization support for enhanced system performance over a wide range of high-speed interface standards and will enable high-speed connectivity and low-power solutions for current and future leading-edge networking, compute and storage applications. GF’s 56Gbps SerDes core supports both PAM4 and NRZ signaling, with the capability to equalize over 35dB of insertion loss, eliminating the need for expensive and power-hungry repeaters currently employed in the most challenging system environments. With a groundbreaking architecture, the 56Gbps SerDes achieves market-leading long-reach performance that will exceed emerging 50Gbps industry standards such as OIF CEI-56G-LR and IEEE 802.3cd. “This milestone demonstrates our ability to design best-in-class ASIC solutions and deliver industry-leading performance at 56Gbps in the most demanding networking and datacenter applications at very competitive power and area,” said Mike Cadigan, senior vice president of global sales and business development at GF. “The long history of proven success in SerDes development and ASIC expertise, combined with GF’s 14LPP technology, enables our customers to bring new applications to market in a timely and cost-effective manner through integrated and high-performance cores.” “The explosive growth in network bandwidth continues to drive the need for ASIC solutions with industry-leading interface speed and density,” said Bob Wheeler, principal analyst at The Linley Group. “GF has delivered a sophisticated SerDes core that enables a fast time to market for best-in-class ASIC solutions that will improve bandwidth capacity, scalability, and power efficiency in next-generation networking equipment.” GF’s FX-14 design system extends the company’s HSS leadership with an ultra-high performance 56Gbps SerDes, PCI Express, and multiple 30Gbps SerDes designs, as well as support for various external memory interfaces. GF’s embedded memory solutions include the industry’s fastest and lowest power embedded TCAM, which offers up to 60 percent better performance and 80 percent less leakage than its predecessor, along with density and performance-optimized SRAMs. Customers are presently designing advanced ASIC solutions in 14LPP process technology using the 56Gbps and other FX-14 SerDes cores. GF is currently demonstrating its 56Gbps SerDes in customer channels and will begin shipping development boards in early Q1 2017. For next-generation data communication networks, GF is developing an advanced electrical solution for ease of migration, as well as optical variants, enabling a broad array of technology to achieve 112Gbps and beyond. About GF GF is a leading full-service semiconductor foundry providing a unique combination of design, development, and fabrication services to some of the world’s most inspired technology companies. With a global manufacturing footprint spanning three continents, GF makes possible the technologies and systems that transform industries and give customers the power to shape their markets. GF is owned by Mubadala Development Company. For more information, visit https://www.gf.com. Contacts:Erica McGillGF(518) 305-5978[email protected]
MRAM Meets Embedded December 6, 2016 By Dave Lammers Now that magneto-resistive random access memory (MRAM) has reached the point — after more than two decades of development — where it can be more widely used, the question becomes: How will designers use it? How will MRAM make a difference in the connected systems in mobile, automotive, and IoT? MRAM pioneer Everspin Technologies (Chandler, Ariz.) has been shipping discrete MRAMs made by GF, largely to the cache buffering market, for the past two years, said analyst Tom Coughlin. With speeds rivaling DRAMs, and basically unlimited data retention, Coughlin said MRAM “is the best candidate for replacing existing non-volatile memories in computer architectures.” Mobile devices and other systems often have large amounts of SRAM, Coughlin said, and must use time and energy to preserve the memory state when the power is turned off, or a system gets hung up. Because MRAM can be turned off and on with virtually no additional power consumption, system designers can do much more power cycling, turning power off to conserve battery life. There is no energy penalty when a normally-off system comes back to life. “For mobile devices, MRAM enables a lot more power-saving modes, which can help battery-powered systems,” Coughlin said. MRAM’s power-saving capabilities are somewhat surprising, because the early knock on MRAM was that it consumed a lot of power. Over the past 25 years the technology has gone from a thermally-assisted, sandwich-layer MRAM to a perpendicular magnetic tunnel junction, spin-transfer (pMTJ ST-MRAM) architecture. Back to the question: Where does MRAM fit? First, think about how fast the electronics industry is changing and where the opportunities are. New product categories such as augmented reality systems, assisted driving vehicles, drones, and a panoply of IoT technologies, are right in front of us. Dave Eggleston, the vice president of embedded memory at GLOBALFOUNDRIES, points out that most of these new systems depend on fast visual image processing. A car must process image data in real time to avoid a crash, requiring visual image processors and fast memories. “A drone is a great example of where you need lighter weight, and where more energy-efficient circuitry results in longer fly times. How does a drone navigate? By pulling in 3D maps. It has its own vision system, with stored information on topography, to hash real-time information,” Eggleston said. With MRAM, it is possible to trot out some impressive characteristics: 1000x more endurance and 1000x faster write speeds than eFlash; more dense and versatile than SRAM, and an ability to integrate into a CMOS logic process without disturbing the logic transistors. Also, embedded MRAM (eMRAM) is a low-mask-count technology, requiring only four additional mask layers compared with a dozen or more for eFlash at advanced nodes. Early on, Eggleston didn’t envision MRAM being immediately suitable to embedded applications. “I’m not sure I would have told you that ten years ago. But because the magnetic junctions are built in the back end of the line, and are easier to integrate in a logic process, the embedded applications make sense,” he said. MRAM as Working Memory To think of eMRAM as simply replacing something else probably is not the best way to think of it, especially in the advanced SoCs needed for emerging markets. It opens new possibilities in the working memories for mobile, IoT, automotive, and other connected applications, Eggleston said. For a complex chip with, say, four graphics processing units and a visual processing unit, an MRAM module could store the code and another block of eMRAM could store data. “By storing data in a non-volatile media, you don’t get rid of SRAM, because eMRAM does not run as fast, but you can shrink down the amount of SRAM and utilize eMRAM as an SRAM-like memory. That makes the design cost effective because eMRAM is denser than SRAM. You get more data for a smaller chip size,” Eggleston said. Software and SoC designers will learn new capabilities, taking advantage of the “persistence” (data retention) characteristics of eMRAM. The cost and performance benefits of eMRAM are what Eggleston calls the “table stakes” needed to make eMRAM a credible alternative to eFlash. But it will be the new capabilities brought by eMRAM that will entice system designers to ask ‘Now, how else can I use it in my chip architecture?’ Coughlin, who earlier worked in technology management at several disk drive companies, said MRAM “definitely has a niche replacing some DRAM and SRAM. It may replace NOR. What we are seeing is almost a Cambrian explosion in the memory field, where NAND flash will continue for mass storage while we see another tier of storage where MRAM or the Intel-Micron phase change memory is used in some applications.” As new applications call for higher performance, and as IoT systems generate much more data, systems designers will use multiple layers of memory. SRAM and DRAM will be complemented by new layers of phase change or resistive memories, and NAND, Coughlin said. “It will be a very interesting time, and we will see how it all shakes out. I do believe MRAM has a solid basis for being part of that menagerie,” he said. 22FDX® eMRAM Eggleston said GF will continue to extend embedded flash, but GF’s plan is to marry eMRAM with another technology that has mask-count advantages: the 22FDX platform based on fully depleted SOI. The 22FDX-based products will begin to come to market in 2017, and Eggleston said eMRAM becomes available the following year. That timeline contrasts with a normal four or five years to bring NVM to a new logic technology. “For customers that need embedded memory, to bring eMRAM to 22FDX so soon after the (22FDX) logic launch is a huge win. With eMRAM, customers don’t need to recharacterize their designs, because the eMRAM is an extension of the platform, not a platform in and of itself,” he said. Since eMRAM does not shift the underlying transistors, designers can efficiently build a 22FDX-based SoC with the integrated eMRAM that runs on a logic voltage. “eMRAM is straightforward, it integrates incredibly well, and runs on a logic voltage,” he said. Manufacturing Experience Other companies have publicly referred to their own MRAM development programs. Coughlin noted that Everspin, which earlier took CMOS logic wafers and added its MRAM to the back end of the line, now works with GF as its full manufacturing partner. The 256-Mbit and, soon, 1 Gigabit-density discrete MRAMs sold by Everspin are made by GF. Coughlin estimates that about 60 million discrete MRAMs have been sold by Everspin thus far. Source: Everspin, MRAM Leadership Over Three Generations The years of manufacturing experience GF has gained by working with Everspin have provided key learning in deposition, etch, metrology, and other manufacturing processes that are unique to the multi-layer magnetic stacks within MRAMs. Coughlin said the manufacturing and technology partnership with Everspin has provided GF with a lead in the eMRAM arena. “I think it is a very important, pioneering effort. It has given the partners a lead in actual products, but they must be diligent to keep their lead,” Coughlin said. Eggleston said the spin-transfer MRAM work between GF and Everspin has provided “a lot of learning cycles” over the past two years of running wafers. “By the time we are in production with 22FDX eMRAM we will have been fabricating MRAM for four years. That definitely accelerates the time to market for our embedded solution,” he said.
QuickLogic公司加入格芯的FDXcelerator(TM)合作伙伴计划 November 30, 2016SUNNYVALE, CA — (Marketwired) — 11/30/16 — QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a developer of ultra-low power programmable sensor processing, display bridge and programmable logic solutions, today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator™ Partner Program, a collaborative ecosystem that facilitates 22FDX® system-on-chip (SoC) design and reduces time-to-market for customers.
QuickLogic Joins GLOBALFOUNDRIES FDXcelerator(TM) Partner Program November 30, 2016SUNNYVALE, CA — (Marketwired) — 11/30/16— QuickLogic Corporation (NASDAQ: QUIK), a developer of ultra-low power programmable sensor processing, display bridge and programmable logic solutions, today announced that it has joined GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ FDXcelerator™ Partner Program, a collaborative ecosystem that facilitates 22FDX system-on-chip (SoC) design and reduces time-to-market for customers. “QuickLogic’s partnership with GLOBALFOUNDRIES adds a unique dimension to the FDX program by offering customers ultra-low power embedded FPGA (eFPGA) Intellectual Property, complete software tools and a compiler,” said Brian Faith, president and CEO at QuickLogic Corporation. “This new capability provides users with a high level of design and product flexibility which will help lower costs and allow products to be easily customized to meet various and evolving market requirements.”
