作者：阿兰-穆特里奇

In our highly competitive industry, it is imperative for a company to continually challenge itself to move forward, otherwise it will surely find itself falling behind. At GLOBALFOUNDRIES, this means we are thinking big and embarking on technological paths we have not taken before to provide differentiated value to our customers. Our fully depleted SOI technologies, which we call FDX™, are one example. You’ve heard a lot from us lately about FDX technology. Our 22nm and 12nm FDX processes are ideal for low-power, mobile and highly integrated SoC applications, the sweet spot in the market for many of our customers. We originally developed the 22FDX® technology for IoT systems, which we estimate to be a $50B market opportunity for semiconductors by 2020 (Source: McKinsey & Company,based on volume forecast by Gartner, iSuppli, Strategy Analytics). It delivers the performance of 14/16nm FinFET technology on demand leveraging a software-controlled back-bias technology—yet it also supports ultra-low power systems and an ultra-low-leakage library for battery-operated IoT solutions. The process technology has been designed to integrate high-performance digital libraries with high-performance analog and RF circuits. First IP and silicon implementations have demonstrated the fact that beyond IoT, the 22FDX platform is ideal for low-to mid-range smartphone single-chip integration. Also, with the 22FDX platform we have broken the old paradigm of semiconductor technology development, which went as follows: the most advanced node would be developed for high-performance digital logic implementation. Then, more or less two years later, analog and RF would complement the process toolkit, as leading-edge performance customers were already moving to the next digital node. Finally, add another two years and you may have the ability to integrate non-volatile-memory (NVM). Which means, of course, that systems which would benefit from NVM integration could only integrate logic IP with four-year old performance capabilities. The 22FDX platform enables our customers to break free of this constraint, and to design intelligent, fully integrated (e.g., lowest power and system cost), and connected (e.g. with RF systems on-chip) systems. We see customers working on 28nm today, but also 55nm and 40nm customers (with RF and/or NVM) considering switching directly to 22FDX to leverage this competitive advantage for themselves. We’re already working with scores of customers on FDX technology, and a good number are in the early prototyping phase. While our unique FDX technology is the foundation of our offerings, we have also challenged ourselves to find ways to help customers bring their FDX-based products to market as easily and as quickly as possible. In particular, to make available tools and IP that enable customers to leverage the software-controlled body-bias capabilities of our FDX technology. To do this, we have developed the FDXcelerator Partner Program. It is a collaborative effort that provides customers with the comprehensive support and resources they need to get FDX-based SoCs to market as fast as possible. Think of it as an entire ecosystem of pre-qualified, committed expert partners and suppliers who, along with GF, stand ready to provide whatever customers may need to create and bring to market innovative SoC solutions quickly and cost-effectively. Such strong, strategic partnerships are crucial for any business, large or small. For example, let me make a comparison with something on the personal side. More than 15 years ago, I started a business within Texas Instruments aimed at developing microprocessor solutions for cellular phones, with the early vision that cell phones would become “smart,” have high-level operating systems, the ability to download applications and share media, and larger screens. We called it the OMAP processor. (How this world has changed in these past 15 years!!!) Despite a strong technology advantage versus the competition, with much more performance for multimedia and graphic, at ultra-low-power, OMAP in the early days represented a new type of dual-core solution to program. Our customers were viewing a competitor’s leading microprocessor solution as a safer bet, easier to implement, although the technology could not provide the needed battery life that would make smartphones become a mainstream technology. We launched a similar ecosystem network called the OMAP Technology Center program, to break the design barriers for our customers by bringing the best-of-the-best technology partners with optimized software solutions and tools to OMAP technology. In no time, our partners adapted their resources, skills, tools and their multimedia software or base-port software solutions to support the OMAP platform and take advantage of the emergence of the smart phone market with OMAP, which became quickly the market leader. OMAP customers were all winning in their markets, as they could develop at an accelerated pace. OMAP Technology Centers—our partners—grew very fast and shared in the success. So, back to our topic here: While we estimate that 22FDX SoC design complexity and the level of effort required is much lower than that of FinFET technology, designing with the full leverage of the software-controlled body-bias is a new approach to SOC design. Not complex, but different. (FinFET design complexity is about twice that of 28nm, according to a Gartner study.) We couldn’t have done it so well nor so quickly without expert help, which is precisely the goal of our FDXcelerator Program here. So far, we’ve announced seven world-class program partners and there is a backlog of others who want to join. Each partner we’ve evaluated and selected has committed to offer our customers specific, dedicated resources, and the program now encompasses:

• 工具 (EDA) - 利用差异化 FD-SOI 体偏功能的模块，内置于行业领先的设计流程中
• 设计元素 (IP) - 完整的库，包括基础 IP、接口和复杂 IP，使代工厂客户能够利用经过验证的 IP 元素快速启动设计
• 平台（专用集成电路）
• 参考解决方案- 新兴应用领域的系统级专业知识，加快产品上市速度
• 封装和测试解决方案 (OSAT)- 实现最先进的 SOC 交付
• 其他资源- 专用于 FDX 技术的设计咨询和其他服务

所有这些都带来了独特的优势和附加值，而这些优势和附加值只有使用 GF 的 FDX 技术才能获得。我认为 FDXcelerator 合作伙伴计划是我们的客户加快产品上市速度的重要工具箱。它是使用 FDX 技术良性循环的催化剂，我们提供的支持鼓励更多客户迁移到 FDX 技术，而他们的想法和参与反过来又刺激生态系统进一步发展，进而吸引更多客户，如此循环。我们同时也在为合作伙伴创造商业成功的机会，为客户创造及时上市的优势，使他们能够随时获得解决方案和资源，提高他们在 FDX 技术上的设计生产力。能够开始这样一项变革性的工作，我感到非常兴奋。能够成为客户的重要合作伙伴，我感到非常自豪，我迫不及待地想看到他们利用我们的技术在市场上取得胜利！不包括笔记本电脑和智能手机等 "传统互联网设备"。也不包括汽车应用。初步粗略估算，按设备类型划分。假设在 SoC 中集成了具有通信功能和内存的简单设备，并将其计入通信类别，嵌入式内存计入逻辑类别。