TSMC – WikiChip Fuse

Q1 2021 Foundry Update: Spending Bonanza

May 18, 2021May 23, 2021 David Schor 10 nm, 3 nm, 5 nm, 7 nm, FinFET, GAA, Intel, Samsung, SMIC, TSMC

A look at the current state of leading-edge foundries for the first quarter of 2021.

Architectures Manycore Processors Subscriber Only Content

A Look At The ET-SoC-1, Esperanto’s Massively Multi-Core RISC-V Approach To AI

May 16, 2021May 23, 2021 David Schor 7 nm, Esperanto, ET-Maxion, ET-Minion, ET-SoC-1, neural processors, RISC-V, subscriber only (general), TSMC

A look at Esperanto’s ET-SoC-1, the startup’s first AI inference accelerator for the data center. The company took a unique RISC-V approach with a massively multi-core chip with nearly 1,100 custom-designed CPU cores.

Foundries Roadmaps

TSMC To Build A 5-Nanometer Fab In Arizona; Invest $12B Over The Next 8 Years

May 14, 2020May 23, 2021 David Schor 5 nm, TSMC

TSMC announces its intention to build and operate an advanced 5-nanometer fab in Arizona.

Foundries Process Technologies Roadmaps

TSMC Ramps 5nm, Discloses 3nm to Pack Over a Quarter-Billion Transistors Per Square Millimeter

April 17, 2020May 25, 2021 David Schor 3 nm, 5 nm, FinFET, N3, N5, N5P, N7, N7P, TSMC

TSMC reports a flat Q1 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ramps its 5nm node with good yield and discloses key 3-nanometer (N3) details. N3 will be a full node jump over N5 and is expected to offer over a quarter-billion transistors per each millimeter square of silicon.

Foundries IEDM 2019 ISSCC 2020 Process Technologies

TSMC Details 5 nm

March 21, 2020May 25, 2021 David Schor 5 nm, 7 nm, EUV, N5, N5P, TSMC

TSMC details its 5-nanometer node for mobile and HPC applications. The process features the industry’s highest density transistors with a high-mobility channel and highest-density SRAM cells.

Architectures Floorplanning Interconnects ISSCC 2020

7nm Boosted Zen 2 Capabilities but Doubled the Challenges

February 21, 2020May 25, 2021 David Schor 14 nm, 7 nm, AMD, capacitance, GlobalFoundries, ISSCC, ISSCC 2020, resistance, TSMC, wire delay, Zen, Zen 2

The transition to 7 nm greatly enhanced AMD silicon capabilities but introduced new drastic design challenges that required new place and route methodologies and wire engineering.

Foundries

TSMC Q4: 7nm Dominates Revenue, Preps 5nm Ramp, 6nm By EOY

January 17, 2020May 25, 2021 David Schor 3nm, 5nm, 7nm, N3, N5, N6, N7, TSMC

7-nanometer contributes the lion’s share of wafer revenue to TSMC’s fourth-quarter driven by growth from smartphones and HPC. The foundry is also preparing the 5-nanometer node for early this year and the 6-nanometer by the end of the year.

IEDM 2019 Interconnects Packaging Process Technologies

TSMC Digs Trenches In Search Of Higher Performance

December 14, 2019May 25, 2021 David Schor 2.5D packaging, CoWoS, DTC, IEDM, IEDM 2019, MiM, TSMC

TSMC leverages existing silicon in the CoWoS process to improve the power delivery system of high-performance applications through new, deep trench capacitors, codename iCAPs.