4th Jun 2007 11:00
UMC (NYSE: UMC) (TSE: 2303) and ARM (LSE: ARM) (Nasdaq: ARMHY)today announced that a test chip built with ARM(R) SOI (Silicon OnInsulator) libraries was taped-out successfully on UMC's 65-nanometer(nm) SOI process. The test chip consists of a set of ARM physical IPthat uses a standard cell library, an I/O library and a single-portSRAM memory compiler. This tape-out at UMC represents the next steptowards mainstream adoption of nanometer SOI technology for improvedspeed and power in complex system on chips (SOCs). £ Semico Research recognizes semiconductor chip performance isincreasingly pushing the limits of bulk CMOS. "High-performance chipsoffer the best near-term opportunities for SOI. Portable products arerapidly evolving into high-performance audio and video platforms thatcan utilize the speed and power advantages offered by SOI technology.Likewise, high-performance computing, communications and networkapplications are ripe for SOI technology in the next few years," saidJim Feldhan, president of Semico Research. "Semico believes companiesthat invest in SOI at 65 and 45nm will be best positioned for marketopportunities at 32nm. ARM and UMC's venture into SOI is a significantstep. It represents the first strong commitment of a Taiwanese-basedfoundry to SOI technology and will provide fabless and IDM companiesadditional market choices." £ While UMC has been developing SOI technology for many years, thisparticular advance began in January 2006, when UMC started a strategicpartnership with Soisic. ARM has continued this partnership, afteracquiring Soisic and partnering with Soitec in October 2006, and hasbegun to offer SOI libraries alongside its full range of physical IPfor bulk CMOS processes. To help UMC derive an SOI version of itsexisting bulk 65nm CMOS L65SP, ARM provided the specific modulesrequired to develop and qualify the process, including design rules,electrical characterization of the devices and modeling for circuitsimulation. The resulting L65SOI process features nominal 1Vmulti-threshold voltage thin gate oxide transistors, nominal 2.5Vthick gate oxide transistors for I/O and a nominal 1V 0.62square-micron 6-transistors SRAM bitcell. A full process design kit isnow in place and ready for use by customers. £ "We are very happy with the result of this partnership, which hasallowed us to become the first foundry to develop and offer a complete65nm SOI solution," stated Lee Chung, vice president of CorporateMarketing at UMC. "We leveraged ARM's strong SOI expertise from thedesign support side along with our volume production 65nm process toquickly develop and bring this SOI process to the market. We lookforward to offering this competitive technology to our foundrycustomers." £ The ARM standard cells used in the test chip support multi-VT andmulti-power supply circuit designs, the I/O is 3.3V signal tolerantand the memory compiler is optimized for high-speed and low-powerconsumption. Initial circuit analysis indicates that the design savesup to 20 percent in area and 30 percent in power consumption, comparedto a part produced to reach the same performance on bulk CMOS at 65nm.SOI technology also offers up to 28 percent speed boost with 10percent power reduction over bulk CMOS. £ "Strong demand from IDMs for the performance provided by SOItechnology exists in the market today," said Tom Lantzsch, vicepresident, Marketing, Physical IP, ARM. "We anticipate that this newprocess, available through UMC, will enable leading fabless designcompanies to assess SOI technology and begin pilot projects. The nextstep will be to broaden the offerings, extend to more advanced processnodes and introduce a full foundry program similar to our offerings inthe bulk CMOS space." £ About UMC £ UMC is a leading global semiconductor foundry that manufacturesadvanced process ICs for applications spanning every major sector ofthe semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundrytechnologies that enable sophisticated system-on-chip (SoC) designs,including volume production 90nm, industry-leading 65nm, and mixedsignal/RFCMOS. UMC's 10 wafer manufacturing facilities include twoadvanced 300mm fabs; Fab 12A in Taiwan and Singapore-based Fab 12i areboth in volume production for a variety of customer products. Thecompany employs approximately 13,000 people worldwide and has officesin Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Europe, and the United States. UMC can befound on the web at http://www.umc.com. £ About ARM £ ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanceddigital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainmentsolutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM'scomprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISCmicroprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries,embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, aswell as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products.Combined with the company's broad Partner community, they provide atotal system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market forleading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available athttp://www.arm.com. £ ARM is a registered trademark of ARM Limited. All other brands orproduct names are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" isused to represent ARM Holdings plc; its operating company ARM Limited;and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARMTaiwan; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; ARMBelgium N.V.; AXYS Design Automation Inc.; AXYS GmbH; ARM EmbeddedSolutions Pvt. Ltd.; ARM Physical IP, Inc.; and ARM Norway, AS. Copyright Business Wire 2007Related Shares:
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