Samsung and GLOBALFOUNDRIES Forge Strategic Collaboration to Deliver 14nm FinFET

[piesquared]

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/s...-forge-strategic-collaboration-160000693.html

Developed by Samsung and licensed to GLOBALFOUNDRIES, the 14nm FinFET process is based on a technology platform that has already gained traction as the leading choice for high-volume, power-efficient system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The platform taps the benefits of three-dimensional, fully depleted FinFET transistors to overcome the limitations of planar transistor technology, enabling up to 20 percent higher speed, 35 percent less power and 15 percent area scaling over industry 20nm planar technology.

Through this multi-year exclusive technology license, process design kits (PDKs) are available now, allowing customers to start designing with models, design rule manuals, and technology files that have been developed based on silicon results from 14nm FinFET test chips. Mass production for the 14nm FinFET technology will begin at the end of 2014.

“This unprecedented collaboration will result in a global capacity footprint for 14nm FinFET technology that provides AMD with enhanced capabilities to bring our innovative IP into silicon on leading-edge technologies,” said Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager of Global Business Units at AMD. “The work that GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung are doing together will help AMD deliver our next generation of groundbreaking products with new levels of processing and graphics capabilities to devices ranging from low-power mobile devices, to next-generation dense servers to high-performance embedded solutions.”

“Today’s announcement is further proof of the importance of collaboration to enable continued innovation in semiconductor manufacturing,” said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Sanjay Jha. “With this industry-first alignment of 14nm FinFET production capabilities, we can offer greater choice and flexibility to the world’s leading fabless semiconductor companies, while helping the fabless industry to maintain its leadership in the mobile device market.”

Wow, big news! Volume production end of 2014

 

[ShintaiDK]

So first products in 2016/2017 if we are lucky and GloFo doesnt screw up like they tend to do.

15% area scaling? Sounds like someone was quite imaginary when calling it 14nm.

Its becoming more and more obvious that Samsung is out of the game. And the endgame is now TSMC vs Intel.

 

[Abwx]

So first products in 2016/2017 if we are lucky and GloFo doesnt screw up like they tend to do.

15% area scaling? Sounds like someone was quite imaginary when calling it 14nm.

Its becoming more and more obvious that Samsung is out of the game. And the endgame is now TSMC vs Intel.

Mass production for the 14nm FinFET technology will begin at the end of 2014.

....

 

[Sweepr]

So first products in 2016/2017 if we are lucky and GloFo doesnt screw up like they tend to do.

Ouch, pretty late. Well, according to GF marketing we should be swimming in 20nm parts by now.

 

[piesquared]

Wow, this is going to be huge! Looks like Charlie nailed it 3 years ago. Let's bring Apple into the mix... something tells me they'll be sparing no expenses.

It looks like Global Foundries and Samsung are syncing their processes just like SemiAccurate exclusively said last year. As of today the story was officially confirmed, or at least parts of it were.

The short version is that Samsung’s 14nm process that SemiAccurate wrote up in detail last year is now coming to Global Foundries. This brings Samsung’s two fabs in Hwaseong and Austin onto the same level as Global Foundries in Saratoga. In short Global Foundries and Samsung are now interchangeable at 14nm, a true second source scenario.

http://semiaccurate.com/2014/04/17/global-foundries-samsung-sync-14nm-processes/

 

[Abwx]

...

http://www.hardware.fr/news/13659/partenariat-samsung-globalfoundries-14nm.html

 

[GreenChile]

Same song and dance, different year.

We hear this every generation how the little fabs are going to pull off a miracle and catch up to Intel's manufacturing. BS! It'll never happen by end of 14.

 

[witeken]

So first products in 2016/2017 if we are lucky and GloFo doesnt screw up like they tend to do.

15% area scaling? Sounds like someone was quite imaginary when calling it 14nm.

Its becoming more and more obvious that Samsung is out of the game. And the endgame is now TSMC vs Intel.

That is the same 15% scaling of TSMC's 16nm. They're all 20nm transistors labeled as 14/16nm. I don't see how TSMC is doing any better than GlobalFoundries or Samsung, at least in a way that you'd call it an endgame between TSMC and Intel, even though Intel is more than 2 years ahead of TSMC, and with critical technologies like FinFET and strained silicon almost 4 years. TSMC certainly isn't 2 years ahead of Samsung.

 

[witeken]

Ouch, pretty late. Well, according to GF marketing we should be swimming in 20nm parts by now.

TSMC's marketing isn't any bettter.

 

[jdubs03]

Yea from the sounds of it 2016/17 is a bit too late.

However, the phrasing for design models/design rules and all that make it seem like 2014 may be a bit of a stretch. I'd say late 2015-early 2016 is the most likely time for actual shipping products. This would put it in direct competition with TSMC's FinFET+.

Holistically, 2015 is sure going to be an interesting crossroads with 64-bit Exynos/Krait, A9, Broxton, next-gen AMD, etc.

Skylake...

Edit: From my understanding Samsung's 14nm is actual 14nm but don't hold me on that.

 

[liahos1]

how interchangeable is the 14nm samsung/glofo process with tsm's 16nm process? This should create a fair bit of competition at the leading edge (ex intel) that could make tsm's life more difficult. Charlie at SA seems to think this agreement between the two company's is for apple's benefit. so potentialy taht 20nm biz TSM won at apple gets shifted back at the next node to samsung/glofo.

In other news ASML's bookings yesterday were short of expectations and they blamed pushout of 16nm...indirectly ascribing it to TSM. TSM of course flatly denied it...

 

[bullzz]

wow. if apple is behind this, this really puts a huge dent on tsmc and intel foundry plans. also goes to show how much apple wants to control its soc design/production plans

 

[Khato]

The common platform alliance excels at making roadmaps that they can't deliver on. Why precisely is this time around going to be any different? A bit over a year ago they were saying that they'd have 20nm available for awhile now and and their roadmap implied that 14XM would also be ready to go... and that they'd have 10XM ready next year. Oh, most of the articles also said 7nm in 2015, but that at least wasn't on the roadmap, so who knows where exactly that came from. http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/...2015_7nm_Fabrication_Process_Due_in_2017.html

Regardless I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[Erenhardt]

no 20nm from GF?
SOC only?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Its becoming more and more obvious that Samsung is out of the game.

Why do you hate Samsung?

 

[Abwx]

no 20nm from GF?
SOC only?

I guess they ll go straight to 14nm from their 28nm given that the licenced process is fully functional.

GlobalFoundries confirms that this news means the end of the road for its own 14XM process. The firm says Samsung's process tech has two key advantages over 14XM. Samsung's tech is further along in development, so the schedule is more attractive, and Samsung's 14-nm FinFET tech provides better area scaling by cramming more gates into a given area.

http://techreport.com/news/26336/gl...ung-process-tech-grants-amd-access-to-finfets

 

[erunion]

GF is licensing samsungs process. Guess that means 14xm is dead. Is 20nm dead too? Maybe this is the nugget of truth in all those 'amd not going to 20nm' rumors; GF has no 20nm.

oh well another year, another roadmap.

 

[erunion]

I guess they ll go straight to 14nm from their 28nm given that the licenced process is fully functional.


http://techreport.com/news/26336/gl...ung-process-tech-grants-amd-access-to-finfets

great quote! I'd say Samsung 14nm has one key advantage over 14xm, its an actual process while 14xm was nothing more than a bullet point on a slide.

Apparently, even GFs 20nm was less developed than this Samsung 14nm.

 

[Vesku]

So first products in 2016/2017 if we are lucky and GloFo doesnt screw up like they tend to do.

15% area scaling? Sounds like someone was quite imaginary when calling it 14nm.

Its becoming more and more obvious that Samsung is out of the game. And the endgame is now TSMC vs Intel.

Well, since they are installing Samsung's process completely to the point of testing that they are exact design match it should be implemented faster than Globalfoundries normal "soon".

 

[Fjodor2001]

So GloFo and hence AMD will be doing a 28->14 nm leap, i.e a 1.5 node leap?

Next CPU after Carrizo on 14 nm?

 

[Phynaz]

Big takeaway -

Gloflo has cancelled development their own 14XM process. Guess it wasn't so great after all.

Looks to be the nail in ST Micro's coffin also.

 

[videogames101]

so GloFo is out, the players continue to fall

 

[piesquared]

It looks like the big takeaway is-

“Now you have two well-respected organizations combining forces,” Jelinek said. “For a customer, if you can truly have multiple sources, it changes everything.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-17/samsung-globalfoundries-team-up-in-challenge-to-tsmc.html

Seemless 14nm FinFET transition between fabs and production in 2H 2014.

The foundry competition with BILLIONS of chips produced annualy is nothing but good news. intel doesn't have near the volume to be able to compete with that.

 

[witeken]

There will still be a 20nm process, right?

 

[NTMBK]

Big takeaway -

Gloflo has cancelled development their own 14XM process. Guess it wasn't so great after all.

Looks to be the nail in ST Micro's coffin also.

The takeaway is that Samsung 14nm customers can port to GloFo with no effort, and use them as a true second source