Chip making fab GlobalFoundries is stepping up its collaborative efforts with ARM alliance partner Samsung to jointly offer new 28nm HKMG technology, called 28nm-LPH, the firms said this morning.
Just ahead of the Global Technology Conference (GTC) in Santa Clara today, both firms shored up their support for one another, noting that the new technology would better the battery life of mobile devices in “unprecedented” fashion.
The technology, which was developed with mobile in mind, is said to reduce chip power by 60%, while simultaneously offering a 55% increase in performance, typically a difficult balance to strike. In a world where consumers care first and foremost about the battery life of their phones, tablets and laptops, the move is a step in the right direction.
Samsung and GlobalFoundries will be synchronizing four fabs for the initiative, including GF’s Fab 1 in Germany and Fab 8 in New York. Samsung will be putting forward its S1 in Giheung, Korea and the company’s recently expanded fab, S2 in Austin, Texas.
Together, those four fabs are said to represent the largest in leading-edge capacity across the foundry industry combined into one big “virtual fab.”
“With this new collaboration, we are making one of the industry’s strongest manufacturing partnerships even stronger, while giving customers another platform to drive innovation in mobile technology,” said Jim Kupec, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at GlobalFoundries.
The new high performance process is based on the 28nm “Gate First” HKMG technology.
