Intel Announces Standalone Foundry Services Group, Update Technology Roadmap and Others

Intel's new chief executive Pat Gelsinger made several announcements at the Intel Unleashed event on March 23, outlining the company's technology roadmap, the launch of a new business unit and plans to start semiconductor manufacturing plants in Arizona.

Technology update

Gelsinger began the presentation with an update on Intel's 7nm transistors, announcing that the company had overcome the technical hurdles surrounding excessive ultraviolet lithography (EUV) and architected the 7nm process flow, which led to the EUV's Usage has increased by more than 100 percent.

"When Intel initially designed 7nm, EUV was still a nascent technology, so we developed our own process to limit the use of EUV," Gelsinger explained. "But it also increased the complexity of the process as the European Union matured and then became more reliable, we experienced the domino effect of our 10nm delay, which excluded 7nm and ultimately gave us the wrong of the EUV maturity curve Put it on the side. "

Speaking of 10nm, Intel's 10nm transistor process has seen many challenges in recent years. According to Intel's previous CEO Bob Swan, the technology, which was to be launched around 2016, faced continued failures due to over-ambition and timing. However, with the challenges finally coming, Gingeringer said that Intel's 7nm process development is now on track.

As its transistors worked, Intel was also developing its Foveros stacked chip package and embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB). These technologies allow Intel to mix different IPs for different markets and tune their performance and power consumption. As Gelsinger described, Intel's packaging can combine multiple process technologies and serve them as a chip. He said that this hints at a major design transition for Intel as it will move from system-on-chip (SoC) to system-on-package.

Intel showcased Ponte Vecoio during the event, its first high-end server GPU using both Favros and EMIB, housing over 40 chests and subsystems and up to 100 billion transistors. Gelsinger said that Ponte Vecoio can achieve petaflop performance and will be used in the Argono National Laboratories Aurora XScale computer.

Intel IDM 2.0 - Build Model of Intel Devices

Intel is adjusting its manufacturing model to include not only internal and external production networks, but also to increase production capacity in the US and Europe to establish a global supply chain.

Nevertheless, Gelsinger said Intel would further deepen its business with TSMC, Samsung, Global Foundries and UMC.

Gelsinger promised that Intel would continue to make the most of its product in its own fabs, but also mentioned that it would use third-party foundry capabilities in its portfolio, including those used for Intel's more advanced products Including modular chips, such as the Ponte Cecchio.

The shortage of semiconductors during an epidemic is driven by unexpected demands. To fill that hole, Intel, like other semiconductor manufacturers, is ramping up its casting. Gelsinger announced a new push to increase US and Europe-based capacity for the production of chips.

Gelsinger underlined that the semiconductor industry is expanding at a "rapid pace" and will reach a $ 100 billion detectable market by 2025.

Intel Foundry Services

To meet the global demand for semiconductors, Intel has established new standalone Intel Foundry Services led by Randy Thacker, who will report directly to Jellinger. Jelsinger said a dedicated business board can better understand customer needs and meet capacity commitments.

During the presentation, Gelsinger mentioned that Intel Foundry Services would provide a portfolio of IPs including X86 cores, x86 cores, graphics, media, display, AI, interconnect fabric as well as arm and RISC-V ecosystem IPS. In addition, the company will provide silicon design services to its customers.

He also announced a new Intel-IBM collaboration with IBM CEO Arvind Krishna. The two companies will "collaborate on significant leading-edge research that will advance silicon and packaging technology development."

IBM designs its own processors for its Power Series products. It is not clear what technologies the two companies will exchange.