Back in 2014, IBM struck a deal to sell its chip-making business to GlobalFoundries for $1.5 billion. There were a number of provisions in this deal, some of which IBM believes weren't met and as a result, the company is threatening legal action – something that GloFlo is already looking …
Read More »Samsung is reportedly going to invest in GlobalFoundries
It has been a while since AMD and GlobalFoundries split up and now, new tech giants may be looking to get a piece of the Foundry. According to recent rumours, Samsung is looking to invest into GloFlo in an effort to gain a better foothold in the western semiconductor market. …
Read More »Intel rumoured to tap GlobalFoundries for additional 14nm CPU production
While AMD and GlobalFoundries used to work hand in hand, in recent years there has been a shift over to TSMC for AMD's CPU and GPU fabrication needs. GlobalFoundries may end up with a big new contract though, with reports claiming that Intel might be looking to team up. According …
Read More »TSMC and GlobalFoundries drop legal disputes and agree to share patents
Back in August, GlobalFoundries filed a lawsuit against TSMC claiming patent infringement on chips sold in some of the world’s most popular devices. At the time, GlobalFoundries claimed that 25 patents were being infringed on, but it didn’t take long for TSMC to fire back with a number of patent …
Read More »TSMC files a countersuit against GlobalFoundries claiming patent infringement
Just a few weeks ago, GlobalFoundries levied a lawsuit against TSMC claiming patent infringement on chips sold and used within the products of some of the world’s most high-profile tech companies. At the time, TSMC did state that it was prepared to defend itself and now, we are seeing the …
Read More »AMD turns to TSMC for future 7nm CPU and GPU production
With GloFlo dropping out of the 7nm race, AMD turns to TSMC for future 7nm CPUs and GPUs.
Read More »GlobalFoundries on track to deliver 7nm FinFET, volume production begins in 2018
GlobalFoundries has today announced that it will soon be open for business as far as 7nm FinFET is concerned. GF's jump to 7nm (7LP) FinFET semiconductor technology delivers a 40 percent generational performance boost to meet the demands of cloud servers, networking infrastructure and mobile processors. Design kits are available …
Read More »GlobalFoundries and AMD announce first 14nm FinFET success
GlobalFoundries and AMD have announced this week that they have successfully produced the first 14nm FinFET sample chip. Previously, GlobalFoundries has been licensing Samsung's own 14nm process but it seems that the fab is now ready to make it work alone. This is also good news for AMD, as it …
Read More »AMD’s future ‘Bristol Ridge’ and ‘Stoney Ridge’ APUs listed in BIOS
An undisclosed maker of motherboards has already added mentions of AMD’s upcoming accelerated processing units in the binary of its BIOS. It is highly likely that AMD’s latest reference BIOS versions already include support of the company’s future microprocessors. As a result, mentions of the chips migrate to commercial products. …
Read More »Apple double-sources its A9 chips from Samsung and TSMC
In a bid to ensure steady supply of its latest system-on-chips for its new iPhone smartphones, Apple decided to source the SoCs from two contract makers of semiconductors: Samsung Foundry and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Apple’s new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones use A9 processors made by Samsung …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: We started to tape-out chips using second-gen 14nm process technology
GlobalFoundries on Friday confirmed that the first products to be made using the company’s advanced 14nm LPP [low-power plus] manufacturing technology had been taped out. The contract maker of chips did not reveal any details, but indicated that prototype chips had demonstrated “excellent” performance and yields. One of the customers, …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: 14nm yields are exceeding our plans
GlobalFoundries, which started to manufacture chips using 14nm low-power early (14LPE) manufacturing technology several months ago, said on Friday that its yields exceed its original expectations. One of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors does not reveal its actual 14nm volumes, but since the chips are made for customers, …
Read More »GlobalFoundries develops 7nm and 10nm technologies in-house
GlobalFoundries is working on its own 7nm and 10nm fabrication processes and it does not look like the company has plans to license technologies from the outside. The contract maker of semiconductors hopes that specialists from IBM’s microelectronics unit will help it to design world-class leading-edge manufacturing processes. GlobalFoundries, which …
Read More »Legendary microprocessor developer Jim Keller leaves AMD
Advanced Micro Devices on Friday said that Jim Keller, a legendary microprocessor architect, will leave the company, effective immediately. Mr. Keller worked on multiple future generations of central processing units (CPUs) and system-on-chips (SoCs) at AMD, his departure will have an effect on the company’s long-term roadmap, but will not …
Read More »Chinese investors eye GlobalFoundries to get new process technologies
China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has reportedly approached GlobalFoundries about possible acquisition or cooperation. Chinese investors intend to take over GlobalFoundries in order to significantly improve Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and make it one of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors. China-based Hua Capital Management, which …
Read More »AMD: We have taped out our first FinFET products
Advanced Micro Devices said on Thursday that it had taped out its first products, which will be made using a FinFET process technology. While AMD does not reveal which products it had taped out, it is highly-likely that one of them is a highly-anticipated microprocessor based on “Zen” micro-architecture. “We …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: We are producing 14nm chips for our customers, yields on-track
GlobalFoundries on Wednesday confirmed that it is had initiated high-volume production of chips for its customers using 14nm FinFET (14LPE) process technology. The company claims that yields of its 14nm semiconductors are comparable to yields at Samsung Foundry, the company that developed the 14LPE. “Our 14nm ramp is right on …
Read More »GlobalFoundries introduces 22nm FD-SOI process technologies
GlobalFoundries on Monday introduced a family of fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) manufacturing technologies designed for customers seeking high performance and low design costs. The new fabrication processes promise to deliver performance of next-generation technologies with FinFET transistors, but at costs comparable to those of existing processes. GlobalFoundries calls its new family …
Read More »U.S. clears acquisition of IBM’s chip unit by GlobalFoundries
GlobalFoundries this week said that the U.S. authorities had approved its acquisition of IBM’s microelectronics business unit. From now on, GlobalFoundries will make various important semiconductors for the U.S. military and government agencies. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has reviewed the proposed transaction between IBM and …
Read More »More details about GlobalFoundries’ 22nm FD-SOI emerge
GlobalFoundries has revealed additional details regarding its 22nm fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) fabrication technology. The manufacturing process will be ready for tape-outs in early 2016 and will be used for mass production of chips by late next year. While the tech has a number of advantages, the process is designed primarily …
Read More »Transition to ‘Zen’ microarchitecture will take AMD years – document
Advanced Micro Devices’ next-generation “Zen” micro-architecture promises to significantly increase performance of the company’s central processing units next year. Even though AMD will introduce high-end microprocessors based on “Zen” in 2016, it will take a long time before a significant share of AMD’s chips will adopt its new architecture. AM4 …
Read More »GlobalFoundries is evaluating 22nm FD SOI technology
Modern FinFET process technologies help to reduce power consumption of modern chips while increasing their clock-rate potential. Unfortunately, it is extremely expensive to design FinFET chips, which is why many chip developers cannot afford creation of new solutions. In a bid to help such companies to release new chips, GlobalFoundries …
Read More »GlobalFoundries is working on 10nm process technology internally
Just like other contract makers of semiconductors, GlobalFoundries is already developing its next-generation 10nm process technology. However, despite of the fact that GlobalFoundries is about to acquire IBM’s semiconductor manufacturing business and the company’s close ties to Samsung Electronics, the 10nm fabrication tech is developed completely internally at the moment. …
Read More »AMD may be developing APUs for TSMC’s 16nm FinFET process technology
Although leaked roadmaps of Advanced Micro Devices indicate that the company’s next year’s accelerated processing units and central processing units will all be made using 14nm FinFET fabrication process at GlobalFoundries, this does not mean that AMD plans to cease using Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. as a production partner. For …
Read More »AMD roadmap leaks: Summit Ridge, Bristol Ridge, Basilisk and Styx
An alleged AMD insider has published what it appears to be the company’s microprocessor roadmap for 2016. If the plan is accurate and AMD manages to execute it, then next year the company will release a top-to-bottom family of central processing units based on “Zen” micro-architecture as well as one …
Read More »More AMD ‘Zen’ CPU details emerge: quad-core units, inclusive cache, high-speed interconnects
Anonymous insiders from Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday revealed more details about the company’s upcoming microprocessors based on “Zen” micro-architecture. Just as expected, the new “Zen” central processing units will be dramatically different compared to “Bulldozer” CPUs. Moreover, as it appears, AMD intends to reconsider some of the things that …
Read More »Diagram of AMD’s ‘Zen’ CPU core leaks: six integer pipes, two 256-bit FPUs [UPDATED]
UPDATE: The original story stated that it described an implementation of an AMD microprocessor based on “Zen” micro-architecture. In fact, the story describes one “Zen” core. Although there are a lot of rumours about AMD’s next-generation code-named “Zen” microprocessors, there are not a lot of official or even semi-official details about …
Read More »32-core AMD Opteron to feature quad-die MCM design
Advanced Micro Devices will continue to use multi-chip-module design for its upcoming AMD Opteron processors. This should greatly help the company to reduce its development and manufacturing costs, but may affect performance of its central processing units for servers. The forthcoming AMD Opteron processors with up to 32 cores based …
Read More »Next-gen AMD Opteron chips to feature up to 32 cores
Advanced Micro Devices currently commands less than two per cent of the world’s server CPU market, but next year it plans to start recapturing its share from Intel Corp. with new Opteron microprocessors based on “Zen” micro-architecture. According to a media report, AMD’s next-gen server chips offer unprecedented amount of …
Read More »AMD expects further APU, CPU declines, cuts chip orders to GF
Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday revealed that it had signed a new wafer supply agreement (WSA) with GlobalFoundries for 2015. Based on the disclosed terms of the agreement, AMD will significantly reduce purchases from GlobalFoundries, which indicates that the company projects further declines of PC-related product shipments this year. Under …
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