Arm and Samsung Foundry Push the Possibilities of Semiconductor Manufacturing

By Kelvin Low, Vice President Marketing, Physical Design Group, Arm

News Highlights:

• Arm announces industry’s first Embedded MRAM (eMRAM) compiler IP built on Samsung Foundry’s 28FDS process technology
• Arm Artisan physical IP offerings announced for Samsung Foundry’s 11LPP, 7LPP and 5LPE EUV process nodes
• New offerings allow customers to reduce complexity and design resources needed to implement semiconductor designs, accelerating product to market timeline

What researchers have predicted for several years is now a reality – the end of Moore’s Law is approaching and will impact performance power and area (PPA) across all computing applications. This includes embedded products used throughout consumer and industrial markets requiring reliable, yet low-power, complex-memory systems to support a spectrum of applications but are limited by the speed, power, and scalability offered by non-volatile mainstream memory options, such as eFlash.

Embedded MagnetoResistive Random Access Memory, or eMRAM, is a novel non-volatile memory option and today, Arm and Samsung Foundry are announcing the industry’s first eMRAM compiler offering which will be available on Samsung Foundry’s 28FDS (FDSOI) process technology. This new compiler IP allows customers the flexibility to scale their memory needs based on complexity of various use-cases. What drives the cost-effectiveness of this compiler IP is that eMRAM can be integrated with as few as three additional masks, while eFlash requires greater than 12 additional masks at 40nm and below. Also, the eMRAM compiler can generate instances to replace Flash, Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) and slow SRAM/data buffer memories with a single non-volatile fast memory – particularly suited for cost- and power- sensitive IoT applications. Arm has successfully completed the first eMRAM IP test chip tapeout.

Today’s announcement is only the latest milestone in our collaboration with Samsung Foundry, which began with the 65nm process node and has carried on through recent new offerings of Arm’s physical IP on Samsung Foundry’s 11LPP (11nm Low Power Plus), 7LPP (7nm Low Power Plus) and 5LPE (5nm Low Power Early) process technologies. We have worked closely with Samsung Foundry to develop and verify these manufacturing process innovations using Arm’s physical and processor IP, allowing us to integrate support for these innovations in future CPU, GPU, and other processor cores.

In addition to the eMRAM compiler IP offering, here are details on the recent physical IP offerings from Arm for Samsung Foundry’s advanced nodes:

New Manufacturing Nodes to Support Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, a long-awaited and game-changing technology for producing ultra-small semiconductor circuit patterns, is expected to extend the life of Moore’s Law, and Samsung Foundry will be one of the leading companies to put this promising technology into commercial production.

Each of the Arm physical IP offerings recently announced will significantly reduce the complexity and design resources needed to implement next generation semiconductor designs, allowing customers to get new products to market quickly.

Arm physical IP for 7LPP and 5LPE EUV

• Support for HD and UHD logic architectures to optimize circuits for performance, power and area tradeoffs
• Comprehensive suite of memory compilers, 1.8V and 3.3V GPIO (General-Purpose Input/Output) libraries, and support for CPU frequencies exceeding 3 GHz
• Support for wide range of applications from mobile to high performance compute
• POP IP solutions supporting advanced cores, big.LITTLE implementations as well as DynamIQ

For more details on the use of Arm physical IP for 7LPP and 5LPE nodes, read our blog.

Arm physical IP for 11LPP FinFET

• Built on Samsung Foundry’s proven 14LPP FinFET process technology
• Comprehensive suite of logic libraries, memory compilers, and a GPIO library. Additional new ultra-high density standard cell architecture with multi-height support to deliver superior area scaling while maintaining high performance
• Support for Automotive AECQ100 Grade 1 add-on, with ASIL-B support and delivered with Automotive Safety Package
• With more than 2 GHz CPU frequency target, the Arm 11LPP platform is suitable for the latest consumer designs, high-end wearables and automotive products

For more details about the use of Arm physical IP for 11LPP nodes, read our blog.

Availability

Arm eMRAM compiler IP will be available from 4Q 2018 for lead partners. Arm 7LPP physical IP platform is available starting 3Q 2018 for lead partners, while the 5LPE physical IP platform offering will be available in early 2019. Arm physical IP platform for 11LPP is available for access now for lead partners.