IEDM 2012 Preview: 20nm and Smaller

Some of the key issues in the upcoming IDEM 2012 are discussed in "Intel, rivals gird for IC manufacturing showdown" and in "IEDM preview: 20nm and below" .




"There have been three primary drivers in the semiconductor industry for the last four decades: Area, power/performance and cost. The well-known push to cram more functionality onto a single chip through continued scaling -- or into a single package through 3D integration and other advanced packaging techniques -- has been well documented. Today, with the exception of Intel, the industry's leading edge devices in high volume manufacturing have critical dimensions of 28nm. Intel, racing ahead, introduced the 22nm IvyBridge chip in 2011 and has announced plans to have 14nm by the end of 2013. How long this kind of scaling can continue is the subject of some debate, with most recognizing the EUV lithography will be required at some point, most likely for the 10nm generation (Intel has said it doesn't need it for 14nm).

It's clear, though, that continued scaling is running out of steam..."   Ron   www.maltiel-consulting.com

Hynix Developing PCM, MRAM, and ReRAM Flash

To cut down cost and development risk Hynix is working with IBM on PCM type of flash memory. Hynix is already working on other future approaches such as PCM, MRAM, and ReRAM Flash (see more below).

Some background information on PCM, MRAM, and ReRAM Flash at Pushing the PRAM: when chips just can't get any smaller more information is at Flash educational links



Ron





SK Hynix, IBM form chip development alliance
http://www.zdnetasia.com/sk-hynix-ibm-form-chip-development-alliance-62305070.htm
By Ellyne Phneah , ZDNet Asia on June 11, 2012 (9 hours ago)

Summary

Korean chipmaker and Big Blue to develop phase-change random access memory (PcRAM), a non-volatile chip that can store high data volumes, amid rising popularity of mobile devices.



SK Hynix has formed an alliance with IBM to develop phase-change random access memory (PcRAM), which is considered to be the next generation of memory chips and capable of storing high data volumes.

According to Song Hyeon-jeong, head of the SK Hynix's future strategy office in the Korea Times on Sunday, the collaboration will help the Korean chip manufacturer strengthen its capabilities to better compete with rivals in next-generation chips. PcRAM is a non-volatile memory chip which uses the property of chalcogenide glass to switch between both states, and is touted to be able to store a lot of data but is slower than convential dynamic random access-memory (DRAM) chip.

The alliance also reflects efforts to develop advanced chips in light of the rising popularity of smartphones and tablets. SK Hynix said it was unable to survive with existing chips--NAND flash and DRAM--which were expected to be obsolete in a few years, the report noted.


As the chip-making structure of PcRAM was simple, the company said it would save on manufacturing as PcRAM applications would need the corresponding phase-change process to be induced by an electricial current and a significant-higher packing density of information.


SK Hynix since last year also had been working with Japanese chipmaker, Toshiba, on the development of magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), which is able to pack memory in a denser manner, according to a seperate report by the Korea Times. The Korean chipmaker had been developing resistive random access memory (ReRAM) with Hewlett-Packard (HP) since 2010, which was found to store twice as much data and use less energy than flash memory.

Apple NAND Storage in Upcoming MacBook Pros

There is a room for an overall personal computer hierarchy reorganization. Maybe Apple could lead here.

Currently in PC/ Mac we have a microprocessor (with some fast DRAM memory) connected to long term storage in flash SSD or HDD.

There would be many benefits to adding a small flash NAND between the microprocessor and the long term storage. Such computer hierarchy would benefit from the faster operation of the small flash NAND storage and its long term non volatile storage. It will also reduce power consumption.

The NAND memory could support the microprocessor operations or be used for storage of the operating system.

There were rumors a couple of years ago about Intel working on such system. It never made it out due to legacy software optimization issues.

Ron





Apple likely to use NAND storage in upcoming MacBook Pros, analyst says
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/05/30/apple_likely_to_use_nand_storage_in_upcoming_macbook_pros_analyst_says.html
By Mikey Campbell
Published: 05:35 PM EST (02:35 PM PST)

A research analyst from Barclays believes that Apple's success in NAND adoption will drive the company to use the technology in a rumored refresh of its MacBook Pro line, a move that will disrupt the business of of both hard drive and PC makers.

In a note to investors released on Wednesday, Ben Reitzes of Barclays Equity Research said that the adoption rate of Apple devices using SSDs, along with a continuing move to cloud computing, will push consumer laptop demand toward flash-based storage.

Perhaps the single greatest setback to flash adoption is that the price of solid state solutions grossly outweigh comparable HDDs, keeping the technology out of reach for everyday consumers. This cost ratio may tilt in the physical hard drive's favor, however consumers have recently started giving up storage space and low cost for design and performance benefits, evidenced by the success of the thin and light MacBook Air.

Reitzes believes that the advent of cloud computing will help ease consumers in the transition from physical drives to flash by offloading storage to servers, thus diminishing the need for pricey high-capacity NAND drives. Apple's iCloud is already well in-place and has the potential of filling offsite storage needs if the company chooses to move to a NAND-heavy laptop lineup.

For these reasons, the analyst expects Apple to reveal a NAND-equipped MacBook Pro as well as MacBook Airs with increased storage options in the near future.

"We believe these products combined can ramp quarterly demand for Macs by up to 1 million incremental units on a run rate basis - taking over a point of share from HDD-based PCs," Reitzes said.

He goes on to say that an estimated 5 to 10 percent of notebook PC sales have been cannibalized by NAND-carrying iPads and iPhones, further impacting HDD demand for PCs. The move to portable products has been dubbed as the "post-PC era," as consumers begin to replace computers with tablets and handset. Interestingly, this trend toward flash in consumer devices is seen as fueling data growth, which helps to augment sales of enterprise-class HDDs.

Intel: Installed Base Adv. for Tablets, Wibdow8 vs. Arm processor

A key benefit of legacy, installed base (see below). Ron http://m.computerworld.com/s/article/9227066/Intel_CEO_Otellini_calls_out_ARM_on_Windows_8_tablets Intel CEO Otellini calls out ARM on Windows 8 tablets Otellini says Intel chips are better at supporting legacy apps on Windows 8 By Agam Shah May 10, 2012 02:59 PM ET IDG News Service -Intel CEO Paul Otellini on Thursday said that the company has an advantage over its rival ARM on Windows 8 for tablets because of decades of developing x86 chips that support the Windows operating system. "We think it's a differentiator," said Otellini at the company's investor meeting in Santa Clara, California. "We have the advantage of the incumbency, the legacy support." Intel's only competitor in the Windows 8 tablet market is ARM, whose processors ship in most tablets today. ARM may have an entry point to the Windows tablet market, but faces a tough road ahead considering Intel's history with Windows, Otellini said. Windows grew up on x86 chips, but Microsoft is now also releasing Windows for the ARM architecture to make a dent into the tablet market. The upcoming Windows 8 OS will have a touch-based user interface and will come in three versions --Windows RT for ARM, and Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro for x86 chips. Intel plans to offer a new low-power Atom chip code-named Clover Trail, which will be released at the time of Windows 8 later this year. Otellini said PC makers are designing 20 Windows 8 tablets based on Intel chips. No ARM-based device makers have publicly announced Windows tablets, though Microsoft is working with ARM-based chip makers Nvidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to bring Windows 8 compatibility to tablets and PCs. Playing the application compatibility card, Otellini said tablets with Intel's upcoming chips will support older applications written for previous versions of Windows, which is important for CIOs. "There's going to be some compatibility issues for other architectures," Otellini said.ust by pressing one button on a tablet, users will be able to jump into legacy Windows mode for those who need an older user interface, Otellini said. The Windows 8 tablets on Intel chips provide a snappy response, Otellini said. Many application compatibility issues have been raised in the past. Intel last year claimed that legacy x86 applications would not work on Windows on ARM, a claim that was shot down by Microsoft. However, Microsoft later said that Windows on ARM would not be able to run or port existing x86 applications. Microsoft is trying to raise the appeal of Windows on ARM by bundling basic Office applications --collectively called Office 15 --with versions of Windows RT. Microsoft Office will not be included with Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro. There are also hardware compatibility issues at stake. For example, older printers and cameras may not work with Windows on ARM devices as drivers are currently compatible only with x86 chips, and companies may be unwilling to rewrite drivers for ARM. Intel also hopes to bring tablet features such as touchscreens to its upcoming class of thin-and-light laptops called ultrabooks. Top PC makers expect to release ultrabooks based on Windows 8 in the future. ARM could not immediately respond when asked about Otellini's comments. Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com

Intel, AMD, or ARM Servers?

The article below about low-power servers doesn't mention Intel's large growth in database servers.  Intel had more than $10 billion in revenues from ICs sold into data centers, including servers, storage products, and networking.

Considering the high power usage by databases, it is not surprising that Intel wants to dominate the low-power servers market.  It is likely that databases and cloud servers  (20% of sales, 3x PC segment growth) added to Intel's growth in 2011.


Ron Maltiel

 

 

Intel to Face Off Against AMD, ARM with New Low-Power Server

http://forwardthinking.pcmag.com/servers/296555-intel-to-face-off-against-amd-arm-with-new-low-power-server

By Michael J. Miller

Intel may think extremely low-power servers are only a small part of the server market, but that isn't stopping the company from competing in this segment.

At its Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, the company said it will release a six-watt, dual-core processor known as Centerton, based on a dual-core Atom design, in the second half of this year.
Atom is Intel's low-power core design and the company has been pushing variants of it for everything from smartphones and tablets to set-top boxes and netbooks. Centerton will be a 32nm, dual-core system-on-chip (SoC) that will draw six watts of power. This will be a 64-bit chip with support for the large amounts of memory that many server applications require.

The microserver market is particularly interesting because of a theory that massive "scale out" deployments—typically large Web farms—would do better with a larger number of physical cores if those processors used much less power than traditional servers. SeaMicro was perhaps the biggest early advocate of this process, coming out with its SM10000 server using up to 512 Atom cores and its proprietary fabric for connecting multiple processors, along with the associated memory and input/output. Last year, it upped the ante by switching to 64-bit Atom N570s.

SeaMicro was acquired by AMD earlier this year, and the company is widely expected to start using that fabric with its own processors and offer the technology to its OEMs.

Meanwhile, a number of companies—notably Calxeda, with its EnergyCore ARM processor— have been talking about using multiple ARM-based cores to compete in the microserver market. The concept is good, and Calxeda says its processor can draw as little as 1.5 watts for a dual-core server, although it is 32-bit only. This, too, is expected to go into real production in the second half of this year.

ARM has announced a 64-bit architecture that many vendors are expected to embrace, but 64-bit ARM cores aren't expected to be available for volume production until 2014.

Intel also said it will be shipping a new version of its Xeon E3 processor based on the Ivy Bridge architecture, manufactured on a 22nm process using "tri-gate" transistors. These chips are aimed at slightly larger servers, usually a single socket 1 U rack or blade server that effectively is the equivalent of a high-end desktop. Currently, Intel offers 45- and 25-watt versions of the 32nm Sandy Bridge-based E3s, along with a 15-watt Pentium 350. It hasn't yet listed power requirements for the next generation E3s, but suggests the 22nm process will be more power efficient.

These should be competing more with AMD's recently announced Opteron 3200, which is meant to be a lower-power, low-price variant on the company's Opteron 4200 chip, based on the Bulldozer architecture. The four-core versions of these chips are rated at 45 watts.

Whether from Intel, AMD, or one of a variety of ARM providers, we're seeing more competition in the server market, particularly in the low-power segment. That's leading to lots of innovation and the potential for companies to save a lot on power bills.