Date: 20/10/2011

TSMC tapes out 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore processor chip

ARM and TSMC in partnership have produced a 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore processor based in time frame of six months (from RTL to tape-out) using TSMC's Open Innovation Platform (OIP) 20nm design ecosystem.

ARM will optimize its physical IP technology to specific TSMC 20nm process technologies for Power, Performance and Area (PPA), driving the specification of the Cortex-A15 Processor Optimization Pack (POP). TSMC's 20nm process provides more than a 2X performance increase over preceding generations, claims TSMC.

"This first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 tape out paves the way for the next generation of SoC integration and performance," said Mike Inglis, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Processor Division, ARM. "We value the work carried out between ARM, TSMC and its design ecosystem partners to achieve this milestone. It is a strong testimonial of our mutual commitment to provide industry-leading technology for advanced node designs. The combination of TSMC technology, the latest ARM Cortex-A15 processor and Artisan physical IP will help meet the increasing demand for high performance, energy-efficient consumer devices."

"Our ongoing collaboration with ARM has resulted in this early 20nm achievement," said Dr. Cliff Hou, TSMC Vice President, Design and Technology Platform. "Our customers can successfully engage in fast-growth markets with optimized physical IP, Cortex-A15 processors and TSMC's advanced technology."

Resulting SoCs will be suitable for a variety of markets, including smartphone, tablet, mobile computing, high-end digital home, servers, and wireless infrastructure.