Toshiba and NEC together said today that they would extend their agreement with IBM to produce 28 nanometer chip technology. The deal sees the members of the larger alliance continuing to work on the smaller, more efficient technology with the intention of using it for home user products. They now also say they expected 28nm to be particularly useful for "mobile communication devices" such as smartphones.
IBM announced on Thursday that it, along with partners Chartered Semiconductor, GlobalFoundries, Infineon, Samsung and STMicroelectronics, are jointly developing a 28-nanometer low-power, high-k metal gate (HKMG) bulk complementary metal oxide (CMOS) semiconductor for use in future processors. The technology would be used in mobile and consumer electronics devices such as Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), where it would extend battery life. The 28nm chips would reportedly provide a 40 percent performance gain and more than a 20 percent power decrease compared to 45nm technology in a chip that's about half the size.
ARM, Chartered Semiconductor, IBM and Samsung today helped establish plans for the Common Platform, an alliance between the four companies determined to advance ARM-based processors. The group plans to use a combination of design work from all four companies as well as manufacturing from Chartered, IBM and Samsung to develop new ARM chips built on 32 nanometer and 28 nanometer manufacturing processes by using a high-k metal gate process.
