IBM announces chip milestone

IBM is to announce that it has passed another milestone on the road toward adopting an improved process for manufacturing semiconductors.

The company will announce that it has begun work on its first 90 nanometre chip, a "field programmable gate array" processor that Big Blue will manufacture for chip designer Xilinx.

Moving to a 90 nanometre chipmaking process means smaller transistors, which in turn means more transistors on a chip and better performing chips. IBM's current generation of semiconductors is built using a 130 nanometre manufacturing process - the nanometre measurement refers to the average size of features inside chips produced via the process, features such as transistors and the interconnects that link them.

IBM, which recently received the design specifications for the FPGA chip from Xilinx, should begin producing test versions of the chip during the first quarter, said Michael Concannon, vice president of foundry services, IBM Microelectronics. Between then and now, IBM will perform interim steps, such as designing manufacturing tools needed to produce the chip.

Concannon said: "The target here - given that everything is finalised on the design side - is to begin 90 nanometre production in the second half of 2003."

Unlike PC processors, FPGA chips can be programmed to perform several different duties. They're often used in devices that sell in markets where standardised equipment hasn't been agreed on, an IBM representative said. That way, if proposed standards change, a design doesn't have to be thrown out - the chips can simply be reprogrammed.

Such markets include communications and consumer electronics.

The transition to a 90 nanometer process is a major undertaking for IBM, which spent about $2.5bn to build its newest manufacturing plant, in East Fishkill, New York.

IBM and Intel will be among the first chipmakers to ship chips built using a 90 nanometre process.

Intel has been building test chips using a 90 nanometre process since last February. The company plans to begin shipping its first 90 nanometre processors in large quantities to PC makers and consumers during the second half of next year, a company representative said.

John G Spooner writes for News.com