AMD’s CTO Discusses the Challenges of 7nm

[Megalith]

AMD’s chief technology officer, Mark Papermaster, has called the planned shift to 7nm semiconductor nodes one of the toughest process moves in several generations: in addition to new CAD tools and architectural changes, the transition has forced the company to develop deeper partnerships with foundries. Papermaster expects that foundries will begin to use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography starting in 2019 to reduce the need for quad patterning.

To gear up for 7nm, “we had to literally double our efforts across foundry and design teams…It’s the toughest lift I’ve seen in a number of generations,” perhaps back to the introduction of copper interconnects, said Mark Papermaster, in a wide-ranging interview with EE Times. The 7nm node requires new “CAD tools and [changes in] the way you architect the device [and] how you connect transistors—the implementation and tools change [as well as] the IT support you need to get through it,” he said.

 

[mbelue]

Both AMD’s Zen 2 and Zen 3 x86 processors will be made in 7nm.

No major updates to Ryzen until 7nm I guess.

I was hoping we'd get revamped FPUs before a node shrink.

 

[trparky]

Isn't Zen 2 (Ryzen v2.0) due out next year? If that is true and Zen 2 is going to be 7nm there's a real good chance that Ryzen v2.0 will finally be able to crash through that 4 GHz wall that they've so far been unable to overcome.

Right now the biggest performance hurtle for AMD Ryzen is its lower clock speeds when compared to Intel chips. If 7nm turns out to be as good as I think it will be it will allow AMD to scale AMD Ryzen to 5 GHz and higher while still keeping core counts high. This is all conjecture (obviously) but if it turns out to be true Intel will be in the rear view mirror while AMD passes them up at Mach 2. Oh how I would love to see the looks on the faces of Intel executives if and when this happens. It ought to be fun scene to behold.

 

[katanaD]

the transition has forced the company to develop deeper partnerships with foundries

LOL that statement puzzles me. just how do you develop a "deeper partnership" with the core of your being?

 

[SomeoneElse]

“we had to literally double our efforts ...."

Que the Imperial Death March....as Vader walks away. That's what I saw when I read this.....

 

[Design1stcode2nd]

AMD doesn't own their fabs my guess is money is changing hands so that they can convince the foundries/fabs to invest money into the new tools.