Semiconductor company SuVolta has said that Fujitsu Semiconductor has licensed SuVolta’s PowerShrink low-power CMOS technology.
SuVolta said that working together, both the companies have verified the technology and begun joint development activities for the commercialisation of the technology.
It added that Fujitsu Semiconductor will make the technology available at 65nm process technology.
CMOS technology is widely employed as the conventional low-power device technology. Usually power consumption has been reduced by lowering the supply voltage and reducing feature sizes. However, beyond 90nm, reductions in voltage are difficult due to an inability to reduce variation in transistor threshold voltage. Companies, therefore, have pursued power consumption reduction efforts in ICs by leveraging innovations in circuit design.
The PowerShrink low-power platform is based on an advanced Deeply Depleted Channel (DDC) CMOS transistor having much lower threshold voltage variation than those in use in the industry today.
In addition, the platform includes DDC-optimised circuits and design techniques for biasing and voltage scaling that further reduce threshold voltage variation and optimise voltage application, said the company.
SuVolta’s PowerShrink technology enables significant supply voltage reductions that reduce power consumption by 50 percent without sacrificing integrated circuit (IC) operating speed.
Fujitsu Semiconductor plans to implement the technology in their Application-Specific Standard Product (ASSP), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), and Customer Owned Tooling (COT) products.
The first commercial offering in Fujitsu Semiconductor’s 65nm product families is expected to be available in the second half of 2012.
SuVolta president and CEO Bruce McWilliams said Fujitsu Semiconductor has been an excellent development partner for the SuVolta PowerShrink technology.
McWilliams said, "Together we have proven that the technology provides significantly reduced transistor threshold variability as well as circuit operation at much lower voltages, including SRAM memories operating at below 0.5 volts. We are delighted to be working with Fujitsu Semiconductor on the commercialisation of the technology."
"Fujitsu Semiconductor continues to advance the development of high-speed and energy efficient products," said at Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited corporate senior executive vice-president Haruyoshi Yagi.
Yagi added, "Working closely with SuVolta on the joint technology development, Fujitsu Semiconductor has produced favourable results for reducing power consumption. By combining the SuVolta technology with our mature low-power process technology, Fujitsu Semiconductor will be able to aggressively respond to customers’ requests for low-power consumption in consumer products and mobile devices."
