LSI Logic Corp, Milpitas is into the eleventh generation of its application-specific CMOS product line, offering parts with an effective gate length of 0.18 microns. Dubbed the G11 family, it introduces what is claimed to be an industry first: a design concept called Mix & Match Architecture, conceived to enable designers to improve performance, reduce chip size, and reduce power consumption simultaneously. This is achieved by drawing appropriately from two alternative cell architectures and associated libraries, one optimized for high performance, the other for high density, so that the speed-critical parts of the design are drawn from the first, the other parts from the second. The high-performance library operates at 2.5V for maximum speed and performance while the high-density library operates at 1.8V to minimize power. The G11 family offers broad mixed-signal capabilities, extensive on-chip memory, and up to 8.1 million usable logic gates or 64 million transistors. The G11 family is claimed to deliver ASICs that are 30% faster than the previous generation, while reducing power consumption up to 75%. Logic density is 2.5 times greater than before. LSI is targeting high volume consumer applications, pointing out that cellular telephones are primarily driven by the need to reduce power consumption to extend battery life, and minimize chip size to reduce cost. Yet the signal processor on the chip must run at high speeds to meet cellular transmission standards. Cores include the MIPS Technologies Inc R-series-derived TinyRISC code- compressed 16- and 32-bit microprocessor and signal processor cores. The process technology offered includes tightly-pitched interconnects using up to six layers of metal with spacing as dense as 0.7 microns. Prototype customer designs using the G11 process have already started. Initial production of the G11 product will begin in the second half at LSI Logic’s Santa Clara, California fabrication facility. Volume production is set for next year at the company’s new facility in Gresham, Oregon.
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