Qualcomm said that it is working with foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on 28-nm process technology and also migrate directly from the 45nm to the 28nm node.
Earlier, Qualcomm and TSMC worked together on the 65nm and 45nm technologies. They are continuing their relationship into 28nm designs for high-volume manufacturing. 28nm technology is expected to deliver up to twice the density of previous manufacturing nodes.
The company said that the advanced process node enables more features to be integrated into smaller chips to cost effectively accelerate the expansion of wireless into new market segments.
Jim Clifford, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, said: “Qualcomm’s close collaboration with TSMC has always been a key part of our ability to deliver significant advantages to our customers through the industry-leading integration, power efficiency and cost efficiency of our products – enabling them to do more with less.
“Qualcomm’s integrated fabless manufacturing model and migration to smaller geometries will allow us to continue enabling the best mobile user experience possible on handsets, smartphones and smartbook devices.
Qualcomm and TSMC are working on both high-k metal gate (HKMG) 28HP and silicon oxynitride 28LP technologies. Qualcomm expects to roll out its 28nm products in mid-2010.
