AMD's SOI Set for H2, 2002
By Van Smith
Date: July 17, 2001
AMD's recent conference call left some confused about the chipmaker's timing of its 0.13 micron Silicon-On-Insulator copper process introduction. While most have been expecting SOI in the second half of 2002, some in the media interpreted comments made by AMD's President, Dr. Hector Ruiz, as suggesting this had been accelerated into late this year.
AMD's spokesman Damon Muzny reported to us today that SOI "products will be available in the second half of 2002." Muzny clarified that statements made in the July 12th conference call referred to ramping and conversion, while AMD's roadmap, which he gave to us here, indicates when products will be available.
Typically for a new process, ramping and conversion start six months prior to production as AMD has indicated. Silicon-On-Insulator, or SOI, is an advanced technology licensed from IBM and Motorola that should reduce a chip's power consumption and allow it to run cooler at any given clock speed. Many of today's chips are thermally limited versus speed path limited, so SOI should help the upstart chipmaker significantly increase the clock speeds of its chips.
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