The market might just be on the cusp of introducing 32nm chips, but that didn’t stop Intel chief exec Paul Otellini from giving the press a peek at a 22nm part today.
Dubbed P1270, the 22nm process for CPUs is an “immature process” says Intel Director of Process Architecture Mark Bohr. Even so, that hasn’t stopped the company from stamping and showing wafers with 22nm chips called SRAM test vehicles.
An SRAM test vehicle is an alpha CPU used to test a new architecture and a new process node. Each test vehicle is given completed logic circuits and a heaping helping of cache (SRAM) so engineers can go bug hunting before a retail product is launched. That retail product is called Sandy Bridge, and Intel confirms it is on track to launch the all-new CPU architecture in 2011.
Meanwhile, the test vehicle shown at IDF has some impressive figures: 2.9 billion transistors and 45MB of cache in a die the size of a finger nail. For comparison, the newest Core i7 models are nearly four times less dense at a mere 750 million. These numbers are skewed by the tiny size of SRAM (.092?²) cells compared to other 22nm logic but, even in retail, Intel expects 22nm chips to at least double the density of today’s processors.
A 22nm Intel SRAM test mule (Image credit: Reghardware.co.uk)
Bohr was tight-lipped about the secret sauce in 22nm manufacturing, but it was revealed that the firm is still using 193mm immersion lithography for some of the chip’s layers. Bohr indicated there were some changes, but it’s mostly an evolution of standing processes. This has allowed the firm to reuse approximately 70% of the equipment it employs to create 32nm chips.
With 22nm on the way in a little over a year, what comes next? It’s 15nm in 2013 and 11nm in 2015, says Bohr, and what techniques might be used there is up to fate and fortune.
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