16nm FinFETs boost ARM’s 64-bit big.LITTLE
According to a joint statement released by the two companies, silicon results on 16FF show the “big” Cortex-A57 processor achieving 2.3GHz for sustained mobile peak performance, as well as the “LITTLE” Cortex-A53 processor consuming only 75mW for most common workloads.
The performance improvements are a result of the collaboration between ARM and TSMC to jointly optimise the 64-bit ARMv8-A processor series on FinFET process technologies and build on the successful tape-out of the Cortex-A57 processor on TSMC’s 16FF process last year.
TSMC’s 16FinFET process claims twice the gate density of the foundry’s 28HPM process, and operates more than 40% faster at the same total power, or reduces total power over 60% at the same speed.
In a previous announcement, TSMC had confirmed the production of its first 16FinFET-based product, a 32-core ARM Cortex-A57 networking processor from HiSilicon based on the ARMv8 architecture with processing speeds of up to 2.6GHz.
Ongoing collaborative efforts are now focused on TSMC’s 16FF+ process technology which will deliver an additional 11% gain in performance for the Cortex-A57 at the same power as the 16FF process, along with a further 35% power reduction for the Cortex-A53 when running low-intensity applications.
This further increases the dynamic performance range and power savings for big.LITTLE platforms. 16FF+ is scheduled to be delivered by Q4 2014. Early big.LITTLE implementations of Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53 processors on 16FF+ are supported by ARM POP IP technology.
Visit ARM at https://community.arm.com
Visit TSMC at www.tsmc.com
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