ARM And TSMC Announce Tape Out Of First Multicore 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 Processor

The taping out of a new processor is one of the points on the map to full production of a new processor. This step has to be completed before the new processors can come to market. ARM and TSMC have announced that they have completed tape out the first 20nm ARM Cortex-A15 multicore processor. Going to a smaller build process is very important to allowing processors to have better performance while producing less heat and consuming less power.

Both ARM and TSMC have completed the implementation from RTL to tape out on the new processor in six months. The process was able to be completed so quickly thanks to the TSMC Open Innovation Platform 20nm design ecosystem, claims TSMC. The Cortex-A15 has low power consumption and high performance with an advanced feature set.

The Cortex-A15 processor will be used in all sorts of products including smartphones, tablets, mobile computing, digital home products, and other devices. The test chip was implemented with a commercially available 20nm tool chain and TSMC is hailing the collaboration resulting in the new chip as a confirmation that its Open Innovation Platform promoting innovation for the semiconductor design community works.