Lately, it has seemed that Intel is a little confused in the numbering of generations of its 10nm process technology. After looking at the new slide from the ASML presentation, it becomes clear that Intel is not forgetting about its 10nm first-borns, although it is not relying on them commercially. There are already laptops on the market based on 10nm Ice Lake processors, and early next year some client products related to the next generation of 10nm technology will be released.
It is quite simple to track the evolution of the classification of generations of the 10-nm process technology as interpreted by Intel. The May investor event listed three traditional generations: the first was pegged for 2019, the second was labeled "10nm+" and pegged for 2020, and the third was labeled "10nm++" for 2021. On Venkata Renduchintala, who is responsible for technology and system architecture at Intel, explained that even after the release of the first 7-nm products, the 10-nm process technology will continue to improve, and this is quite adequately illustrated by a slide from the May presentation.
This week, public attention was drawn to another slide, which was demonstrated at the IEDM conference by representatives of ASML, a company from the Netherlands that produces lithography equipment. On behalf of Intel, this partner of the processor giant promised that now the transition to the next stage of the technical process will be carried out every two years, and by 2029 the company will master 1,4 nm technology.
Site representatives We received a “blank” for this slide, in which the development of 10nm technology was described in a different sequence: from one “plus” in 2019 to two “pluses” in 2020, and then three “pluses” in 2021. Where did the debut generation of the 10nm process technology, which Intel used in small batches to produce mobile processors from the Cannon Lake family, go to? The company hasn't forgotten about it, it's just that the timeline on the slide doesn't cover 2018, when production of Intel's very first mass-produced 10nm products began.
Announcement of processors Lakefield is just around the corner
Venkata Renduchintala does not forget about this sequence. According to him, at the beginning of next year the first product of the 10-nm++ generation will be released to the client segment of the market. The name of this product is not disclosed, but if you strain your memory, you can establish correspondence with Intel’s previously announced plans. The company promised that after the Ice Lake mobile processors there will be Lakefield mobile processors that will have a complex Foveros spatial layout and will use 10nm crystals with computing cores. Four compact cores with Tremont architecture will be adjacent to one productive core with Sunny Cove microarchitecture, and a Gen11 graphics subsystem with 64 execution units will be located nearby.
Now we can say that Lakefield processors will be the first-born of a new generation of 10nm process technology. Among other things, they will be used by Microsoft in its Surface Neo family of mobile devices. By the end of next year, Tiger Lake mobile processors are promised, which will also use a version of the “10 nm++” process technology. If we return to the classification of generations of the 10nm process technology, Intel CEO Robert Swan at a recent Credit Suisse conference constantly called Ice Lake mobile processors the first generation of 10nm products, as if forgetting about Cannon Lake, which came out in the second quarter of last year . In fact, there are disagreements among Intel's senior management in this interpretation of the evolutionary path of 10nm products.
Venkata Renduchintala showed his commitment to the “alternative three-plus numbering” with another caveat. He said that problems with the development of 10-nm technology have shifted the timing of the appearance of the corresponding products by two years from originally planned. In 2013, the first 10nm products were expected to appear in 2016. In fact, they were introduced in 2018, which corresponds to a delay of two years. Modern Intel presentations often talk about the appearance of the first 10nm products in 2019, which refers to Ice Lake mobile processors rather than Cannon Lake.
On the way to 10 nm: difficulties only intensify
Dr. Renduchintala emphasized that the company did not flinch when faced with difficulties in mastering 10nm technology, and the transistor density increase factor remained the same at 2,7. It took longer to master 10nm technology than planned, but the technical parameters of the process itself were maintained without changes. Intel is not ready to abandon the use of 10nm technology and immediately switch to the 7nm process technology. Both stages of lithography will be present on the market simultaneously for some period.
Ice Lake server processors will be introduced in the second half of next year. According to Renduchintala, they will be released towards the end of 2020. Their appearance will be preceded by the announcement of 14nm Cooper Lake processors, which will offer up to 56 cores and support for new instruction sets. As an Intel representative explains, at one time, when designing the first 10-nm products, it became clear that the proposed technological innovations could not coexist without problems, although their implementation seemed simple when studying each factor separately. The practical difficulties that arose delayed the appearance of 10nm Intel products.
But now, when designing new products, geometric scaling will be sacrificed for the predictability of implementation timing. Intel is committed to mastering new technological processes every two or two and a half years. For example, in 2023, the first 5nm products will appear, which will be produced using second-generation EUV lithography. The increase in the frequency of process changes at the level of capital expenditures will be offset by the possibility of reusing equipment, because after mastering EUV lithography within the 7-nm process technology, further implementation of this technology will require less effort.
Source: 3dnews.ru