IBM and Hitachi researchers will try to accelerate the miniaturization of chip circuitry by researching at the atomic level for 32nm and 22nm semiconductors
IBM and Hitachi are expected to announce a research agreement on Monday in which the companies will collaborate to improve semiconductor technology, including shrinking the features on silicon chips.
Researchers from the companies will try to accelerate the miniaturization of chip circuitry by researching at the atomic level for 32-nanometer and 22-nanometer semiconductors. Making chip circuits smaller should allow computing devices to deliver power savings and performance gains. It will also make manufacturing more efficient, IBM said.
By combining research capabilities and intellectual property, the companies also hope to reduce the costs of developing advanced chip technologies, IBM said.
The tie-up with Hitachi is not linked to the Cell processor, which is the result of a separate development partnership between IBM, Sony, and Toshiba, IBM said. Though IBM and Hitachi work together on enterprise servers and other products, this is the first time they are collaborating on semiconductor technology.
Engineers from the companies will conduct research at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, and at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering's Albany NanoTech Complex, also in New York. Though the research does not apply directly to manufacturing, it could contribute to IBM's manufacturing processes as they relate to future silicon devices, IBM said.
Financial details of the two-year agreement were not disclosed. IBM officials declined comment on when products resulting from the research would hit the market.
Chip makers such as IBM, Intel, and Advanced Micro Devices are constantly upgrading their manufacturing technologies to shrink chips. Intel began switching its manufacturing process to 45-nanometer chips last year, and AMD is scheduled to make a similar move later this year. Intel recently said it hopes to shrink the features on its chips to 22nm by 2011.
A nanometer is equal to about one billionth of a meter. In chip manufacturing, the figure refers to the smallest features etched onto the surface of the chips. As chip makers build smaller and smaller transistors, they are dealing with features that are in some cases just a few atoms thick.
IBM already has a strong profile in advancing semiconductor technology. It is developing silicon nanophotonics technology, which could replace some of the wires on a chip with pulses of light on tiny optical fibers for quicker and more power-efficient data transfers between cores on a chip. It is also working with U.S. universities to develop carbon nanotubes, smaller transistors that could deliver better performance than current transistors.
Mar 10, 2008
IBM, Hitachi team up to advance chip research
Transmeta founder Ditzel to join Intel
As they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Dave Ditzel, co-founder of chip company Transmeta, is joining Intel's Digital Enterprise Group to work with Steve Pawlowski, one of Intel's top architects. An Intel representative confirmed a report put out over the weekend by The Register that Ditzel would be joining forces with his one-time enemy.
Transmeta was way ahead of its time in pursuing a low-power microprocessor strategy, attempting to break into the notebook PC and blade server markets with its Crusoe chip. The trouble was, Crusoe's low-power design came at the expense of performance, and manufacturing issues--combined with Intel's swift embrace of low-power tactics--killed Transmeta's chances of ever making a dent into Intel or AMD's market share.
The company survives these days on its patent portfolio, licensing some of its low-power techniques and designs and filing lawsuits. Transmeta recently settled claims against Intel for $250 million.
Ditzel left Transmeta about a year ago. Intel declined to elaborate on exactly what he would be working on with its DEG group, but here's a bit of wild speculation to kick off a Monday morning: a server-grade version of the Atom processor?
Chinese Hackers Worry Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China is developing weapons that would disable its enemies' space technology such as satellites in a conflict, the Pentagon said in a report released last week.
The report also said "numerous" intrusions into computer networks around the world, including some owned by the U.S. government, in the past year seem to have originated in China.
The assessments feature in an annual report on China's military power by the Pentagon for the U.S. Congress. Beijing routinely criticizes the report, saying it unfairly portrays China as a military threat when it is committed to peace.
David Sedney, a top Pentagon China specialist, said there was no call for U.S. alarm over China but repeated a frequent U.S. complaint that Beijing has not made clear the reasons for its rapid military modernization and spending growth.
"I think the biggest thing for people to be concerned about really is the fact that we don't have that kind of strategic understanding of the Chinese intentions," said Sedney, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.
"That leads to uncertainty," he said, briefing journalists at the Pentagon on the latest report.
China has posted a string of double-digit percentage rises in military spending in the past decade and many analysts say Beijing understates the amount it spends.
However, even the highest estimates of the true figure are dwarfed by U.S. defense spending.
Space and Cyberspace
Sedney said China's activities in both space and cyberspace were areas of concern.
"China is developing a multi-dimensional program to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by its potential adversaries during times of crisis or conflict," the report said.
The report said the Chinese People's Liberation Army had developed a range of weapons and jammers to prevent an enemy from using space-based systems such as satellites.
"The PLA is also exploring satellite jammers, kinetic energy weapons, high-powered lasers, high-powered microwave weapons, particle beam weapons, and electromagnetic pulse weapons for counterspace application," it said.
It noted that China destroyed a defunct weather satellite in a test in January 2007, even though the incident also was included in last year's report. U.S. officials repeatedly have raised the shootdown as an issue of great concern.
"We continue to ask the Chinese to sit down and talk to us about that test and they haven't," Sedney said.
The United States blew apart a defunct satellite of its own with a missile from a Navy ship last month. The Pentagon said that was done purely to prevent potential harm to people.
Under the heading "Cyberwarfare Capabilities," the report stated that intrusions apparently from China into computer networks used "many of the skills and capabilities that would also be required for computer network attack."
It said it was not clear if the intrusions were carried out or backed by the Chinese military but "developing capabilities for cyberwarfare is consistent with authoritative PLA writings on this subject."
Last March, China announced a 17.8 percent rise in military spending to 350.92 billion yuan, or about $45 billion, for 2007. The Pentagon report said the true figure could be between $97 billion and $139 billion.
The Bush administration last month requested $515.4 billion for the Pentagon in the next U.S. fiscal year. That figure does not include extra spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or nuclear weapons programs run by the Department of Energy.
