Arm and Intel Foundry Services (IFS) have announced a multigeneration collaboration in which chip designers will be able to build low-power system-on-chips (SoC) using Intel 18A technology. The collaboration will first focus on mobile SoC designs, but will eventually allow for design extensions into automotive, IoT, data center, aerospace, and government applications.
Arm customers designing next-generation mobile SoCs will benefit from Intel's cutting-edge 18A process technology, which delivers new breakthrough transistor technologies for increased power and performance, as well as IFS's extensive manufacturing footprint, which includes capacity in the US and Europe.
"There is growing demand for computing power driven by the digitization of everything, but until now fabless customers have had limited options for designing around the most advanced mobile technology," said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. "Intel's collaboration with Arm will expand the market opportunity for IFS and open up new options and approaches for any fabless company that wants to access best-in-class CPU IP and the power of an open system foundry with leading-edge process technology."
"Arm's secure, energy-efficient processors are at the heart of hundreds of billions of devices and the planet's digital experiences," said Rene Haas, CEO of Arm. "Arm's collaboration with Intel enables IFS as a critical foundry partner for our customers as we deliver the next generation of world-changing products built on Arm."
Intel is investing in leading-edge production capacity around the world as part of its IDM 2.0 strategy, including expansions in the US and the EU, to accommodate long-term chip demand. Arm partners will be able to fully leverage Intel's open system foundry model, which includes packaging, software and chiplets in addition to traditional wafer production, by unlocking Arm's cutting-edge compute portfolio and world-class IP on Intel process technology.
IFS and Arm will work together on design technology co-optimization (DTCO), which entails optimizing chip design and process technologies concurrently to increase power, performance, area and cost (PPAC) for Arm cores targeting Intel 18A manufacturing technology.
Intel 18A incorporates two game-changing technologies: PowerVia for optimized power delivery and RibbonFET gate all around (GAA) transistor architecture for maximum performance and power. IFS and Arm will develop a mobile reference design, allowing demonstration of the software and system knowledge for foundry customers. With the industry's evolution from DTCO to system technology co-optimization (STCO), Arm and IFS will work together to optimize the platforms from applications and software through package and silicon, leveraging Intel's unique open system foundry model.
