SMIC and Brite Semiconductor achieve clock rate of 1.3GHz in silicon tests

Telecom Lead America: Semiconductor Manufacturing
International Corporation (SMIC) and Brite Semiconductor (Shanghai) announced
that their dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processor-based chip, adopting SMIC’s
40nm LL (low-leakage) process technology, has achieved a clock rate of 1.3GHz
in silicon tests.


The test chip incorporates a 32K I-Cache and a 32K
D-Cache, memory compiler modules, ARM NEON(TM) technology, and ARM CoreSight
debug and trace technology, as well as built-in SRAM, DMA, NOR flash, SDRAM,
and VGA interfaces integrated through AMBA AXI on the test chip.


In addition to the high-speed standard cell library, the
test chip also incorporates SMIC’s customized high-speed memory and cell
library for performance enhancement (SMIC Performance Enhancement Kit).


“Brite’s rapid achievement demonstrates the
stability of SMIC’s 40nm LL process and our market leadership. Working closely
with Brite and ARM allows us to provide our customers integrated platforms to
accelerate time-to-market and mitigate the development risks of their advanced
node designs. The milestone today once again demonstrates our dedication to
provide industry-leading technology,” said Chris Chi, chief business
officer of SMIC.


“ARM Cortex-A9 dual-core test chip performance has
met our expectations, proving Brite Semiconductor has the solid technical
foundation needed to meet industry demand. The next Cortex-A9 dual-core chip
that will soon tape out will achieve higher performance. Brite Semiconductor is
committed to providing our customers the most advanced platforms with
integrated solutions. We believe that with the combined efforts of SMIC, ARM
and our partners, we will surely achieve our goal to bring tremendous value to
our customers,” said Charlie Zhi, president and chief executive officer of
Brite Semiconductor.


“This milestone from the ongoing collaboration
between Brite, SMIC and ARM is a great example of how collaboration drives
innovation in the development of core technology for the next generation of
smart, connected devices,” said Allen Wu, President, ARM China.


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