SiGe announcement from NORTEL and IBM this morning. I'll be doing some investigating and let the thread know if I find anything more.
Nortel (Northern Telecom) Harnesses New IBM Technology for High-Speed Telecommunications
OTTAWA, June 19 -- Nortel (Northern Telecom) and IBM have signed an agreement that is expected to provide a significant breakthrough for high-speed telecommunications. Using IBM's leading-edge semiconductor technology, Nortel will design prototype integrated circuits that are three to five times faster than current silicon microchips but can be cost-effectively manufactured using established production facilities and techniques.
The microchips will be developed using a semiconductor material composed of silicon and germanium (SiGe), a technology pioneered by IBM. Under the agreement, Nortel will design prototype microchips for several high-speed telecommunications applications and IBM will manufacture the devices. The agreement makes Nortel one of the first major telecommunications providers to exploit this promising new technology.
"SiGe-based devices can move information across a network at speeds traditionally considered to be beyond the reach of silicon technology," said Robert Hadaway, director, technology access and applications, Nortel. "Nortel's prototype microchips will be used in fiber transport products as well as for several high-speed cellular and personal communications services' (PCS) wireless applications. Our objective is to work towards developing advanced devices at commodity-level costs."
SiGe-based chips will be a powerful complement to technology based on more exotic materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) as the chips provide greater design flexibility in developing highly complex high-speed products. This flexibility will likely accelerate the development of higher-speed telecommunications in the next few years.
While offering significant performance improvements over current silicon technology, SiGe-based semiconductors also provide other benefits over more exotic materials. In some applications, the material consumes less power and can be built at higher densities and quality than its more exotic cousins. In addition, the new devices are manufactured using existing silicon fabrication facilities without extensive re-tooling.
"Traditionally, the speed of silicon chips was improved by shrinking the size of the devices so they could run faster. However, we are nearing the limits to that approach," said Ron Soicher, vice president analog and mixed signal development for IBM Microelectronics. "Also, hundreds of millions of dollars have to be invested in production lines every time they are re-tooled. With this technology, IBM will be manufacturing SiGe chips on established, high-volume lines."
Nortel is already designing the new microchips. Early prototypes are expected to be manufactured and validated later this year.
Nortel had 1996 revenues of $US 12.8 billion and has approximately 68,000 employees worldwide.
Or visit Nortel's Web site at nortel.com
Or visit IBM's Web site at chips.ibm.com
SOURCE Northern Telecom Limited |
