Dual-core 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 HKMG Processor Taped Out by GlobalFoundaries

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It was announced today at the GlobalFoundaries Global Technology conference that ARM has successfully taped out their 28nm process dual core Cortex A9 HKMG processor with GlobalFoundries. This is the first design to take advantage of GLOBALFOUNDRIES 28nm Gate First High-k Metal Gate (HKMG) technology. According to a slide shown at the show today, the 28nm Cortex A9 HKMG processor will run at clock frequencies of up to 2.5GHz and offer improved performance and power savings on their previous generation 40nm A9 processors that were made by TSMC. The companies project the new chip manufacturing platform will enable a 40 percent increase in computing performance, a 30 percent decrease in power consumption, and a 100 percent increase in standby battery life when compared to the 40nm technology generation. This is good for those that follow the smartphone or mobile device market as this means we should see improved designs in the future!

Arm Cortex A9 HKMG processor

This is a significant milestone on the road to high-volume 28nm manufacturing and technology leadership for next-generation products ranging from smart mobile devices to high-performance wired applications, said Mojy Chian, senior vice president of design enablement at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. By working closely with ARM in the early stages of technology qualification, we will enable our customers to rapidly bring their ARM Cortex-A9 designs with ARM physical IP to production by setting a new standard for performance and power-efficiency.

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