IBM onthult 2GHz embedded SRAM

Electronic Buyers' News schrijft dat IBM, na Samsung de grootste SRAM fabrikant ter wereld, een 2GHz embedded SRAM chip heeft ontwikkelt. De hoge kloksnelheid is mogelijk dankzij de combinatie van IBM's nieuwe CMOS technologie en het gebruik van een 0,18micron koper-interconnect procédé. De snelle SRAMs worden geïntegreerd in de 'Blue Flame' processor die IBM later dit jaar op de markt brengt:

Targeted at high-performance microprocessor applications in mainframes as well as graphics and communications applications, the company said the SRAM device will boost the performance of its “Blue Flame” chip, which IBM will commercially launch by the end of this year.

The new design speeds access to machine instructions in the Level 1 cache to more than 2 GHz at 34 Kbits with a read access time of less than 430 ps, according to the company.

[...] Joshi noted that the device's development was based on a joint effort between IBM's labs in Yorktown Heights and Poughkeepsie, N.Y., which is headed by senior technical adviser Yuen Chan. The company plans to apply the device to future designs based on 0.10-micron CMOS technology.

[...] While IBM did not disclose the price of its 2-GHz device, analysts say what OEMs will be asked to pay for this performance increase could be a gating factor in adopting embedded SRAM.

Op de IBM site is niets te vinden over 'Blue Flame'. Het doet me denken aan de Power4 processor met een kloksnelheid van 2GHz, 500MHz bus en 100GB/s cache bandbreedte.