Competition heats up for processors aimed at cloud computing. Ampere (Santa Clara, CA) has just introduced a new family of what it calls “cloud native processors”, with 192 custom designed Ampere cores and a number of features aimed at cloud usages like AI. More news this week include innovations from both industry and academia.
New fab investments: Analog Devices in Europe, Micron in Japan
Analog Devices will invest €630 million at its European regional headquarters in Limerick, Ireland, to build a new 45,000 sq-ft R&D and manufacturing facility which will focus on signal processing innovations. The new facility is expected to triple ADI’s European wafer production capacity. The investment is planned as part of a collaboration within the European Union’s Important Projects of Common European Interest on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies (IPCEI ME/CT) initiative, and is supported by the Irish Government. One year ago, Analog Devices announced a separate investment of €100 million in “ADI Catalyst” at its Limerick campus. Ireland is also home to ADI’s main European Research and Development Center.
Micron Technology will be introducing EUV lithography to its Hiroshima (Japan) fab, to manufacture its next generation of DRAM, the 1-gamma (1γ) node. The company expects to ramp EUV into production on the 1-gamma node in Japan (as well as in Taiwan) from 2025 onwards. Micron will be the first semiconductor company to bring EUV technology to Japan for production, and expects to invest up to 500 billion yen in 1-gamma process technology over the next few years, with close support from the Japanese government.
