STOCKHOLM (02/07/2000) - IBM Corp. researchers this week will up the stakes in the microprocessor clock-speed race by showcasing technology that could result in next-generation chips running at speeds up to 4.5GHz, or more than five times faster than the speediest parts to be found in today's high-end PCs.
Called IPCMOS (interlocked pipelined complementary metal oxide semiconductor), the processor design technology also has the potential to halve the power consumption of high-performance chips using conventional technology, IBM said in a statement today.
Using standard silicon transistors, IPCMOS processors could reach clock-speeds of 3.3GHz to 4.5GHz, according to the statement.
In the processors found in PCs today, one centralized clock is used to synchronize operations, which means that all operations must be finished before the chip starts the next cycle, IBM said. In the IPCMOS design, however, the single centralized clock is replaced by locally generated clocks running smaller sections of the chip's circuitry, which allows for much speedier chips.
IBM researchers will detail the IPCMOS design at a Feb. 9 briefing at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) that opens its doors today in San Francisco.
By comparison, chip giant Intel Corp. is expected to use the conference to detail processor designs featuring speeds of around 1GHz, which will be shipping in systems before year's end. [See "Intel to Showcase 1GHz 'Coppermine' Pentium III," Jan. 28.]IBM researchers at the conference will present no fewer than 14 papers, according to today's statement, including descriptions of a 0.18 micron, copper-based embedded DRAM (dynamic random access memory) design that can be applied to future gigahertz system-on-a-chip devices.
The IBM researchers will also showcase a 760MHz S/390 G6 microprocessor based on 0.22-micron copper interconnects that offers a 27 percent frequency increase over the S/390 G5 processor, as well as a 64-bit PowerPC processor running at 660MHz, based on 0.18 micron design rules, combining both advanced SOI (silicon-on-insulator) and copper technology, according to IBM.
In addition, IBM will also present details on a new storage technology dubbed Millipede, which the company described as an alternative approach to magnetic hard-disk drives, capable of offering storage densities of over 400G bits per square inch.
In related news, officials at Japan's NEC Corp. at ISSCC will also present details of a new processor technology designed to lower the power consumption of chips for use in mobile devices. [See "NEC Makes Low-Power Processor Breakthrough," Feb. 7.]IBM, in Armonk, New York, can be reached via the Web at http://www.ibm.com/.
More information about the International Solid-State Circuits Conference, which runs Feb. 7 to Feb. 9, can be found at http://www.isscc.org/.