Samsung and Arm collaborate on next-gen Cortex-X CPU cores

Samsung Foundry, Samsung Electronics’ division that fabricates semiconductor chips, has announced its collaboration with Arm (Arm Holdings PLC) for optimized fabrication of next-generation Cortex-X series CPU cores. This collaboration will improve the performance and power efficiency of CPU cores using Arm’s latest Cortex-X series designs and fabricated using Samsung Foundry’s GAA process.

Arm and Samsung Foundry want to optimize Cortex-X CPUs faster

Arm Holdings is a UK-based firm that designs all the basic CPU architectures and designs used in modern-day smartphones, smartwatches, and other mobile products. The next-generation Cortex-X series CPU from Arm is optimized for Samsung Foundry’s Gate-All-Around (GAA) semiconductor chip fabrication technology. It means upcoming Cortex-X series CPUs have already been designed in a way that they will offer improved performance and power efficiency when they are fabricated using Samsung’s 2nm and 3nm GAA processes. This collaboration is a result of years of partnership between Arm and Samsung Foundry. Millions of devices have shipped over the years that use chips with ARM technologies and are manufactured by Samsung Foundry.

These two firms have bold plans to reinvent 2nm GAA technology for next-generation AI, custom silicon, data center, and mobile chips. Samsung announced its first-generation 3nm Multi-Bridge-Channel FET (MBCFET) chip production in 2022. This new GAA technology offers improved scaling compared to FinFET designs for improved power efficiency and reduced supply voltage level, driving performance to a new level. Samsung’s GAA implementation uses nanosheet structures that offer maximum design flexibility and scalability.

The companies say that it is important to deliver efficient products on time, which makes it critical to get the silicon design right without any delay. Hence, Arm and Samsung Foundry are embracing the design-technology co-optimization (DTCO) solution, which means design and optimization are done simultaneously, reducing the time it takes to make optimized chips. We expect mobile processors with the next-generation Cortex-X series CPUs to work better when they are made using Samsung Foundry’s 2nm and 3nm GAA processes.

Jongwook Kye, EVP of Samsung Foundry, said, “As we continue into the Gen AI era, we are excited to extend our partnership with Arm to deliver the next generation Cortex-X CPU, enabling our mutual customers to create innovative products. Both Samsung and Arm have built a solid foundation from many years of collaboration. This unprecedented level of deep design technology co-optimization has resulted in a ground-breaking accomplishment, providing access to the newest Cortex-CPU on the latest GAA process node.”