CHARTERED LAUNCHES NANOACCESS ALLIANCE TO ENABLE CHIP DESIGN ON FOUNDRY-PROVEN 90NM PROCESS PLATFORM
Industry aligns support for Chartered's NanoAccess manufacturing processes,
based on Chartered & IBM joint deliverables for 90 and 65nm technology development
MILPITAS, Calif. and SINGAPORE - September 18, 2003 - Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing (Nasdaq: CHRT and SGX-ST: Chartered), one of the world's top three dedicated semiconductor foundries, today announced the formation of the NanoAccessÔ Alliance in support of Chartered's NanoAccess semiconductor manufacturing technologies at 90 nanometer (nm) technologies and beyond. Under the NanoAccess Alliance, Chartered and more than 15 third-party companies are pre-qualifying 90nm design solutions for earlier silicon validation and lower risk production of leading-edge integrated circuits (IC) and system-on-chip (SoC) devices.
Qualification of 90nm design libraries, memory components, electronic design automation (EDA) tool support and third-party intellectual property (IP) has been in active planning since the Chartered and IBM joint development agreement for 90nm manufacturing technologies was first announced in November 2002. Silicon validation and pilot projects are currently being scheduled with first silicon multi-process wafer (MPW) runs in October 2003. Major design deliverables are set to be silicon validated by early 2004, in advance of 90nm design starts expected to gain momentum in this timeframe.
As a result of the joint development, Chartered and IBM will have compatible third-party programs targeted at developing common design solutions for the resulting nanotechnology process platform. The programs are referred to as "NanoAccess Alliance" and "Ready for IBM Technology" by Chartered and IBM, respectively.
NanoAccess Alliance
The NanoAccess Alliance is an extensive ecosystem of 90nm third-party library, EDA and IP companies that currently includes: ARM; Artisan Components, Inc.; Cadence Design Systems, Inc.; ChipIdea Microlectronics; IBM; Mentor Graphics Corporation; MoSys, Inc.; QualCore Logic; Synopsys, Inc.; and Virage Logic Corporation. Outsourced design and manufacturing-related services are also part of Chartered's NanoAccess Alliance. Design companies include Flextronics and QThink; and manufacturing service providers are Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.; ST Assembly Test Services Ltd. (STATS); Toppan Printing Co., Ltd and its subsidiaries; and Unitive Semiconductor Taiwan Corp. (UST).
"Success in the Nano Age is not just about process. Providing a holistic approach and open design solutions with third-party technology and service providers are key parts of our foundry service offering and the charter for the NanoAccess Alliance," said Kevin Meyer, vice president of worldwide marketing and services for Chartered. "Our goal is to ensure that companies have less inherent risk and more predictable design results as they move to 90nm geometries. The NanoAccess Alliance brings together proven SoC technologies and services for all their needs, and in a way that eliminates the costly trial-and-error of designing with new technologies and avoids the pitfalls of IP-constrained, inflexible manufacturing approaches."
90nm Design Support
Chartered's NanoAccess Alliance enlists support for a complete 90nm design environment based on common design standards. This contrasts the use of proprietary formats with the ASIC-like manufacturing platforms promoted by other pure-play chip foundries. NanoAccess 90nm design deliverables are initially focused on:
- Standard cell libraries and I/O components from Artisan, Synopsys and Virage Logic;
- Embedded memory solutions from Artisan, MoSys, Synopsys and Virage Logic; and
- EDA technology files for Cadence, Mentor and Synopsys design tools, as well as a roadmap for jointly-qualified reference flows.
The NanoAccess Alliance companies all share a key goal of better design for manufacturability through their joint efforts. Details on specific products supported and delivery timelines are outlined in separate announcements issued today with several NanoAccess Alliance companies.
Chartered will continue its policy of open access to silicon-validated IP blocks, and augment its existing third-party listings with IP targeted for Chartered's NanoAccess 90nm manufacturing process. This is enabled through a Web-based infrastructure developed with ebusiness solutions provider VCX Software Ltd. The initial 90nm IP listing features popular digital system cores from ARM and IBM's PowerPC, in addition to mixed-signal foundation IP components from ChipIdea and QualCore Logic.
Chartered's Meyer added, "As an industry, we must safeguard the basic tenets of choice and flexibility to ensure that the entire semiconductor supply chain is operating with the customer's best interest in mind. First, to preserve the very essence of the fabless model, and more importantly, to positively impact the ability of foundry customers to compete through differentiation. At the 90nm node, this will require greater investment with flexibility of supply and openness around an industry benchmark platform that is supported by EDA tool experts and IP leaders using common standards."
About Chartered
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, one of the world's top three dedicated semiconductor foundries, is forging a customized approach to outsourced semiconductor manufacturing by building lasting and collaborative partnerships with its customers. The Company provides flexible and cost-effective manufacturing solutions for customers, enabling the convergence of communications, computing and consumer markets. In Singapore, Chartered operates five fabrication facilities and has a sixth fab, which will be developed as a 300mm facility.
A company with both global presence and perspective, Chartered is traded on both the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: CHRT) and on the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST: CHARTERED). Chartered's 3,500 employees are based at 11 locations around the world. Information about Chartered can be found at www.charteredsemi.com.
Chartered Safe Harbour Statement under the provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This news release may contain forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the difficulties, interruptions and unforeseen delays in the implementation of our alliances with the 90nm third-party library, EDA and IP companies; changes in market outlook and trends; customer demands; rate of semiconductor market recovery; economic conditions in the United States as well as globally; the performance level of and technology mix in our fabrication facilities and competition. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be attained. In addition to the foregoing factors, a description of certain other risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially can be found in the section captioned "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F and our First Quarter 2003 Quarterly Report on Form 6-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based on the current view of management on future events. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
NanoAccess is a trademark of Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
