GLOBALFOUNDRIES has taped-out an Arm-based 3D high-density test chip that promises to enable a new level of system performance and power efficiency for computing applications such as AI/ML and high-end consumer mobile and wireless solutions.

The new chip was fabricated using GF’s 12nm Leading-Performance (12LP) FinFET process and features Arm’s mesh interconnect technology in 3D that allows data to take a more direct path to other cores, minimizing latency while increasing data transfer rates.

Moreover, the companies validated a 3D Design-for-Test (DFT) methodology, using GF’s hybrid wafer-to-wafer bonding that can enable up to 1 million 3D connections per mm2, extending the ability to scale 12nm designs long into the future.

GF’s 3D face-to-face (F2F) packaging solution provides designers a path to heterogeneous logic and logic/memory integration, but can also be manufactured using an optimum production node that enables lower latency, higher bandwidth and smaller feature sizes.