In simpler terms, the SRAM density improved by 2.9% (according to ChatGPT). Which is better than it sounds, because SRAM had reached a wall, in terms of density gains, and, chips can be dominated by SRAM in terms of surface area, so this can mean a lot more room for logic, even though that is also getting considerably denser.
A lot of that is the lack of SRAM scaling. There’s still quite a bit of improvements in the back end (metal traces). That aside, if foundries adopted say a 1T-1C SRAM we’d see a pretty rapid density doubling
Is 1T1C SRAM a technological thing or does it mean "persuade designers to use DRAM in the many cases where the retention contract could be timeboxed with a bit of extra thought and cross-team haggling"?
It's hard to tell because AI has pushed up costs. IE. Chip fab margins are increasing.
But generally, I think it's even or increasing $/transistor for each node. I'd guess that A14 would have been 20% more expensive than N2 regardless or AI or not.
It probably is still worth it because you're also getting 20-30% better power efficiency - which is a big deal for data center chips.
Not sure what this source is, but it looks sketchy.
But generally, I think it's even or increasing $/transistor for each node. I'd guess that A14 would have been 20% more expensive than N2 regardless or AI or not.
It probably is still worth it because you're also getting 20-30% better power efficiency - which is a big deal for data center chips.