Intel & Altera to Build Next-Generation FPGAs on Intel's 14 nm Tri-Gate Technology

By Tarun Iyer
published

Products are targeted at ultra high-performance systems such as military, wireline communications and cloud networking.

Intel has announced that it has reached an agreement with PLD (Programmable logic device) manufacturer Altera to product FPGAs (Field-programmable gate array) on Intel's 14 nm tri-gate transistor technology. According to the announcement, these next generation products will enable breakthrough levels of performance and power efficiencies not otherwise possible and further the company's ability to deliver on the promise of silicon convergence by delivering a more flexible and economical alternative to traditional ASICs and ASSP.

Furthermore, Brian Krzanich, Intel's Chief Operating Officer stated that "We look forward to collaborating with Altera on manufacturing leading-edge FPGAs, leveraging Intel's leadership in process technology and Next-generation products from Altera require the highest performance and most power-efficient technology available, and Intel is well positioned to provide the most advanced offerings."

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Intel
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • joytech22
    Oh bloody hell AMD.. Do something fast.
    AMD should pull an end-game action and pour 1B into R&D just to see what happens.

    If they create something epic and companies love it - GOOD! 1B well spent.

    I'd do that. That's probably why I'm not rich or a CEO. lol.
    I do have lots of nice things though..
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    AMD has already done 'something' when fabbing their own chips was not enough to keep their fabs busy and had a hard time finding external clients for their spare capacity: they spun their fabs off as Global Foundries. Investing in process research and finding clients for fabs is out of AMD's hands.

    Investing 1B in improving their CPU/GPU is not going to do much to help when AMD is stuck with Global Foundries being almost two process nodes and 10B$ worth of process/fab investments behind Intel.
    Reply
  • ik242
    AMD is doing an amazing job - it CONTINUES to fight the empire. Just in case you have forgotten, there is nobody else around (there used to be so many companies making CPUs, they are all gone). the competition keeps pushing the envelope and computing power is cheaper and we get more of it. not just that, but AMD is the one and only company ever to dethrone Intel in terms of performance. no other company EVER did that - they all quit or sold out or don't even pretend to compete (IBM, Motorola, NexGen, Cyrix, Via, you name it). If AMD was to also cave in, who or what would stop Intel to charge whatever it wants? what would be reason to push the envelope and bring new and faster products? without AMD we would still be running single core at 233MHz and pay for it big bucks.
    Reply
  • Nvidia, IBM, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Apple. Just to name a few other companys that make great CPU's
    Reply
  • giorov
    weeelll yeah I am very supportive of AMD. it seems to me like they are carving out a nice little niche with their APUs, hopefully with steamroller will do the FX brand some justice as well. But kudos for Intel for getting this far, 14nm wow, that is pretty tight! while AMD really slowed down from buying ATI it seems this has allowed each company (including n-vidia) to lead in a slighlty more specialized manner, though AMD and Nvidia are between a rock and a hardplace, intel being the rock, I agree to that much
    Reply
  • Soda-88
    Why are first 5 comments about AMD when this article has absolutely nothing to do with it? This isn't even about consumer level hardware...
    Reply
  • madjimms
    probe30Nvidia, IBM, Toshiba, Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Apple. Just to name a few other companys that make great CPU's
    Apple makes CPU's?.......... Oooohhh.... you mean the chips SAMSUNG produces for Apple.
    Reply
  • blubbey
    joytech22Oh bloody hell AMD.. Do something fast.AMD should pull an end-game action and pour 1B into R&D just to see what happens.If they create something epic and companies love it - GOOD! 1B well spent.I'd do that. That's probably why I'm not rich or a CEO. lol.I do have lots of nice things though..
    Don't forget that AMD have the PS4 and possibly the new Xbox, that's possibly billions for them over the next 10 years (I don't know what it'll be, I'll assume AMD get $40 per console sold, say 150m sold by 2020 that's $6b for them, hopefully they'll still be around by that time).

    Soda-88Why are first 5 comments about AMD when this article has absolutely nothing to do with it? This isn't even about consumer level hardware...Because it's a fuckton of money for Intel.
    Reply
  • saturnus
    So when is this going to be on the market?

    Intel has yet to showcase a working 14nm logic tape-out (a working chip), although unofficial reports says that it does have it in-house already in August last year. Meanwhile, Samsung has showcased a fully functional ARM core on a 14nm tape-out in December last year. The question is why Intel, who is normally very quick to showcase their achievements still haven't showcased a working 14nm logic tape-out, while at the same time (at IDF last year) said that they were ready for 14nm manufacturing.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    Soda-88Why are first 5 comments about AMD when this article has absolutely nothing to do with it? This isn't even about consumer level hardware...That it "is not even about consumer hardware" is not the point either.

    It is about Intel having its first serious foundry client, something AMD tried but failed at before spinning off their foundry operations under Global.

    Altera getting on Intel's 22nm and 14nm process could hurt Xilinx, Cypress and other CPLD/FPGA designers pretty hard if Altera has an exclusivity deal for programmable logic.

    While this may not have a direct effect on consumer-level hardware, it will have a fairly direct effect on rapid prototyping and hardware-accelerated simulation rigs. It will also have a significant effect in telecoms and other places that use FPGAs for software-defined radios, network processing, video/signal processing and various other tasks. Reduced competition there due to Altera having a monopoly on Intel's process for FPGAs could eventually translate into higher service costs, higher development costs, etc. (they're the only ticket in town for a given logic density, throughput per watt or other metric enabled by Intel's more advanced process) much the same way AMD failing to keep up with Intel caused Intel to freeze price points.

    Domino effect. You may not feel it now but you may still regret it later.
    Reply