3 ms·

I hear this statement quite often, but never paired with what numbers we should be using. Are there any? Do we know anything about these fabs that is worthwhi

• skavi 4y ago
  Like any sufficiently complex thing, it takes a lot of numbers to create a representative profile. One somewhat useful figure you’ll see used is MTr/mm^2 or mega-transistor per square millimeter. That number can change depending on what exactly those transistors are being used for (which cell libraries are used). IIRC Intel proposed a standard ratio for such measurements a while back. Density doesn’t make a process better for everything however.
  • mjevans 4y ago
    Useful measurements are particularly difficult when trade-offs are inherent options. For memory: space, speed, power required, longevity (against time, against temperature / ambient energy). Computation usually requires some tiny bits of very volatile memory (registers, cache, invisible buffers, etc), but similarly must have tradeoffs for space, speed, power, and longevity. Radiation Hardened / hostile environment design libraries can also be useful for automotive, heavy industry, military, and space hardened applications. I'm not sure of the details but guess they'd frequently use more space, power, and possibly even active shielding (E.G. additional layers of conductors and/or capacitors sandwiching the logic bits to try to protect them and stabilize local currents).
    • hedora 4y ago
      Radiation hardening is commonly done by triplicating everything, and taking/resyncing the majority result. (At least for FPGA-based satellites. I'm sure there are many varied approaches at play these days.)