Socionext drives next-gen automotive SoCs with TSMC’s 5nm process
Custom system on chip (SoC) provider, Socionext, will adopt TSMC’s 5nm process technology (N5P) for its high performance SoC development for next-generation automotive applications. The custom SoCs, which target advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) vehicles, which require very high arithmetic processing.
TSMC’s N5P is claimed to be the world’s most advanced process technology. As capacity continues to ramp, N5P’s defect density reduction is proceeding faster than that of the previous generation, reports the company.
N5P is the enhanced version of the N5 process technology. It provides a 20 per cent performance gain or a 40 per cent power reduction, and up to 80 per cent logic density gain over the earlier N7 technology. N5P is supported by a comprehensive design ecosystem, adds Socionext.
“We are delighted to adopt TSMC’s world-leading N5P technology for our next-generation automotive development platform,” said Noriaki Kubo, corporate executive vice president and the head of Automotive & Industrial Business Group at Socionext.
Socionext delivers application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) products to the global automotive market. Its expertise in imaging, graphics, high performance computing, and high speed analogue/RF design is used to optimise hardware and software implementations.
The company offers full support for ISO26262 functional safety product development, AEC-Q100 and IATF-16949 quality and reliability requirements. It also has a strong third party IP and design partner network for automotive SoCs that achieve performance and low-power consumption for the competitive automotive market.
Its next-generation automotive custom SoCs achieve the high performance and safety demands of future AD cars and the rapidly evolving automotive electronic systems, with increasing workloads and capabilities. TSMC’s N5P process technology enables Socionext products to address a variety of functions, such as high-speed switching devices, high resolution sensor data processing, high performance domain controllers, AD and advanced networking.
Socionext and TSMC expect to deliver risk samples of N5P devices to Socionext’s customers around the second quarter of 2022.
