Intel to Work With Rival Arm on Foundry Services

­

Intel Foundry Services (IFS) announced this week that it had signed a multigeneration agreement with Arm that will see low-power Arm-based SoCs manufactured on Intel’s upcoming leading-edge 18A process. It was an agreement that really had to happen if Intel was serious about becoming the world’s second biggest foundry service after TSMC, but at the same time, Arm is becomming a real competitor to Intel’s other business units and where the company makes its income - laptop and server chips. So it is no surprise that the collaboration will, initially at least, focus on designs for mobile SoC designs for devices like mobile phones, where Intel doesn’t have the best penetration. However, the agreement could be expanded into area where Intel is much stronger, such as automotive, Internet of Things (IoT), data centers, aerospace and government applications.

The Intel 18A process is part of the company’s roadmap, and is equivalent to a 1.8 nm process. It is scheduled to begin production in the middle of 2025. The technology will be based on the Intel 20A process currently being developed and due for operation midway through 2024. Intel 20A will be a 2 nm equivalent process, that will introduce other innovations, such as Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistors, also known as RibbonFETs, and PowerVia technology, for improved power usage and performance. The agreement will also give designers of Arm SOCs access to Intel’s packaging and chiplets technology when having them produced in Intel fabs.

So Intel is not only helping its rival with production, it is also giving it access to the very latest technologies and manufacturing capabilities that the company would normally rely on to give itself a competitive advantage over its own rivals like AMD and Arm. Intel’s 18A process will make any challenge from Arm to Intel dominated areas much stronger by just having access to that technology, and the multigenerational nature of the agreement will mean that Arm customers can have a high level of confidence in supply, which is much more important for long lifetime designs such as vehicles, than it is for areas like mobile phones, where Arm based designs are already dominant.

Speaking of the agreement, Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger said, “Intel’s collaboration with Arm will expand the market opportunity for IFS and open up new options and approaches for any fabless company that wants to access best-in-class CPU IP and the power of an open system foundry with leading-edge process technology.”

Intel’s IDM 2.0 strategy will see the company invest in leading-edge manufacturing capacity around the world, including significant expansions in the U.S. and the EU, to serve sustained long-term demand for chips.

As for the details of the agreement, IFS and Arm will undertake design technology co-optimization, in which chip design and process technologies are optimized together to improve power, performance, area and cost for Arm cores targeting Intel 18A process technology. IFS and Arm will produce a mobile reference design, allowing demonstration of the software and system knowledge for foundry customers. The two companies will also optimize the platforms from applications and software through package and silicon.