GUC and Credo Collaborate to Enable 16-nm FinFET+ Chip Development

Combine Advanced SerDes IP and ASIC Development Expertise to Deliver High-Performance Networking Solutions


HSINCHU, TAIWAN and MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwired - January 06, 2015) - Global Unichip Corp. (GUC), the Flexible ASIC Leader™, and Credo Semiconductor, a global innovation leader in Serializer-Deserializer (SerDes) technology, today announced they are collaborating to enable the development of high-performance networking solutions that will be manufactured using TSMC's 16-nm FinFET+ process technology. Leveraging GUC's back-end design service expertise, the companies are working together to integrate Credo's 28G and 56G SerDes IP and have already taped out a solution based on TSMC's 16-nm FF+ process technology.

"Our collaboration with Credo is an extremely unique approach to solving some of the complex problems associated with designing high-performance devices at advanced technology nodes," said Jim Lai, president of GUC. "We believe this is a model that will set a new standard for the entire semiconductor industry."

By working together at such an advanced node, the companies expect to significantly improve chip integration, shorten the design cycle and reduce power consumption in networking chips that are the backbone of switches, routers and other network hardware.

"We have worked closely with GUC to ensure the seamless integration of our 28G and 56G IP with their 16nmFF+ SOC integration platform," said Bill Brennan, president and CEO of Credo. "We believe our collaboration will lead to first-pass silicon success for our customers and accelerate the adoption of 16FF+ ASICs for the 100G and 400G enterprise networking and data center markets."

Networking devices have traditionally relied on wide channel counts to achieve the required bandwidth and system throughput due to the lack of availability of lower power, high performance SerDes at advanced processing nodes. As one of the first companies to deliver a 56G SerDes IP solution, Credo offers technology that will significantly reduce the number of channels, chip area, and power consumption. The approach eliminates bottlenecks that can occur when multiple channels are used to increase the throughput and bandwidth of networking chips and systems.

About Credo
Credo Semiconductor is a provider of high performance mixed-signal integrated circuits and IP targeting the data center and enterprise networking markets. The company's SerDes technologies enable optimized solutions for leading edge speed, power, and signal processing requirements. For more information: www.credosemi.com.

About GUC
GLOBAL UNICHIP CORP. (GUC) is the Flexible ASIC Leader™ who provides the semiconductor industry with leading IC implementation and SoC manufacturing services. Based in Hsin-chu Taiwan, GUC has developed a global reputation with a presence in China, Europe, Japan, Korea, and North America. GUC is publicly traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the symbol 3443. For more information, visit www.guc-asic.com.

Credo is a trademark of Credo Semiconductor. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.