Off-the-shelf chips for high-performance computing and AI infrastructure

     Alphawave Semi announced the successful launch of the industry's first multiprotocol I/O connectivity chip using TSMC's 7nm process. The 7nm multistandard I/O chip combines the company's flexible and customizable connectivity IP, custom chips, and advanced packaging capabilities to provide an IP portfolio of standards-compliant Ethernet, PCIe, CXL, and UCIe Revision 1.1 products.

     Small chips are becoming increasingly important in high-performance computing and AI applications because they provide vital connectivity at higher bandwidth and lower power consumption than traditional infrastructure technologies without extensive customization or development. By choosing commercially available, off-the-shelf small chips, end customers can optimize performance and efficiency while benefiting from shorter development times, lower costs, and greater flexibility in the existing hardware ecosystem.

     The company's chips offer a total bandwidth of up to 1.6Tbps, support multistandard PHyS of up to 16 channels, support for silicon-proven PCIe 6.0, CXL 3. Combination of x and 800G Ethernet hybrid operating modes. The success of this announcement also paves the way for a robust, open chip ecosystem that accelerates the connectivity of high-performance AI systems by adopting UCIe as a dead-to-die connectivity subsystem.

     Mohit Gupta, senior Vice President and General manager of Custom Silicon and IP at Alphawave Semi, said: "The successful launch of this off-the-shelf multiprotocol I/O connectivity chip demonstrates our extensive experience in integrating advanced interfaces using TSMC's 3DFabric ecosystem. This marks another step forward in Alphawave Semi's mission to provide ultra-high-performance connectivity for the critical data communications that underpin the world's digital infrastructure." Our top hyperscale and data center infrastructure customers can quickly and easily mix and match high-performance custom SoCs with our I/O connectivity or memory expansion chips, providing new flexibility and scalability for their AI systems."

     Percy Chang, Director of Emerging Business Development at TSMC, added: "The takeout of the Alphawave Semi multiprotocol I/O connectivity chip based on our 7nm process is another example of how TSMC is playing a key role in semiconductor platforms that are critical for emerging high-performance, high-throughput applications. We will continue to work with VCA partners such as Alphawave Semi to build a robust and open chip ecosystem that provides high-bandwidth connectivity and compute chips for HPC and AI applications."