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XILINX AND UMC SHIP FIRST PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC DEVICES USING COPPER PROCESS TECHNOLOGY UMC’s copper process is ramped for volume production; collaboration sets stage for higher performance FPGAs Also available are
“UMC is the first semiconductor foundry to deliver wafers using copper interconnect technology. And, we are pleased to see that Xilinx has effectively implemented this technology to deliver the industry’s first copper-based FPGAs,” said Fu Tai Liou, UMC chief technical officer. “Previously, wafer yield and return on investment was a concern for those wishing to engage in copper. Now through Xilinx, we have demonstrated that our 0.18-micron copper process is a proven, cost-effective solution for our customers.” “Our partnership with UMC has been very fruitful and has yielded great success,” said Wim Roelandts, Xilinx president and chief executive officer. “Since 1997, we have been the first to ship 0.25- and 0.18-micron FPGAs, and now we have extended that leadership with our delivery of the copper-based Virtex-EM family. Our rapid deployment of new processes allows us to quickly bring high-density and high-performance FPGAs to market faster and, in turn, bolster the success of our customers.” Copper: the next generation The advantage of copper interconnect is its inherently lower resistivity, which minimizes power supply drop throughout the device. In the 0.18-micron, six-layer metal process of the Virtex-EM family, the top two layers deploy copper interconnect. These two layers are used to route clock lines to minimize both clock skew and I/O skew, leading to optimized performance once again. UMC is also ready to manufacture devices that have up to six layers of copper interconnect with low-k dielectrics. “Copper interconnect enables higher density FPGAs to maintain our drive for greater performance improvements,” said Dennis Segers, Xilinx senior vice president and general manager. “This breakthrough lays the groundwork to move quickly down the technology curve to 0.13-micron all-layer copper process and beyond.” The copper process is available in volume production from UMC. “Our fabs are already demonstrating copper yields that are equivalent to our 0.18-micron aluminum process, and we project further improvements throughout the year. Our goal is to continue delivering the highest performance, most reliable copper process in the market so that our customers can begin migrating their designs to this advanced metal process technology today. Furthermore, we are rapidly moving forward to production qualify our all-copper, low-K WorldlogicTM 0.13 technology late this year," stated Dr. Liou. In the related product announcement today, Xilinx announced the product features and current availability of the aforementioned Virtex-EM FPGA family manufactured by UMC. This announcement marks the industry’s first FPGA products with copper interconnect and the initial device incorporates over one million bits of True Dual-PortTM Block RAM. Production shipments will begin in the second half of calendar 2000. NOTE CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Some of the statements in the foregoing announcement are forward looking within the meaning of the U.S. Federal Securities laws, including statements about future outsourcing, wafer capacity, technologies, business relationships and market conditions. Investors are cautioned that actual events and results could differ materially from these statements as a result of a variety of factors, including conditions in the overall semiconductor market and economy; acceptance and demand for products; and technological and development risks. About UMC UMC, a world leading semiconductor foundry, operates fabs in Taiwan and Japan and has two 12-inch fabs under construction. UMC is a leader in foundry technology and expects capacity to reach 2.4 million wafers per year in 2000 with over half in advanced 0.18 and 0.25-micron technology. UMC will introduce Worldlogic standard 0.13-micron in year 2000. Global sales were $1.75 billion in 1999. UMC has marketing and customer support offices located in the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands. UMC can be found on the web at http://www.umc.com About Xilinx Xilinx is the leading innovator of complete programmable logic solutions, including advanced integrated circuits, software design tools, predefined system functions delivered as cores, and unparalleled field engineering support. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., Xilinx invented the field programmable gate array (FPGA) and fulfills more than half of the world demand for these devices today. Xilinx solutions enable customers to reduce significantly the time required to develop products for the computer, peripheral, telecommunications, networking, industrial control, instrumentation, high-reliability/military, and consumer markets. For more information, visit the Xilinx web site at www.xilinx.com. —30— #0027
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