AMD India to work on 65 nm server chip 

With the semiconductor industry making the transi­tion from 90 nano­meter (nm) to 65 nanometer, chip major Advanced Micro­nic Devices (AMD) Corpora­tion, is ramping up design activities in India, focused on these shrinking chip geometries.

Jeff VerHeul, Corporate VP, design engineering, micro­pro­cessor solutions sector, AMD said that the company's team in Banga­lore led by Raghuram Tupuri would look at 65 nm and follow it up with 45 nm product designs. 

He also said that AMD plans to double its current strength of 40 by 2007. "We are building a core team in India and we plan to have a complete microprocessor team which will work on next-generation server product in 65 nm," said Tupuri. 

VerHeul said that these chips would result in better power consumption, lower heating and lighter devices for end users and enhanced performance in the server space. 

Last month, AMD an­nou­n­ced the opening of its microprocessor fabrication facility, the "Fab 36", in Dresden, Germany, that will focus on the manufacture of chips that are 65 nm and lower. This facility will start shipping chips from January 2006. Its bigger rival Intel has already started shipping 65 nm chips to PC makers.

Priya Padmanabhan

Bangalore