GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Ayar Labs Establish Strategic Collaboration to Speed Up Data Center Applications

Collaboration to push the limits of chip technology, extending optical circuits to meet rising demands in bandwidth and data center connectivity

Santa Clara and San Francisco, Calif., Dec. 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Ayar Labs, a startup bringing optical input/output (I/O) to silicon chips, today announced a strategic collaboration to co-develop and commercialize differentiated silicon photonic technology solutions. The companies will develop and manufacture Ayar’s novel CMOS optical I/O technology, using GF’s 45nm CMOS fabrication process, to deliver an alternative to copper I/O that offers up to 10x higher bandwidth and up to 5x lower power. This cost-effective solution is integrated in-package with customer ASICs as a multi-chip module, and improves data speed and energy efficiency in cloud servers, datacenters and supercomputers. As part of the agreement, GF has also invested an undisclosed amount in Ayar Labs.

Ayar Labs is replacing copper with optical I/O from silicon chips to improve speed and energy efficiency in computing by removing bottlenecks in moving data. The company was formed by the inventors of the first microprocessor chip to communicate using light at MIT, UC Berkeley, and CU Boulder, a breakthrough that was the result of a 10-year research collaboration funded by DARPA. For more information, visit www.ayarlabs.com.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES is a leading full-service semiconductor foundry providing a unique combination of design, development, and fabrication services to some of the world’s most inspired technology companies. With a global manufacturing footprint spanning three continents, GLOBALFOUNDRIES makes possible the technologies and systems that transform industries and give customers the power to shape their markets. GLOBALFOUNDRIES is owned by Mubadala Investment Company. For more information, visit http://www.globalfoundries.com.

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