Technology manufacturers often agree to create standards to make it easier to integrate their components into other products. A good example is PCI Express, a system developed by companies such as Intel, IMB, Dell or HP, which offers a unique connection design so that the different components of a computer can communicate with each other and which is mainly used to connect graphics cards to the motherboard of a computer. The main companies specializing in the manufacture of semiconductors want a system similar to the so-called PCIe for the development of their processors, and have announced eICU.
Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe) is a standard created by major processor manufacturers. Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, TSMC, AMD, Arm and other companies in the semiconductor industry – with the exception of Nvidia – are part of the creation of this new standard. Also big technology companies, such as Meta (Facebook), Google Cloud or Microsoft.
The objective of this system is to allow the chipsets of the different companies can be easily connected in a single package. In other words, UCIe will offer the possibility for manufacturers to create processors with the help of third-party components and without the need for a more complex manufacturing process. Until now, in fact, the only way to carry out this process is with a monolithic integrated chip architecture, which includes different components built on a single silicon chip.
The benefits of eICU: cost reduction, less waste and more
Now, what benefits does this new standard bring? Mainly, it will allow manufacturers to reduce costs in the manufacturing process. With UCIe, companies can do without monolithic embedded chips, which is a more complete system. On the other hand, the fact of manufacturing SoCs through the new UCIe process can also help to generate less waste. If a component on an integrated chip fails, the manufacturer has to get rid of the entire package. Instead, if a chipset doesn’t work properly in an SoC designed using this new standard, the company sYou will only need to replace that component.
With Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express, manufacturers can also design larger processors. Also offer a higher performance or energy efficiency, as AMD has pointed out.
“The UCIe standard will be a key factor in driving system innovation by leveraging heterogeneous computing engines and accelerators that will enable the best solutions optimized for performance, cost and power efficiency.”
Mark Papermaster, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, AMD