Intel's new 90-nm technology for communications not only includes SiGe, but the analog/mixed-signal process also consists of radio-frequency (RF) CMOS transistors and other components. The company claims the process will enable a new class of highly-integrated ICs for broadband, optical, and wireless applications.

With its new technology, Intel expects to become the world's first company to announce communications-chip products at the 90-nm node, said Mark Bohr, an Intel Fellow and director of process architecture and integration for the Santa Clara-based company.

The company will make these chips within its own 300-mm fabs in the 2003 time frame, Bohr said during a presentation at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) last week in San Jose.

The announcement also represents a major change in Intel's chip-manufacturing strategy. In the past, the company only developed a single process technology, which was used to manufacturer its microprocessors, chip sets, and other IC lines.

Now, the chip giant appears to be taking a page from the silicon foundry model, by devising multiple processes for a range of applications. "Now, we have two distinct families of process technologies," Bohr said. "We have a process optimized for communications and one for logic," he explained in an interview with SBN at IDF.

Intel's motives for a 90-nm comm process

Analysts believe the company has little or no choice to devise a 90-nm process aimed specifically for communications. Over the last three years, Intel has moved into the communications-chip market in a big way, by acquiring an assortment of fabless design houses.

Most of these chip makers use outside foundries, such as TSMC, UMC, and others. But hoping to gain control of the technology, Intel hopes to bring more of its communications-chip manufacturing in-house, according to analysts.

And, with its new process, the company will also enable the development of new, integrated devices in the optical, RF and related markets, said Eric Mentzer, vice president and chief technology officer for Intel's Communications Group. "We think we can get two times the integration and performance with the process," Mentzer said in an interview with SBN.

Meanwhile, Intel's new communications technology is an extension of its 90-nm process for logic ICs, which was announced in March. Intel's 90-nm process, dubbed P1262, is a seven-layer-metal, copper-based technology that will enable chips with 50-nm gate lengths (see March 12 story).

Last month, Intel surprised the industry, by announcing that it would deploy strained silicon at the 90-nm node (see Aug. 13 story ).

The company's 90-nm logic process will serve as the baseline technology for its communications-chip efforts, including its initial deployment of SiGe. The 90-nm process for communications also includes high-voltage RF analog CMOS transistors, precision capacitors and resistors, and high-Q inductors.

Intel declined to comment on the specifications of its SiGe process, but the company's deployment of this technology had been expected.

As reported in Electronic Engineering Times earlier this month, the company is expected to discuss the process in depth at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco from December 9-11(see Sept. 6 story ).

And, the company also dropped hints about its SiGe plans at last week's IDF. Intel