Toshiba offers access to mature technologies and long-life process support for European ASIC customers

Alongside its 130nm, 90nm, 65nm, 40nm and forthcoming 28nm processes, TEE continues to support design starts at the 0.6µm (pure 5V), 0.35µm and 180nm nodes originally introduced in 1993, 1995 and 1999 respectively. With lower cost design methodologies and libraries of proven IP blocks that have been created over many years, these mature technologies can help to drive down the design cost of new analogue and mixed-signal applications that do not require the performance or density of more advanced processes. They also offer customers flexible options for existing applications that require second sourcing or obsolescence replacement planning.

Industrial and many other applications have typical product lifecycles that are longer than those associated with consumer products. As a company producing high volumes of ASICs at a variety of technology nodes for customers around the world, Toshiba can offer both attractive pricing models and long-term process support. The company’s commitment to such long-term process support is reflected in the fact that ASICs based on its TC140 1.2µm technology introduced in 1988 and its TC160 1.0µm technology introduced in 1990 are still in mass production.

“Toshiba is well known for supporting complex consumer applications at advanced technology nodes,” comments Rainer Werner Kaese, TEE’s senior manager for ASIC & Foundry Business Development. “However, we recognise that there are also many customers in industrial and other markets that won’t necessarily benefit from using these advanced processes for their SoC designs. By providing these customers with access to more mature technologies we can help them to realise competitive advantage in terms of both pricing and time-to-market.”

He adds: “Irrespective of the technology node chosen Toshiba will always make the best possible effort to support ASIC production as long as there is customer demand in appropriate volume. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that even today, a significant number of our ASIC products are still based on 0.35µm, 180nm and 130nm processes, and that we continue to manufacture devices using the 1.2µm technology we first introduced over 20 years ago.”