IBM and ARM to work on advanced 14nm semiconductors

IBM and ARM are to work together on advanced 14nm semiconductor technology with an eye on the mobile electronics market.

The companies have signed an agreement to collaborate on a suite of optimised physical and processor intellectual property that should speed up the development of next-generation mobile products.

The deal will create an environment that aligns manufacturing, microprocessor and physical intellectual property design, while taking IBM down to the 14nm process, the firms said.

Areas likely to be targeted include improved battery life, smoother and uninterrupted internet access, high-end multimedia and secure transactions.

"The ARM Cortex processor family has become the leadership platform for the majority of smartphones and many other emerging mobile devices," said Michael Cadigan, general manager for IBM Microelectronics.

"We plan to continue working closely with ARM and our foundry customers to speed the momentum of ARM technology by delivering highly advanced, low-power semiconductor technology for a variety of new communications and computing devices."

ARM chips, which are known for their low power consumption, were very visible at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The event saw Microsoft pledge to support ARM's system-on-chip architecture, while Nvidia announced plans to adopt ARM's instruction set for its Denver project to deliver high-performance CPUs.