Sony to use FD-SOI in stacked image sensors

The technology could have big implications for IoT, giving developers a low-powered SoC with multiple capabilities.

For chip designers pondering the next-node choices for their new SoCs, the recent FD-SOI Forum in Japan yielded news they could use.

Key developments were:

   • The mass production capacity of Samsung's 28nm FD-SOI technology has matured.

   • RF integration in FD-SOI chips is fast becoming a reality, as Samsung is offering a production version of its    process development kit or PDK for RF in the second quarter of this year.

   • GlobalFoundries' 22nm FD-SOI platform, called 22nm FDX, offers ultralower power consumption with 0.4V    operation.

   • GlobalFoundries now says that its 22nm FDX will be ready for high volume production in mid-2017.

But the biggest news, which surfaced as chatter and whispering during coffee breaks at the Forum rather than on the formal agenda, is that Sony is looking to use FD-SOI for the image signal processor or ISP on stacked CMOS image sensors or CIS.

Although this buzz was also confirmed outside the Forum, neither GlobalFoundries nor Sony is talking.

Three industry sources, however, independently told EE Times that chip stack CIS will open FD-SOI's much needed, genuine volume market. Sony, today, is the world's largest CIS supplier.

Word on the street is that Sony will be working with GlobalFoundries on chip stack CIS, instead of Samsung. The Japan consumer electronics giant wants to avoid any potential conflict with Samsung, which is also in the CIS business.

To read the full article, go to EETimes.

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