Samsung cranks out 700-MHz Alpha CPU

Seoul, South Korea - Digital Equipment Corp. may be putting the future of its Alpha CPU in the hands of Intel (see story, page 1), but at least one aggressive supplier will keep building Alpha chips.

Late last week, Samsung Semiconductor announced it has achieved working silicon on a 700-MHz Alpha 21264 CPU. The chip is fabricated in Samsung's 0.25-micron, six-metal CMOS process.

Digital announced the 21264 at the Microprocessor Forum last year and had hoped to deliver the chip in its 0.35-micron process at 600 MHz this fall. But design problems delayed tape-out, and Digital now says the 21264 will not emerge from its Hudson, Mass. fab until the second half of 1998-assuming the fab handoff to Intel doesn't delay it further.

In the meantime, Samsung has pressed ahead. It intends to release the Alpha chip officially at the same time as Digital, using the Digital-licensed 0.35-micron process. But it has been able to bring the 21264 up sooner, at a higher speed grade, using its own 0.25-micron CMOS.

That bodes well for efforts reportedly under way at Digital to move Alpha development to Intel's 0.25-micron process.

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