Marvell Pioneers 3nm Node and Interconnect Solutions, Revolutionizing Data Centers

Marvell's progress in the development of the latest 3nm node is a vote of confidence in the semiconductor industry. TSMC has begun ramping up production capacity for this node since the beginning of this year. According to semiconductor industry analysis firm Arete Research, Marvell is one of TSMC's top ten customers, positioning itself as a key player in the distribution of electronic components.

The industry's first building blocks within the 3nm node include the 112G XSR SerDes, long-distance SerDes, PCIe Gen 6/CXL 3.0 SerDes, and parallel mode-to-mode interconnects with a capacity of 240 Tbps. Marvell stands out as the first company to offer 112G SerDes and data infrastructure products based on TSMC's 5nm process technology.

Marvell expects that these new intellectual properties (IPs) will initially benefit customers designing chips for data centers.

"Alan Weckel, an analyst at 650 Group, stated, 'Network capacity for service providers is growing by approximately 50% annually in the cloud and over 100% in AI applications.' Marvell's successful production of 3nm SerDes and interconnects signifies the latest advancement in helping cloud service providers stay ahead of the increasing demand for higher speeds and greater traffic," he added.

These technologies support semiconductor packaging options ranging from standard and low-cost redistribution layers to silicon-based high-density interconnects. Marvell anticipates that these interconnects will contribute to a 20% reduction in overall power consumption in data centers.

Kuemerle noted that if Marvell can find a way to tightly integrate these components within a single package, "we are talking about an order of magnitude, a tenfold improvement in power efficiency, simply by bringing these devices close together and utilizing optimized energy for communication within the same package. Interconnect power can typically account for one-third or even more of the device's total power. If you can reduce one-third of the power by an order of magnitude, you can go from 30 watts to 3 watts on a 100-watt chip, with the interconnects remaining the same."

The new interconnect system holds the promise of reducing the carbon footprint of data centers.

Kuemerle explained that drivers and repeaters on the system can be eliminated by pulling the components together. "You can gain around 20% benefits by eliminating the connections between I/O and the chip. This involves a significant rethinking of the way these systems are built. You address some power consumption issues, but at the same time, you create a thermal challenge. There are many initiatives within Marvell to seek innovative cooling solutions."