Intel Plans 14A2 Node With Dual Side Power To Battle TSMC And Samsung

The PowerVia back-side power delivery network (BSPDN) technology that Intel pioneered with its 18A fabrication process is brilliant, because separating power lines from data lines offers tremendous benefits to chip designers in terms of layouts. However, there's a major challenge: backside power delivery means having to use extremely tiny nano-Through-Silicon Via (nTSV) connections inside the chip. When the power delivery wires are so tiny, resistance increases, and thus voltage droops. To combat this, Intel's 14A process will apparently get a revision known as 14A2 that supports hybrid power delivery ("dual side power") with power lines on both sides of the chip.

This news comes to us from the Korean-language Electronic Times, better known as ETNews. That site writes that Intel originally intended to rely exclusively on its dedicated "PowerDirect" backside power network across the baseline 14A family. However, as the foundry pushes to deliver a 1.3× density boost...

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