Innosilicon Technology, which recently opened a major R&D center in Hengqin, has become a world leader in tape-out and testing of 2nd-generation “N+1” advanced technology; it now produces chips smaller than 14 nanometers with fin field-effect transistors (FinFET).

"N+1" is reportedly the next-generation of chip manufacturing technology. Compared to 14 nm technology, it can increase performance by 20 percent and lower power consumption by 57 percent, as well as reduce logic area by 63 percent and system-on-chip (SoC) area by 55 percent. Certain features are comparable to competing 7 nm technologies.

Semiconductor R&D [Photo courtesy smics.com]

A provider of advanced intellectual property (IP) and application-specific IC (ASIC) technologies, Innosilicon has invested tens of millions of yuan in optimizing Semiconductor Manufacturing International's "N+1" technology since 2019. After multiple rounds of iteration tests, it has helped break the bottleneck in the yield of the technology and made possible a solid step toward large-scale mass production.

Founded in Wuhan of Hubei Province in 2006, the company set up an advanced semiconductor center on Baohua Road in Hengqin New Area last December with the backing of Zhuhai Da Heng Qin and other investors. It also has R&D centers in Wuhan, Xi'an, Suzhou, Shanghai, and Ningbo, along with offices in Beijing, Shenzhen, Silicon Valley, and Toronto.

Innosilicon is involved in high-performance computing, high bandwidth storage, encrypted computing, AI cloud computing, and low-power Internet of Things technology. It provides support for chips on 14 nm to 5 nm FinFET advanced processes, along with advanced custom cloud computing products.

With independent full-series high-bandwidth high-performance computing IP technology, Innosilicon has filled in the domestic gap in advanced chip manufacturing technology many times. The company supports development of highly intelligent chip industrial clusters in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.