Alphawave Semi Scales UCIe™ to 64 Gbps Enabling >20 Tbps/mm Bandwidth Density for Die-to-Die Chiplet Connectivity

Enabling the Industry’s First 64 Gbps UCIe IPs following the Successful Tapeout of Alphawave Semi’s Gen2 36 Gbps UCIe IP on TSMC’s 3nm Technology, supporting both High-Yield, Low-Cost Organic Substrate Standard Packaging and Advanced Packaging Technologies.

London, United Kingdom, and Toronto, Canada – December 20, 2024 - Alphawave Semi (LSE: AWE), a global leader in high-speed connectivity and compute silicon for the world’s technology infrastructure, proudly introduces the industry’s first 64 Gbps Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express (UCIe™) Die-to-Die (D2D) IP Subsystem to deliver unprecedented chiplet interconnect data rates, setting a new standard for ultra-high-performance D2D connectivity solutions in the industry. The third generation, 64 Gbps IP Subsystem builds on the successes of the most recent Gen2 36 Gbps IP subsystem and silicon-proven Gen1 24 Gbps and is available in TSMC’s 3nm Technology for both Standard and Advanced packaging. The silicon proven success and tapeout milestones pave the way for Alphawave Semi’s Gen3 UCIe™ IP subsystem offering.

Alphawave Semi is set to revolutionize connectivity with its Gen3 64 Gbps UCIe IP, delivering a bandwidth density of over 20 Tbps/mm, with ultra-low power and latency. This solution is highly configurable supporting multiple protocols, including AXI-4, AXI-S, CXS, CHI and CHI-C2C to address the growing demands for high-performance connectivity across disaggregated systems in High-Performance Computing (HPC), Data Centers, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications.

The design complies with the latest UCIe™ Specification and has a scalable architecture with features for advanced testability, including live per-lane health monitoring, making it a robust foundation and enabling an open and interoperable chiplet ecosystem.

UCIe D2D interconnects facilitate a range of standard and emerging chiplet connectivity scenarios. Common uses encompass linking compute chiplets for a low-latency, coherent connection via UCIe's streaming capabilities, as well as connecting compute to I/O chiplets using UCIe interfaces with PCIe, CXL, or Ethernet. Additionally, optical retimers can leverage the UCIe chiplet architecture to establish dependable, low-latency optical I/O links through optical engines, enhancing off-system connectivity. This supports the development of low-power, high-speed solutions in data centers and AI/ML systems.

For high performance applications, creating a custom HBM base die using the latest UCIe standard is a cutting-edge approach that involves tightly integrating memory dies with compute dies to achieve extremely high bandwidth as well as a low latency between the components. This allows for reuse of die-to-die shoreline already occupied on the main die for core-to-core or core-to-I/O connections. This approach greatly optimizes memory transactions in AI applications where low power and reduced latency are performance differentiators.

“UCIe Consortium is delighted to see members achieving critical milestones like tapeouts, which demonstrate the growing adoption of the UCIe Specification,” said Brian Rea, UCIe Consortium Marketing Work Group Chair. “UCIe is a cornerstone of the chiplet industry, providing a robust solution for high-speed, low-latency die-to-die interconnects. By embracing open standards, we're empowering the industry to accelerate innovation, reduce time-to-market, and deliver groundbreaking technologies.

"Our successful tapeout of the Gen2 UCIe™ IP at 36 Gbps on 3nm technology builds on our pioneering silicon-proven 3nm UCIe IP with CoWoS® packaging," said Mohit Gupta, Senior VP & GM, Custom Silicon & IP, Alphawave Semi. "This achievement sets the stage for our Gen3 UCIe IP at 64 Gbps, which is on target to deliver high performance, 20 Tbps/mm throughput functionality to our customers who need the maximization of shoreline density for critical AI bandwidth needs in 2025.”

This achievement, alongside Alphawave Semi’s earlier industry-first 3nm silicon-proven Gen1 UCIe IP, reaffirms the company’s rapid progress as a leader in high-performance chiplet connectivity solutions with full suite of silicon-proven connectivity IP subsystems tailored for hyperscaler and data-infrastructure markets.

Learn More:

• Discover Alphawave Semi’s UCIe™ IP solutions.
• Read our recent press release on the industry’s first silicon-proven 3nm UCIe™ IP.
• Explore our multi-protocol chiplet press release.
• Watch the DAC 2024 video: From Simulation to Silicon: Alphawave & Keysight’s UCIe™ Validation.
• Read our blog: Redefining XPU Memory for AI Data Centers Through Custom HBM.

About Alphawave Semi

Alphawave Semi is a global leader in high-speed connectivity and compute silicon for the world's technology infrastructure. Faced with the exponential growth of data, Alphawave Semi's technology services a critical need: enabling data to travel faster, more reliably, and with higher performance at lower power. We are a vertically integrated semiconductor company, and our IP, custom silicon, and connectivity products are deployed by global tier-one customers in data centres, compute, networking, AI, 6G/5G, autonomous vehicles, and storage. Founded in 2017 by an expert technical team with a proven track record in licensing semiconductor IP, our mission is to accelerate the critical data infrastructure at the heart of our digital world. To find out more about Alphawave Semi, visit: awavesemi.com.