Shin
Banned
Article source: Watch Impress JP
Long article that goes in-depth with what went wrong at GlobalFoundries with the PS4, why switching fab isn't easy and the problems PlayStation faces with PS5.
It's a long but good read and contains a lot of information, hopefully someone can translate the whole thing properly as this was done with Google Translate.
The direction of evolution of game machines symbolized by Xbox One X
Game machines have evolved in a step-wise direction
Manufacturing foundation that changes with CPU core selection
PS4 was also scheduled to be manufactured at GLOBALFOUNDRIES at first
Long article that goes in-depth with what went wrong at GlobalFoundries with the PS4, why switching fab isn't easy and the problems PlayStation faces with PS5.
It's a long but good read and contains a lot of information, hopefully someone can translate the whole thing properly as this was done with Google Translate.
The direction of evolution of game machines symbolized by Xbox One X
With the announcement of Microsoft's next generation game machine "Xbox One X", the appearance of the next generation game machine "Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)" PlayStation 5 (PS 5) "has come to appear.
Game machines have evolved in a step-wise direction
Xbox One X's pattern predicts the pattern of evolution of future game machines. By extending the existing architecture, it has inheritability, thereby reducing various start-up costs. Game machines seem to be changing to the PC type gradual development model. This trend seems to be common not only to Microsoft but also to SIE.
On the architecture, the GPU core is AMD's next-generation "Vega" or "Navi", the CPU core will be described later but AMD's latest "ZEN" system CPU core or "Jaguar Jaguar) "system CPU core. In the memory, whether or not the stacked DRAM will come is a point, but there is a high possibility that the cost reduction of the HBM 2 will not be in time. Another important point is whether to make it VR ready, what to do with deep learning inference (reasoning), and so on.
Manufacturing foundation that changes with CPU core selection
The key point is the release time of PS 5, which greatly depends on process technology and architecture. The release of PS 5 is currently seen as 2020, but it is not without the possibility of releasing in 2019. In the case of 2019, since it has to enter chip design anymore, it is marginal in timing, but it is not impossible.
By the way, during the period from chip development start to game machine launch, Microsoft is short, SIE is longer. Considering from the usual pattern of SIE, the possibility is higher in 2020, but 2019 could be possible if various periods are shortened by inheritance of architecture.The key point here is how to deal with the CPU core architecture, foundry and process technology. These three are closely involved and can not be separated at present. Because part of AMD's CPU IP is tied to the foundry.
AMD has entrusted manufacturing to two foundries, mainly GLOBALFOUNDRIES and TSMC. However, AMD's high-performance CPU core is optimized for manufacturing with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, so it can not easily be transferred to TSMC.
It is not a full synthesizable core (synthesizable by logic) that can be synthesized with EDA tools, so it will take a lot of engineering effort to port.
SIE chose AMD 's small power - saving CPU core Jaguar architecture for PS 4 series. However, this is different from the original plan, and in the initial plan was to become the "Steamroller (steam roller)" core of the Bulldozer (bulldozer) system. And APU of Bulldozer core PS 4 was scheduled to be manufactured at 28 nm of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, not TSMC's 28 nm.
However, at the last minute GLOBALFOUNDRIES '28nm rise was doubtful, SIE and AMD were urged to change the plan in a hurry. As a result, we moved the foundry to TSMC, due to time and engineering constraints, the CPU core was changed to a Jaguar core that is synthesizable already on the TSMC process. The first generation PS 4 architecture was supplemented by doubling the number of CPU cores to reduce the CPU core's ability to reduce.
PS4 was also scheduled to be manufactured at GLOBALFOUNDRIES at first
Because of experience with PS4 manufacturing, it is said that SIE is cautious about consigning production to GLOBALFOUNDRIES. However, when trying to manufacture PS5 with TSMC, it will be caught again in the selection of the CPU core. The latest ZEN CPU core of AMD is physically designed according to 14LPP process of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. Porting ZEN to the TSMC process requires cost and effort.
Because of this background, it is highly likely that even at PS 5, SIE wants a powerful ZEN. However, in that case the manufacturing foundation may be limited to GLOBALFOUNDRIES (or Samsung which is compatible with GLOBALFOUNDRIES 14 nm).