Samsung 8nm Process Technology for 5G Radio Frequency Modules

Main article: 5G (fifth generation of mobile communication)

2021: Announcement of radio frequency technology based on the 8-nm process

Samsung Electronics on June 10, 2021 introduced radio frequency technology based on an 8-nm (nm) process.

According to company representatives, the production technology is suitable for creating "single-chip solutions," in particular, 5G chips with support for multi-channel and multi-antenna chips. Thanks to this, Samsung expects to strengthen its market position both on 5G semiconductor solutions for the Sub-6 range and the millimeter range (mmWave).

Samsung's 8nm process technology for radio modules is the latest addition to the company's extensive portfolio of radio frequency solutions, which also includes 28 nm and 14 nm development.

Samsung Architecture RFeFET

Due to the continued scaling and expansion of digital nodes, the performance, power consumption and area (PPA) of digital circuits have significantly improved, while in the case of analog/radio frequency chips this has not happened for reasons such as the negative mutual influence of the side radiation of elements while reducing the size of electronic modules. As a result, most communication chips degrade radio characteristics, in particular, they decrease sensitivity, the ability to receive low-intensity radio signals and increase power consumption, explained Samsung Electronics.

To solve this problem, Samsung has developed an architecture for 8-nm radio chips, called RFextremeFET (RFeFET). It improves performance and reduces energy consumption. Compared to the previous 14 nm solutions, RFeFET combines digital PPA scaling with improved analog/RF scaling quality, which increases the performance of 5G platforms.

The process developed by the company increases the parameters of each of the supported frequency ranges (for multi-channel and multi-antenna solutions), while reducing the negative mutual side effect. Since the RFeFET architecture significantly improves the performance of the solution, the total number of radio transistors and the area of ​ ​ analog radios can be reduced, emphasized in Samsung.

According to the company's estimates, thanks to the 8-nm RFeFET architecture, Samsung's solution increases energy efficiency by 35% and reduces the area of ​ ​ the radio frequency module by 35% (compared to the 14-nm process).