Qualcomm (San Diego) announced that its first 45-nm chip has taped out. The undisclosed chip is made on a foundry basis by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC). This could also be one of TSMC's first 45-nm devices.

The cell-phone chip company has also begun development work on 40-nm device, which is expected to deliver even greater benefits in semiconductor performance, cost and efficiency.

At one time, fabless Qualcomm said it plans to have two foundry camps simultaneously make and ship its 45-nm designs: IBM Corp.'s "fab club" and TSMC. The IBM Common Platform alliance includes three separate foundry providers using the same process: IBM, Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Pte. Ltd. and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Meanwhile, the 45-nm technology enables chips that feature higher speeds and lower power consumption, said Behrooz Abdi, senior vice president and general manager for Qualcomm's CDMA Technologies. Qualcomm has taped out its product on a low-power, 45-nm process that utilizes immersion lithography and low-k inter-metal dielectrics features.