IBM speeds ahead with transistor design

NEWS IBM is to unveil a new transistor design for wireless chips that promises enough power to build future networks that will change the way people use wireless at work and at home. The new transistor design, based on its silicon germanium, or SiGe, chipmaking technology, delivers a threefold increase in speed. The company's microelectronics division will detail the design at the International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in San Francisco in December. The new IBM transistor, which runs at 350GHz, will result in communications chips that run at roughly 150GHz and will be able to send data at rates of hundreds of gigabits per second. That's enough juice to send high-quality video from a set-top to a high-definition screen, an IBM representative said. These chips will be about four to five times faster in clock speed than today's fastest communications chips used in wireless LANs and home networks and will consume about a tenth of the power, the representative said. John G Spooner writes for News.com