Massive Tesla HW 4.0 processor to be made on TSMC 7nm process?

A report from Chinatimes indicates Tesla's HW 4.0 processor will be manufactured on TSMC's 7nm node. The electronic car maker reportedly teamed up with Broadcom for this chip, which will power Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) computer.

The Tesla chip is far more than your average automotive chip, besides being made on TSMC's 7nm node this chip will use InFO_SoW (system-on-wafer) packaging, a technique specially developed for AI supercomputing chips.

Production will reportedly start in Q4 2020, with an initial production of 2,000 wafers. The report doesn't mention whether this is a one-off run or a monthly production target. Volume production will reportedly start in Q4 2021 and the chip will end up in Tesla cars sometime in 2022.

Tesla's HW 4.0 chip is a big beast, the Asian report mentions only 25 chips can be cut out of a 300mm wafer. Obviously, there are lot of unknowns, but this implies we're talking about a chip that's quite a bit larger than what NVIDIA uses for its flagship discrete video cards.

Apart from being built on the 7nm node, the HW 4.0 chip will also utilize TSMC's Integrated FanOut (InFo) packaging technology that is designed to reduce overall package surface area and provide lower thermal resistance. Additionally, the processor will also be packaged using TSMC's latest System on Wafer (SoW) technology that removes the need to place a substrate and a printed circuit board (PCB) in the entire process. Via SoW, the HW 4.0 will be placed directly on the heat dissipation module, and today's report suggests that Indium Corporation will provide the thermal conductivity materials.

Via: WCCF Tech