Chinese semiconductor thread II

[JPaladin32]

Anyone has access to the Techinsights report on N+3 feature sizes and transistor density?

 

[clnt]

Smic N+3 has metal pitches almost as small as TSMC N5. Guess tight backend with relaxed frontend.

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[playmaker1478]

Chipsys' GalaxSim emulator has been ranked among the top-rated domestic EDA tools.​

Chipsys' GalaxSim emulator has been ranked among the top domestic EDA tools in China’s first user-driven "Domestic EDA Tool Reputation Ranking" campaign by China Electronics News. The recognition is based on real-user feedback and highlights GalaxSim's strong reputation for being easy to use, user-friendly, and high-performing.

Since its launch in 2021, GalaxSim has been adopted by leading institutions including the Chinese Academy of Sciences Semiconductor, ZTE Microelectronics, Nuclei Technology, and Black Sesame Technologies. Its latest version, GalaxSim Turbo 3.0, boosts verification efficiency for RISC-V processors (e.g., OpenChip "Xiangshan" Kunming Lake architecture) by nearly three times, thanks to its dual-event and cycle-driven simulation engines.

Key advantages over traditional tools like Verilator include:​

• Full support for Verilog/SystemVerilog syntax, including SVA and Functional Coverage​
• One-click test case switching​
• User-friendly Testbench porting with reduced maintenance costs​
• Dynamic thread management at runtime (vs. fixed threads in Verilator)​
• High parallel efficiency and intelligent resource allocation​
• Faster, integrated debugging via parallel waveform download in XEDB format​

Xinhuazhang Technology (GalaxSim’s developer), co-CEO Xie Zhonghui, emphasized that user-centric design and trust-building are essential for domestic EDA growth. In October 2025, Xinhuazhang will open GalaxSim to Chinese chip startups, enabling them to directly use the tool in development—cutting R&D cycles and accelerating innovation.

This move supports China’s goal of achieving independent control and sustainable advancement in semiconductor technology.

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On Xiangshan project, I hope some Chinese vendor will produce SBCs using Xiangshan cores, as they're quite competitive against their peers. For example, Tenstorrent plans to sell its Ascalon cores likely Q2 next year; Tenstorrent has reported performance for Ascalon around ~22 SPECint2006/GHz. Kunminghu V3 also targets roughly 22 SPECint2006/GHz. It puzzles me that so few companies are adopting these cores in SBCs; even the older one, Kunminghu V2 is 15/GHz, which is about Zen2 performance (10.5/GHz at boost, 9/GHz at base).

 

[swcc]

SMIC N+3 :

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Some metal pitches are smaller than corresponding Intel 18A. The minimum metal pitch is close to TSMC N5.

Dec 12, 2025 · 10:41 AM UTC

I have some details from the author.
Dec 12, 2025 · 9:17 AM UTC
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can I ask you about the actual transistor density ?
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33

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I have the number but for now I think I can only give the rough hint. It could be out soon

 

[clnt]

SMIC N+3 :

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Some metal pitches are smaller than corresponding Intel 18A. The minimum metal pitch is close to TSMC N5.

Dec 12, 2025 · 10:41 AM UTC

I have some details from the author.
Dec 12, 2025 · 9:17 AM UTC
1


64

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can I ask you about the actual transistor density ?
1


33

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I have the number but for now I think I can only give the rough hint. It could be out soon

Intel A18 metal pitches.

 

[swcc]

SMIC N+3 :

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Some metal pitches are smaller than corresponding Intel 18A. The minimum metal pitch is close to TSMC N5.

Dec 12, 2025 · 10:41 AM UTC

I have some details from the author.
Dec 12, 2025 · 9:17 AM UTC
1


64

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can I ask you about the actual transistor density ?
1


33

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I have the number but for now I think I can only give the rough hint. It could be out soon

TSMC N5 and N5P Minimum Metal Pitch is 28nm

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State the pitches, it's definitely in the same league as the others' 5nm.

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[Wahid145]

TSMC N5 and N5P Minimum Metal Pitch is 28nm

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State the pitches, it's definitely in the same league as the others' 5nm.

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I think it will be in between a true TSMC N5 (5nm) and N6 (6nm), so we could equate it to TSMC N6E.
The N+3 Transistor Density would be same as a true Samsung 5nm if not surpassing it altogether (125-130 MTr/mm2)

 

[tphuang]

honestly, I think there is just too much speculations on this and I wouldn't trust just random twitter posts. Let's wait for the actual details to come out.

I've been expecting around N6.

 

[Michael90]

Chinese in general have very strong entrepreneurial sprit. Rather being a manager of Huawei or BYD, they will rather be a boss in their own companies no matter how small, even if it is just a food store.

Yeah it’s very good for competition but bad for establishing global brands to compete against foreign giants who dominate a market

 

[dropout003]

For reference...