Power Leadership At 2nm: Foundation IP Optimized For Next-Gen Hyperscale SoCs

By Andrew Appleby and Daryl Seitzer

As demand for data center compute accelerates, power efficiency has become the defining metric for modern CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators. Every watt saved directly impacts the massive operating costs of gigawatt-scale AI data centers, where power and cooling account for 40–60% of operational expenditures.

To reduce energy consumption and strengthen their competitive position, a leading software and cloud provider has committed to designing a next‑generation hyperscale system-on-chip (SoC). By pairing the advantages of 2nm‑class process technology with customized design techniques and optimized Foundation IP, the company is doubling down on the belief that innovation spanning process, design, and architecture can unlock new levels of power and cost efficiency.

Power play

To offer a compelling alternative in the market, the company knew that any new 2nm design must push beyond the performance and efficiency process entitlement already baked into the scaling factors of the latest transistor fabrication methods. The transition to 2nm process is expected to provide 25–30% power reduction relative to the previous 3nm node.

The company set an ambitious goal of achieving an additional 5% improvement on the 2nm baseline. Through close collaboration with Synopsys — combining EDA software flow enhancements with our optimized Foundation IP logic library — the company exceeded their goal, achieving:

• 7.34% reduced power consumption with the same baseline flow.
• 9.51% reduced power consumption with an optimized flow.
• 7.5% silicon area advantage over baseline with ISO performance.

The company also evaluated our 2nm embedded memories, which exceeded SRAM scaling expectations compared to our 3nm product. On average, the 2nm memory instances delivered 12% higher speed, occupied 8% less area, and consumed 12% less power than their 3nm counterparts.

Expert collaboration

Because the transition to 2nm comes with a shift from FinFET to GAA architecture, the  company’s SoC developers faced a particularly steep learning curve, with an increase in complexity and technology assimilation.

They engaged our team in the early stages of the project — the byproduct of a trusted working relationship that spans more than four generations of AI chip designs — and even licensed our Foundation IP prior to the availability of any silicon reports.

The company used our IP, reference methodology, and Fusion Compiler tool to explore all commercially available options for achieving their power budget requirements. While the early development cycles produced the silicon area advantage, they did not achieve the power scaling targets the company sought.

Adaptation and optimization

Seeking additional assistance, the company inquired whether our EDA tools and IP could be leveraged to push the design’s performance further.

R&D experts from our IP and EDA groups began collaborating on the design. Starting with the standard logic libraries, the IP group worked closely with the company’s designers to adapt and optimize the libraries with new cells and updated modeling. Over several iterations, the teams delivered the 7.34% power benefit, with Synopsys PrimePower used for final power analysis.

Our Technology and Product Development Group then helped the company take it a step further. By developing new algorithms for Fusion Compiler, and after many trials based on the latest recommended power recipe, design flow optimizations produced the 9.51% combined power benefit.

At the same time, our application engineers worked closely with the company to provide the best solution from our broad portfolio of memory compilers. Weighing performance requirements with power and area targets, we were able to extend the benefit of 2nm beyond instance-level scaling. In one key scenario, power was reduced an additional 25% by using an alternative configuration that met the 2nm requirements.

Team efforts

Developing a hyperscale SoC on the most advanced process node pushes engineering teams harder than ever — and for the company, the stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s not just about the investment; it’s about securing a competitive edge in a fast-moving market. With so much riding on power targets, we’re proud the company trusted our proven expertise to help deliver their next-gen SoCs. Learn more: Synopsys Foundation IP.

Daryl Seitzer is principal product marketing manager for embedded memory IP at Synopsys.