Dolphin Design announces successful tape-out of first silicon wafer supporting 12nm FinFet technology

This test chip is the industry's first product to use 12nm FinFet (FF) technology to provide a complete solution for audio IP. The chip perfectly combines high performance, low power consumption and optimized footprint to provide excellent sound quality and functionality for battery-powered applications. This dedicated test chip strengthens customers' confidence in Dolphin Design's products by accelerating product time to market, providing best-in-class performance, and ensuring robust product designs, reaffirming Dolphin Design's industry leadership in mixed-signal IP.

Grenoble, France, February 22, 2024 - Dolphin Design, an industry-leading provider of high-performance analog, mixed-signal, processing intellectual property (IP), and ASIC design, has successfully tape-outed its first audio device containing state-of-the-art audio IP. 12nm FinFet test chip reaches an important milestone.

Creating a dedicated test chip is a key step for Dolphin Design to establish its leading position in the field of power management and audio IP, helping to continuously improve the performance and quality of its products. Dolphin Design continues to advance its expertise in advanced processes used by its customers, as this was previously done on 22nm node technology. When designing new IP or migrating it, describing and mastering the process can ensure the best performance of the chip.

The insights Dolphin Design gained from test chip development played a key role in aligning with the company's aggressive performance roadmap. These gains ensure that the IP continues to evolve and meet growing demands for performance and low power consumption.

The embedded features of this new 12nm FinFet test chip include:

- Four top-level low-power audio ADCs designed to significantly reduce power consumption, in line with the power consumption levels expected for TWS and voice-controlled devices.

-Dolphin Design's world's best and unique headphone Class D DAC, tailor-made to provide ultra-low power consumption, low latency and high THD+N, and developed specifically for TWS where power efficiency is extremely critical.

-An ultra-compact digital PWM DAC that meets the needs of many devices that require an economical audio DAC to drive speaker amplifiers.

Dolphin Design relentlessly pursues technological innovation and is currently at the forefront of industry-leading technology.

Hakim Jaafar, vice president of marketing at Dolphin Design, said: "With this new series of IP, Dolphin Design is the first choice for low-power, high-performance audio IP. This achievement highlights our commitment to providing breakthrough solutions to our customers and strengthens our Determination to continue to innovate in the field of semiconductor IP.